Rivian is expanding its clean-energy partnerships by supporting solar farms in Illinois designed to support agricultural incomes while strengthening the electricity grid.
The EV maker said on Thursday it teamed up with Pivot Energy, a Colorado-based solar developer, to advance “agrivoltaics” projects that combine renewable power generation with agricultural land use.
“With the help of Rivian drivers everywhere, we’re able to support impactful clean energy projects that provide reliable domestic electricity, while also creating real, tangible benefits for local communities,” the company said in a blog post.
Farmers lease land for solar arrays and graze sheep to manage vegetation around the panels, creating what Rivian calls a “dual-use” model that generates new revenue streams and improves soil quality.
“Renewable energy from solar and wind are the most cost-effective and quickest to deploy energy sources available today,” Rivian’s director of advanced energy solutions, Andrew Peterman, said in a statement.
Pivot Energy said it now manages solar sites across rural communities where native plantings improve biodiversity and prevent erosion, while sheep herds hired from local farms reduce maintenance costs.
The company estimates solar grazing is used at 98% of its US sites.
One of the farmers in Illinois said the project allows them to have “a new revenue stream that allows our farm to keep going for the next generation.”
Rivian has pledged to power its Adventure Network charging sites entirely with renewables and to match the first 10,000 miles driven by each new vehicle with clean electricity.
The company said it uses a “3C’s toolkit” developed with The Nature Conservancy to screen energy developers for climate, community and conservation benefits.
Earlier this week, the company founded and led by RJ Scaring revealed that it is manufacturing “hundreds” of R2 “production intent builds” of its $45,000 SUV.
Production of the R2, which will be priced from $45,000, is expected to start in the first half of 2026 at its Normal, Illinois, plant.
