Rivian, the electric vehicle maker slated to open a massive manufacturing plant in Georgia in the coming years, has opened a showroom and test drive space in Alpharetta.
It is the automaker’s second such space in Georgia, joining its Ponce City Market location, and its 25th in the U.S., according to Sara Webster Wylie, Rivian’s director of local and retail marketing.
Rivian is different from legacy automakers in that it does not have dealerships; instead, it sells direct-to-consumer. But in Georgia, no automaker except Tesla can bypass independent dealerships and sell at stores, so Rivian calls its locations in the state “spaces” and sells its vehicles online.
They offer interested buyers a chance to see the two models Rivian sells, the R1S SUV and the R1T pickup truck, learn about owning an electric vehicle and take one for a spin around the block.
“We see both folks who are very passionate about electric vehicle ownership already, we see first timers, and we want to create sites that are really inviting for the community so they can come in, they can get curious, they can ask questions, they can experience our vehicles and they can meet other enthusiastic EV owners,” Webster Wylie said.
Credit: Bita Honarvar
Credit: Bita Honarvar
The Alpharetta space is in the Avalon shopping center, next to high-end furniture store Arhaus. It opened to the public two weeks ago, Webster Wylie said, but had its grand opening event Friday.
The nearly 5,000-square-foot store has an outdoors-mixed-with-industrial feel — the breeze from the opened garage-style doors rustles the tall potted trees while jute rugs sit on polished concrete floors.
Credit: Bita Honarvar
Credit: Bita Honarvar
The grand opening comes as manufacturing and economic challenges have slowed Rivian’s growth. This week, Rivian’s CEO said he and leaders of other automakers are waiting to see how “the dust settles” from the latest round of tariffs announced by President Donald Trump.
In 2024, the company, which has yet to have a profitable quarter, paused its Georgia factory plans in a bid to save money.
But after striking a multibillion-dollar joint venture partnership with Volkswagen and receiving approval for a $6.6 billion loan from the Biden administration in January, the company has said it plans to begin construction of the factory about an hour east of Atlanta next year, with EV production starting there in 2028.
Rivian’s Georgia expansion has sparked some opposition — and several lawsuits — from neighbors living near the site of the proposed plant who are concerned about its impact on their water supplies and the area’s rural character. The automaker and its state and local government partners have emerged victorious from most of those legal battles.
Cox Enterprises, the owner of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, also owns a 3% stake in Rivian.
Editor Scott Trubey and staff writer Drew Kann contributed to this report.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Report for America are partnering to add more journalists to cover topics important to our community. Please help us fund this important work here.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
