TruckElectric
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NORMAL — When Rivian Automotive purchased the former Mitsubishi Motor Corp. assembly plant in west Normal in 2017, bringing an electric vehicle manufacturer to Bloomington-Normal was just a mere concept.
Now it’s a reality.
“It’s like out of a storybook,” said Normal Mayor Chris Koos. “The success that the company has had in terms of taking an idea for an innovative product to production and getting it into the market places in the timeline they’ve done it on is pretty amazing.”
In just a week, Rivian in November sold out its first batch of special-edition electric vehicles. Orders are racking up for the highly anticipated R1T pickup and the R1S SUV.
“We are obviously very excited about being able to provide new options that don’t exist in the market today,” said Zach Dietmeier, a Rivian spokesman. “As a result, we’re very excited that we’re starting from a very good place at the factory, and know at the same time that, with electric vehicle adoption as the main goal, we’re rooting for a lot of other players to succeed in this market too."
Those lucky enough to snag the Launch Edition of the R1T pickup, starting at $75,000, and R1S SUV, $77,500, could receive orders as early as June. But others may have to wait until January 2022.
“It’s a special edition of the R1T and R1S, and as we look to this upcoming summer, those are the vehicles that will be rolling off the line first,” said Dietmeier.
Dietmeier declined to say how many orders the company received, but said Rivian is “extremely pleased with the response.”
Rivian, based in the Detroit suburbs, was founded about a decade ago and has raised well over $6 billion from investors. The factory is expected to create about 1,000 jobs by 2024.
Crews for months have been building out the massive factory, where Mitsubishi built the Outlander sport-utility vehicle before production moved to Japan.
Rivian is getting about $4 million in local incentives as well as $50 million in state tax credits.
The company is also working Amazon to develop an electric delivery vehicle.
For the consumer models, Rivian requires a refundable $1,000 deposit to pre-order. Custom designs on the company website include nine exterior colors and five tire options.
Rivian offers two starting equipment packages: the Explore Package and the Adventure Package. The difference comes down to some interior design differences and off-roading upgrades with the Adventure Package, including a reinforced underbody shield, dual front bumper tow hooks and air compressor.
Packages for the R1T pickup start at $67,500 for the Explore Package and $75,000 with the Adventure package; or the R1s SUV, starting at $70,000 with the Explore Package and $77,500 with the Adventure package.
'Golden age for EV vehicles'
The factory is poised to capitalize on a growing market. Electric vehicles today represent roughly 2% of U.S. auto sales, trailing other global hotspots in EVs, such as China, which is about 4.5%, said Dan Ives, an analyst who follows the industry for the firm Wedbush.
An excavator works an area in front of an addition to the Rivian automotive plant in Normal on Wednesday. This section, to the northwest of the current plant, is in addition to extensions to the southwest and southeast that were built earlier this year.
DAVID PROEBER, THE PANTAGRAPH
“We believe by 2025 EV vehicles will represent 10% of all automotive sales within the U.S.,” said Ives. “I think it’s really in its golden age for EV vehicles.”
And demand is only going to increase, Ives said.
“We’re talking anywhere between $800 billion to a trillion dollars of EV opportunity across the globe,” he said. “That’s going to be 40 to 50 automakers going after that opportunity. I think we’re looking at a market that we expect to triple in the next 10 years.”
The timing of the launch sets Rivian up to be a pioneer being the first company to bring a battery-electric pickup to the market. Ives said Rivian could have a first-mover advantage when it comes to a new focus on the pickup truck, a market Tesla and others are aggressively pursuing.
“I think Rivian has a key ingredient for massive success in the EV market,” said Ives. “If you look at the market that Rivian’s going after, in terms of electric pickup trucks, I think this is something that could be generating, as a market, a few million of unit sales per year as we look out in the next five years.”
A COVID impact
This year was not without its setbacks, however. Rivian announced a production delay in April due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The good news is that supply chains have started to normalize since the late spring, early summer, Ives said. While a second wave of COVID-19 infections could pose some disruptions, supply constraints will not be an issue, he said.
Crowds check out Rivian Automotive's R1S prototype during a public rollout of the company's new vehicles in Uptown Normal in October 2019.
