NEW RIVIAN PLANT COULD LAND IN TEXAS, $440 MILLION IN TAX BREAKS APPROVED

The well-heeled Rivian Automotive have all-but-confirmed the location for a second manufacturing plant. And it’s in Texas. According to local media outlets, Fort Worth city officials have approved a $440 million USD package for grants and county tax abatements to have the factory built in the Dallas-Fort Worth Region. Rivian, backed by Amazon and Ford Motor Company alike, is budgeting $5 billion USD for a second manufacturing plant, per reports.

Rivian Forth Worth Texas Plant: Details

The new Walsh development area factory plans, code-named “project Tero”, would be able to produce 200,000 vehicles per year and employ 7,500 workers by 2027. Although the Fort Worth Ravin plant is not set in stone as there are other locations that have been considered, Texas is surely the front runner at the moment. The new plant is expected to add 30,000 jobs in total, paying out an average of $56,000 USD in annual income per worker.

The original Rivian plant is located in Normal, Illinois, which was formally a Diamond Star Motors facility that built vehicles like the Mitsubishi Eclipse and Eagle Talon. Today, the Rivian R1T and R1S electric vehicles will roll out of the 34-year-old facility.

Rivian Automotive recently trademarked six names, pointing to a massive expansion in future products beyond the R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck. According to the the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Rivian has filed for the R3T, R4T and R5T names, presumably for pickup trucks. It also filed for intent to use the R3S, R4S and R5S names for automobile use. The company has previously filed for R2T and R2S names, as well as R2C. These products will need to be build somewhere.

Supporters of the new Rivian plant proposal compare its economic potential for Fort Worth to what General Motors did for nearby Arlington in 1954. The city between Dallas and Fort Worth went from having a population of less than 10,000 people into an economic powerhouse, with even a Six Flags and the Texas Rangers moving into the city limits.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that rival EV automaker Tesla is also taking advantage of the opportunities of Texas. “Giga Texas” is expected to produce the Tesla Model Y and Model 3, and allegedly, the Tesla Cybertruck.