Rivian Automotive On Thursday it said it had renegotiated a $6.57 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to $4.5 billion and was adjusting its production expectations at a plant under construction in Georgia.
Previously, the DOE loan was intended to support two phases of production totaling 400,000 units per year. The modified loan covers a production phase with a total capacity of 300,000 vehicles, the company said Thursday.
The changes allow Rivian to draw on the loan sooner and have higher initial production, but reduce its overall production capacity for the plant amid uncertain demand for all-electric vehicles.
The initial terms of the loan were negotiated under the Biden administration. It had been in limbo under the Trump administration, which took steps to cut or reduce such loans and withdrew government investments to promote electric vehicles.
Rivian said it plans to tap the loan in 2027, a year ahead of schedule. The automaker also said production of the company's upcoming R2 electric vehicle is on track to begin at the facility in late 2028, following its recent start of production at its current facility in Normal, Illinois.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told CNBC's Phil LeBeau on Thursday that any future expansion of the Georgia plant would be funded by the company, which has been raising capital through partnerships with companies such as volkswagen and Uber.
The electric vehicle maker announced the new loan details in connection with its first-quarter results, which included a net loss of $416 million, or 33 cents per share, compared with a loss of $541 million, or 48 cents per share, a year ago. Those per-share results were not comparable to Wall Street's expectations.
Rivian's revenue for the quarter was $1.38 billion, up from $1.24 billion a year earlier and slightly above the $1.36 billion expected by analysts, according to LSEG.
The company's gross profit, which is closely watched by investors, was $119 million, down $87 million during the first quarter compared to a year earlier. That included a $62 million loss for its automotive segment and a $181 million profit for its software and services division.
The decline in automotive earnings was primarily due to a $100 million drop in automotive regulatory credit sales and lower production volumes, Rivian said.
