Is Rivian's Billion-Dollar Federal Loan at Risk?

In the last days of the Biden administration, the Department of Energy signed a loan agreement with EV manufacturer Rivian that the latter planned to use to build a new factory in Georgia. The automaker’s announcement touted the creation of 7,500 jobs, with work to begin on the new facility in 2026. In a statement, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe spoke of how “this additional capacity for our mass market products is key to U.S. leadership in the electric vehicle industry.”

Since that time, a new administration has taken power — and it’s fair to say that the Biden and Trump administrations have very different points of view when it comes to electric vehicles. All of which has led AutoBlog’s Elijah Nicholson-Messmer to explore whether this loan could be a potential casuality of the widespread budget cuts currently taking place in the federal government.

AutoBlog cited recent comments from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp — who’s been an advocate for EV production in his state — as raising concerns over the future of the Rivian loan. In a February interview with WSB-TV, Kemp raised the possibility that the loan could be affected by the current presidential administration.

“I think there’s no secret that the Trump administration is taking a look at all those things. So I don’t really know where that stands right now,” Kemp told WSB-TV.

Repairing Broken EV Chargers Is a Growing Industry

Keeping infrastructure working properly matters

Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has undone several EV-related policies put into place by the Biden administration, including pausing funding for EV charging stations and removing existing chargers from federal office buildings.