EV maker Rivian is pausing production at its plant in Normal, Illionois. In a Reddit forum named ‘Rivian employees,’ user ‘Lakepoint7687’ said on Friday the factory will have “no production for the next 2 weeks.”
“Not doing anything for 2 weeks. Just inventory counting over and over and over! Boring. 5’s!,” he added in a separate post.
Earlier this year, the carmaker warned it would shut down its EV plant in Illinois for retooling ahead of the production start of its R2 SUV in the first half of 2026. Approached by EV on Friday, the company did not reply to a request for comment.
Exactly a year go, Rivian closed its factory between April 5 and 30 for a retooling allowing it to significantly reduce fixed costs per vehicle delivered by the end of 2024.
On X, user ‘Hilbe’ added that production suspension affect R1 models (R1T and R1S) but not the electric commercial vans which have recently been opened to other fleet customers besides Rivian’s long-term partner and backer Amazon.
“Unconfirmed Rumor: Rivian has paused R1 manufacturing,” X user Hilbe’ They did this in 2024 to cutover to Gen 2/Model Year 2025,” Chris Hilbert wrote on social media. “Will they bring us NACS/Model Year 2026 soon? Or is this due to tariffs and inventory buildup?”
Rivian produced 14,611 vehicles in the first quarter of the year while delivering 8,640 units while reiterating its annual target of between 46,000 and 51,000 vehicles delivered in 2025.
The figures came in slightly above the guidance provided at the latest earnings call where the EV maker guided for 14,000 vehicles produced and approximately 8,000 vehicles delivered.
When compared year over year, deliveries fell 36% from 13,588 to 8,640 while production increased 4.5% from 13,980 to 14,611 vehicles.
Based on the first quarter figures, the company expects to deliver between 37,360 and 42,360 electric vehicles between April and December.
“Due to a supply shortage of a component in our Enduro motor system, we produced and delivered more Tri-Motor R1s and commercial vans in the fourth quarter of 2024 as compared to our initial expectations,” Rivian’s CFO Claire Mcdonough said in the latest earnings call.
“These incremental commercial vehicles delivered in the fourth quarter are expected to result in lower commercial deliveries in 2025 and higher finished goods inventory in the first quarter of 2025,” Mcdonough added.
The Irvine-based EV maker said it will report its first quarter earnings results on May 6th after the market close.
Rivian’s numbers have been sequentially falling year over year. In February, when reported the fourth quarter earnings results, the company led by RJ Scaringe said it expects to deliver between 46,000 and 51,000 vehicles this year.
