Rivian will pause production at its Normal plant between September 15 and the end of October’s first week, as it upgrades the facility for the upcoming $45,000 SUV R2.
In the Q10 filing released last week, the Irvine-based EV maker reaffirmed the plan to shut down the Normal factory “for approximately three weeks starting late in the third quarter of 2025.”
The company said it will “integrate key elements of our manufacturing process in preparation for the planned start of R2 production in the first half of 2026.”
The halt is expected to “temporarily impact production and utilization, resulting in higher cost of revenues on a per-unit basis during the period,” Rivian warned in the SEC filing.
Rivian believes that the expansion to 215,000 units of annual production will “allow us to drive greater capital efficiency.”
The concrete timeline was revealed on Friday by X user and Rivian owner Chris Hilbert, who wrote that “Rivian’s planned shutdown of the plant in Normal, IL starts on the 15th.”
The blog Riviantrackr reached out to the company to confirm the dates, with Rivian only adding that “We have a three week shutdown to retool in preparation for building R2 next year. We look forward to sharing more on R2 soon!”
The shutdown had already been mentioned several times by the EV maker, which also halted production in its main factory from April 5 to April 30 in 2024, to retool and increase production rates for its R1 models.
Last month, Claire McDonough stated that Rivian remained on track with its Normal plant shutdown “for approximately one month in the second half of 2025 to prepare for the launch of R2.”
In early July, the EV maker said that production was limited during the second quarter, when it manufactured 5,979 vehicles, as it was preparing to launch the 2026 iterations of both its R1T and R1S models.
McDonough further explained that the decrease was a “result of a variety of supply chain related complexities, partially driven by shifts visibility into these components for the remainder of the year.”
Despite that, the company planned to offset these challenges by expanding its Normal plant, including the development of an adjacent supplier park.
Michigan-based auto seat maker Adient will be a part of the supply park, as it announced in late July that it is investing $8 million to open a factory where Rivian‘s manufacturing plant is based.
Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe was questioned in the latest quarterly earnings call if recent policy changes affecting consumer credits might influence Rivian‘s outlook on R2 pricing, costs, or production capacity.
Scaringe responded that the company is still committed to launching the $45,000 R2 SUV at its Normal, Illinois plant, with an allocated capacity of 155,000 units.
Rivian also plans to expand R2 production to its upcoming Georgia facility, which is under construction and expected to support an annual capacity of 400,000 units.
The new factory in Georgia is expected to be ready to operate in late 2027, with sales of its production starting in late 2028. The factory will support manufacturing both R2 and the upcoming R3.
