Rivian’s EV factory is off to slow start, mainly due to ongoing microchip shortages, says Bloomberg, which was given a tour of Rivian’s Normal, Illinois, factory by chief executive RJ Scaringe.
While Bloomberg says the plant was a hive of activity and the parking area crammed with Rivian’s electric R1T pickups (utes), alongside delivery vans for Amazon, the factory is likely to be at half capacity this year because of a shortage of key parts, such as semi-conductors.
Reports suggest the shortage won’t ease much before the second half of 2022.
Scaringe repeats a claim the Rivian factory will produce 25,000 EVs this year – including 10,000 vans for Amazon – the first part of a 100,000 van order to be completed by the end of this decade, Stuff reports.
Rivian aims to produce 200,000 EVs annually by 2023 and did winter testing in New Zealand in 2021.
However, Bloomberg says that with a waiting list of more than 85,000, Rivian is selling goods that some customers won’t receive for nearly two years.
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