DAVID PROEBER, THE PANTAGRAPH
“Investors are continuing to look for the next Tesla,” Ives said. “To that point, there’s only one Tesla and there’s only one Elon Musk. But, if you look at the path that Rivian is heading, I think they have a massive greenfield opportunity, which is just in the early stages of building out.”
Despite the production delay, Rivian has been a constant hotbed for construction, said Dietmeier. Current projects include an 80,000 square-foot building expansion on the north end of the building.
Earlier this week town leaders said Rivian has invested $215 million worth of construction at its Normal facility, equating to more than 1,300 construction jobs and reinvestment into the community.
“Whenever they came in, it was an idea and a concept,” said Patrick Hoban, executive director of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council. “Not everyone understood the vision. To be able to see them online, to see these projects, that just brings it to a full circle.”
The success of the sale launch and anticipated production will only further push McLean County’s name out into the world, attracting both businesses and workers to the community, said Hoban.
“It’s proof of demand,” he said. “It’s the excitement around the product. It shows that it was great for the community to invest in Rivian, and they continue to return the favor.”
A storage area at the former Mitsubishi Motors North America plant, now owned by Rivian Automotive is seen Tuesday, March 7, 2017.
DAVID PROEBER, THE PANTAGRAPH
Workers begin site preparation on Jan. 24 for facilities to build batteries at the Rivian production plant in Normal.
Site preparations begin at the Rivian plant in west Normal on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, as the company adds new buildings designed to make batteries for the company's electric vehicles.
More than 2,000 people turned out to look at Rivian Automotive's R1T prototype during Rivian's public rollout of its new vehicles in Uptown Normal Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019. The company hopes its vehicles will begin rolling off the former Mitsubishi plant assembly line by late 2020.
RJ Scaringe, center, CEO of Rivian Automotive, reaches out to State Sen. Bill Brady, as Scaringe met with Brady, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, State Rep. Dan Brady and Normal Mayor Chris Koos, far right, during Rivian's public rollout of its new prototype vehicles in Uptown Normal Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019.
Patrick Hunt, Rivian strategy director, explains how an accessory camp kitchen complete with a stove, can slide into the tunnel of the company's R1T pickup truck during Rivian's public rollout of its new prototype vehicles in Uptown Normal Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019. The camp kitchen is one of several different modular accessories that can be fit inside the tunnel behind the passenger compartment.
SOURCE:PANTAGRAPH
Now it’s a reality.
“It’s like out of a storybook,” said Normal Mayor Chris Koos. “The success that the company has had in terms of taking an idea for an innovative product to production and getting it into the market places in the timeline they’ve done it on is pretty amazing.”
In just a week, Rivian in November sold out its first batch of special-edition electric vehicles. Orders are racking up for the highly anticipated R1T pickup and the R1S SUV.
“We are obviously very excited about being able to provide new options that don’t exist in the market today,” said Zach Dietmeier, a Rivian spokesman. “As a result, we’re very excited that we’re starting from a very good place at the factory, and know at the same time that, with electric vehicle adoption as the main goal, we’re rooting for a lot of other players to succeed in this market too."
Those lucky enough to snag the Launch Edition of the R1T pickup, starting at $75,000, and R1S SUV, $77,500, could receive orders as early as June. But others may have to wait until January 2022.
“It’s a special edition of the R1T and R1S, and as we look to this upcoming summer, those are the vehicles that will be rolling off the line first,” said Dietmeier.
Dietmeier declined to say how many orders the company received, but said Rivian is “extremely pleased with the response.”
Rivian, based in the Detroit suburbs, was founded about a decade ago and has raised well over $6 billion from investors. The factory is expected to create about 1,000 jobs by 2024.
Crews for months have been building out the massive factory, where Mitsubishi built the Outlander sport-utility vehicle before production moved to Japan.
Rivian is getting about $4 million in local incentives as well as $50 million in state tax credits.
The company is also working Amazon to develop an electric delivery vehicle.
For the consumer models, Rivian requires a refundable $1,000 deposit to pre-order. Custom designs on the company website include nine exterior colors and five tire options.
Rivian offers two starting equipment packages: the Explore Package and the Adventure Package. The difference comes down to some interior design differences and off-roading upgrades with the Adventure Package, including a reinforced underbody shield, dual front bumper tow hooks and air compressor.
Packages for the R1T pickup start at $67,500 for the Explore Package and $75,000 with the Adventure package; or the R1s SUV, starting at $70,000 with the Explore Package and $77,500 with the Adventure package.
