Rivian is cutting one of the three shifts at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois, but believes it will still be able to reach its production goals with just two shifts.
Earlier this year, the electric vehicle startup said it expects to build 57,000 vehicles in 2024, the same number it built in 2023. While some will be disappointed its production will not grow, Rivian says it has made efficiency improvements at the factory, hence why it no longer needs a third shift.
In a statement issued to 25 News, Rivian corporate communications senior manager Kelli Felki said that “all hourly employees will be offered a job on one of the two available shifts as we will increase capacity per shift.” The factory employs approximately 8,000 people, most of whom are hourly manufacturing workers. While it is unclear if they will see changes to their wages, they will retain full-time positions.
Read: Rivian Cuts Workforce By 10%, Doesn’t Expect To Sell More EVs This Year
Felki added that Rivian “gave hourly employees the opportunity to provide feedback regarding shift patterns and to submit their own shift preference. We are assigning shifts based on tenure, preference and operational needs.”
Rivian will make the shift change when it returns from a planned shutdown in April after it “transforms” R1 production to “integrate new engineering design changes that we expect will significantly reduce our cost.” The two shifts will operate day and night.
The company had been operating just a single shift until the fall of 2022 when it added a second. A third shift was then added in June 2023.
The production change comes at an important time for the brand as it unveiled the new Rivian R2. This new model is smaller than the current R1T and R1S and is expected to hit the market in 2026 with a starting price of $45,000 providing up to 330 miles (531 km) of range.
