EV Startup to Buy Former Mitsubishi Plant in U.S.

Livonia, Mich.-based electric car maker Rivian Automotive Inc. plans to buy the former Mitsubishi Motors Corp. manufacturing plant in Normal, Ill., which has been idle since May.

Rivian aims to reopen the plant in about five years and invest as much as $175 million there by 2024, according to the Illinois Dept. of Commerce. The company has put down $1 million in earnest money toward the purchase, which is expected to be completed early next year.

Vancouver, B.C.-based liquidation specialist Maynards Industries Ltd. bought the site from MMC and had planned to auction off the plant and its equipment. Those plans were put on hold when Rivian made an unspecified offer for the facility, city officials tell Reuters.

Rivian was formed in 2009 as Avera Motors to build a fuel-efficient sports car with a starting price of less than $30,000. That project never came to fruition.

Now the company is targeting a “portfolio of vehicles” and new mobility services. The first vehicle is expected to be an all-electric model with self-driving capabilities, Reuters reports.

Rivian plans to employ about 500 people at the factory when it reopens in 2021 and eventually hopes to double that level, Normal Mayor Chris Koos tells Reuters. At the plant’s peak, Mitsubishi employed about 3,000 workers at the facility.

Rivian was founded by R.J. Scaringe, who has a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan Automotive Laboratory. The company has recently hired several high-level executives from other carmakers. They include chief engineer Lawrence Achram, a former Fiat Chrysler vice president; and design director Larry Erickson, who previously worked at Ford and General Motors, according to Reuters.