Rivian closes year with almost $3B investment
T. Rowe Price, Amazon, Ford add another $1.3B as Normal plant gears up to produce electric trucks next year
Rivian, a new company building electric trucks, is reconfiguring a former Mitsubishi plant in Normal to begin production next year. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
By Ted Cox
Rivian, the upstart electric-truck company, added a $1.3 billion investment Monday, bringing its total investment commitment for the year to almost $3 billion as it prepares to begin manufacturing late next year at a converted auto plant in Normal.
Rivian announced a $1.3 billion investment round Monday, led by T. Rowe Price, but backed by renewed commitments from Amazon and the Ford Motor Company.
According to a corporate news release, Amazon pumped $700 million into the company in February, followed in April by $500 million from Ford. Cox Automotive added $350 million in September, the month Rivian also announced it was “collaborating with Amazon on the development of an electric delivery van utilizing Rivian’s platform technology and that 100,000 of these vans had been ordered with deliveries starting in 2021.”
“This investment demonstrates confidence in our team, products, technology, and strategy,” said R.J. Scaringe, Rivian founder and chief executive officer, in a formal statement. “We are extremely excited to have the support from such strong shareholders.”
According to the Bloomington Pantagraph, Rivian has about 200 people working to convert a former Mitsubishi plant in Normal to its operations, set to launch at the end of next year, when it’s projected to have 1,000 workers on site.
“It’s a great start to 2020,” local Rivian spokesman Zach Dietmeier told the Pantagraph. “It reinforces that our current partners are feeling very comfortable with the progress we have made.”
The Mitsubishi plant closed in 2015, idling more than 1,000 workers. The factory is barely 30 years old, having opened in 1988.
In addition to its capital investment, Amazon made the announcement it would be ordering 100,000 electric delivery vans from Rivian in September, when it unveiled a sweeping initiative to combat climate change. The vans are expected to be delivered between 2021 and 2024.