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Tesla isn’t the only electric vehicle startup that’s struggling. Rivian has now admitted that losses at the company are widening as it begins to refurbish its factory in preparation for the rollout of a fleet of new models.
The automaker has slowed production at its Illinois plant as it prepares to retool the facility, reports Automotive News. However, the costs of setting up the plant for production of new models like the R2 and R3, which were announced in March, are eating away at the company’s bottom line. As Automotive News explains:
Rivian Automotive, in the midst of a wholesale retooling of its plant in Normal, Ill., said its first-quarter net loss widened to $1.45 billion as revenue nearly doubled to $1.2 billion compared with the same period last year.
The automaker’s net loss in the most recent quarter was 7 percent higher than in the year-earlier period while revenue surged from $661 million, the company said Tuesday.
Shares in Rivian fell 6 percent in after-hours trading to $9.63.
The slowdown in production at the Normal, IL, plant has allowed Rivian to completely retool the facility, which has involved installing new robots and setting up deals with new parts suppliers to cut costs and increase line speed. As a result, Rivian projects that it will assemble 57,000 vehicles at the facility this year.
So far this year, it shipped 13,588 R1t and R1S models out to customers, which marks a 71% increase over the same period last year.
A version of this article originally appeared on Jalopnik’s The Morning Shift.
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