Rivian on Thursday confirmed plans for a second factory in Georgia. Constructions is scheduled to begin in summer 2022, with the goal of starting production in 2024, Rivian said in a press release.

The $5 billion factory will be located east of Atlanta on a 2,000-acre site spanning Morgan and Walton Counties. Rivian said it will employ more than 7,500 workers and have annual production capacity for 400,000 vehicles once fully ramped up.

Rivian confirmed plans for a second factory in July. Reports that emerged last month said the company was also looking at Fort Worth, Texas, and that Georgia officials were pitching a state-owned site near Savannah alongside the Atlanta-adjacent site.

Rivian R1T pre-production

Rivian R1T pre-production

Rivian also confirmed plans to expand its existing Normal, Illinois, factory. The company said it had approval for a 623,000-square-foot expansion of the former Mitsubishi factory, saying that would bring the total footprint to around 4 million square feet.

Rivian said it has additional plans to expand "warehouse, storage, and production capacity" at Normal, and expects to hire 800 to 1,000 more employees at the Illinois site by the second quarter of 2022.

Production of the R1T electric pickup truck and R1S electric SUV is ramping up at the Normal factory, Rivian has said. The company confirmed late Thursday that it has a total of 71,000 pre-orders for R1S and R1T models, with aims to fulfill them by the end of 2023. Both trucks offer more than 300 miles of range in their launch form, with the middle-sized of three battery packs.

Rivian plant in Normal, Illinois

Rivian plant in Normal, Illinois

Rivian hasn't announced any more retail-market vehicles, but it has also committed to building 100,000 electric vans for Amazon by 2030. The online retail giant is a Rivian investor.

Besides adding a second U.S. factory, Rivian has hinted at the possibility of a future European plant, and is interested in making its own batteries. Meanwhile, current battery supplier Samsung SDI is reportedly considering a site close to Rivian's Illinois plant for a new battery factory.