ATLANTA — Electric automaker Rivian's grand plans for a major Georgia production facility are on hold, according to statements by the company and its CEO on Thursday.
The news was revealed Thursday by Rivian CEO and founder RJ Scaringe during a company presentation on the R2, R3 and R3X models. As recently as last October, the company said publicly it was expecting to officially break ground early this year.
"Our Georgia site remains really important to us, it's core to the scaling across all these vehicles... and we're so appreciative of all the partnership that we've had there," Scaringe said.
A company release further detailed that the "timing for resuming construction" of the Georgia facility "is expected to be later" as Rivian will "focus its teams on the capital-efficient launch of R2" at its existing Illinois facility.
The company has said the $5 billion facility planned for east of Atlanta in Morgan County would involve 7,500 jobs on site and produce 400,000 vehicles a year. Site work began back in 2022 but an official groundbreaking has not yet occurred.
Pausing construction at this time in Georgia and launching R2 instead in Illinois will produce $2.5 billion in savings, Rivian projects, from "capital expenditures, product development investment and supplier sourcing opportunities."
Attracting Rivian had been a major feather in Gov. Brian Kemp's cap as the "single-largest economic development project in state history" at the time it was announced. He highlighted it as a centerpiece of his economic development record during a successful 2022 reelection bid -- even as the deal faced some scrutiny for the huge $1.5 billion tax incentive package that lured Rivian to Georgia.
11Alive has reached out to the Governor's Office for comment on the news.
As site work began in 2022 in Morgan County, 11Alive's Doug Richards reported some residents in the area also complained the work was causing water and environmental issues.
Legal challenges against the project have largely floundered. Most recently in January a Morgan County judge dismissed a lawsuit from nearby property owners seeking to stop the project, according to a report by Dave Williams of Capitol Beat.
News happens fast. Stream it faster with our re-designed 11Alive+ app.
Watch newscasts, breaking news streams and get the latest sports, weather and VERIFY content -- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Available on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. Text "plus" to 404-885-7600 to download 11Alive+ and stream now.