Gov. JB Pritzker is expected to be in Normal on Thursday afternoon to announce “expanded Illinois investment” at electric automaker Rivian’s manufacturing plant.
Details of what’s being announced is unclear. Rivian said only that it’s planning to “share an announcement that will impact its manufacturing facility in Normal,” and that founder and CEO RJ Scaringe and “special guests” would be there.
It’s possible the “expanded Illinois investment” relates to Rivian’s plans to begin making a new model – the more affordable SUV called “R2” – at the Normal plant.
Rivian announced in March that the R2 production would begin in Normal, not at a new plant in Georgia as previously planned. Construction in Georgia was paused, saving Rivian billions of dollars and allowing it to speed up deliveries of the R2 to the first half 2026 to meet demand for lower cost EVs.
But at that time, there was no mention of whether Rivian would seek or obtain any state incentives to help prepare the plant for a new model or hire more workers. Illinois’ menu of tax incentives includes the Reimagine Electric Vehicles (REV) tax credit, which was initially passed in the wake of the governor’s marquee energy grid decarbonization policy and since expanded multiple times.
Rivian already employs around 8,000 people in Normal, where the company makes the R1S SUV, R1T pickup, and commercial delivery vans. At an event last month in Uptown Normal, Rivian’s vice president of operations in Normal, Tim Fallon, said additional hiring was expected to support the added production of R2.
“We are currently projecting that as we finalize our plans that there will be additional team members needed,” Fallon said.
When Rivian first came to Normal, it secured an agreement to receive $49.5 million in EDGE state tax credits if it met certain annual hiring and capital-investment thresholds over several years. But it’s unclear if Rivian ever received any of that assistance, which was announced during the Rauner administration.
This story will be updated.