'Golden age for EV vehicles'
The factory is poised to capitalize on a growing market. Electric vehicles today represent roughly 2% of U.S. auto sales, trailing other global hotspots in EVs, such as China, which is about 4.5%, said Dan Ives, an analyst who follows the industry for the firm Wedbush.
An excavator works an area in front of an addition to the Rivian automotive plant in Normal on Wednesday. This section, to the northwest of the current plant, is in addition to extensions to the southwest and southeast that were built earlier this year.
DAVID PROEBER, THE PANTAGRAPH
“We believe by 2025 EV vehicles will represent 10% of all automotive sales within the U.S.,” said Ives. “I think it’s really in its golden age for EV vehicles.”
And demand is only going to increase, Ives said.
“We’re talking anywhere between $800 billion to a trillion dollars of EV opportunity across the globe,” he said. “That’s going to be 40 to 50 automakers going after that opportunity. I think we’re looking at a market that we expect to triple in the next 10 years.”
The timing of the launch sets Rivian up to be a pioneer being the first company to bring a battery-electric pickup to the market. Ives said Rivian could have a first-mover advantage when it comes to a new focus on the pickup truck, a market Tesla and others are aggressively pursuing.
“I think Rivian has a key ingredient for massive success in the EV market,” said Ives. “If you look at the market that Rivian’s going after, in terms of electric pickup trucks, I think this is something that could be generating, as a market, a few million of unit sales per year as we look out in the next five years.”
A COVID impact
This year was not without its setbacks, however. Rivian announced a production delay in April due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The good news is that supply chains have started to normalize since the late spring, early summer, Ives said. While a second wave of COVID-19 infections could pose some disruptions, supply constraints will not be an issue, he said.
Crowds check out Rivian Automotive's R1S prototype during a public rollout of the company's new vehicles in Uptown Normal in October 2019.
DAVID PROEBER, THE PANTAGRAPH
“Investors are continuing to look for the next Tesla,” Ives said. “To that point, there’s only one Tesla and there’s only one Elon Musk. But, if you look at the path that Rivian is heading, I think they have a massive greenfield opportunity, which is just in the early stages of building out.”
Despite the production delay, Rivian has been a constant hotbed for construction, said Dietmeier. Current projects include an 80,000 square-foot building expansion on the north end of the building.
Earlier this week town leaders said Rivian has invested $215 million worth of construction at its Normal facility, equating to more than 1,300 construction jobs and reinvestment into the community.
“Whenever they came in, it was an idea and a concept,” said Patrick Hoban, executive director of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council. “Not everyone understood the vision. To be able to see them online, to see these projects, that just brings it to a full circle.”
The success of the sale launch and anticipated production will only further push McLean County’s name out into the world, attracting both businesses and workers to the community, said Hoban.
“It’s proof of demand,” he said. “It’s the excitement around the product. It shows that it was great for the community to invest in Rivian, and they continue to return the favor.”
A storage area at the former Mitsubishi Motors North America plant, now owned by Rivian Automotive is seen Tuesday, March 7, 2017.
DAVID PROEBER, THE PANTAGRAPH
Workers begin site preparation on Jan. 24 for facilities to build batteries at the Rivian production plant in Normal.
Site preparations begin at the Rivian plant in west Normal on Friday, Jan. 24, 2020, as the company adds new buildings designed to make batteries for the company's electric vehicles.
More than 2,000 people turned out to look at Rivian Automotive's R1T prototype during Rivian's public rollout of its new vehicles in Uptown Normal Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019. The company hopes its vehicles will begin rolling off the former Mitsubishi plant assembly line by late 2020.
RJ Scaringe, center, CEO of Rivian Automotive, reaches out to State Sen. Bill Brady, as Scaringe met with Brady, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, State Rep. Dan Brady and Normal Mayor Chris Koos, far right, during Rivian's public rollout of its new prototype vehicles in Uptown Normal Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019.
Patrick Hunt, Rivian strategy director, explains how an accessory camp kitchen complete with a stove, can slide into the tunnel of the company's R1T pickup truck during Rivian's public rollout of its new prototype vehicles in Uptown Normal Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019. The camp kitchen is one of several different modular accessories that can be fit inside the tunnel behind the passenger compartment.
SOURCE:PANTAGRAPH
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