NORMAL, Ill. (CBS) — The stadium-shaped headlights on Rivian electric vehicles makes them easy to spot on the road, and this year, visitors spotted them for the first time at the Chicago Auto Show.
Meanwhile, the Rivian manufacturing plant in downstate Normal, Illinois, is getting ready to roll out two new models.
The plant is so huge that the rules of the road apply inside. Rivian vice president of logistics Carlo Materazzo calls the plant “the most amazing factory in the world.”
Rivian makes all its electric vehicles at the plant in Normal — including the R1T pickup truck, the R1S full-size sport-utility vehicle, and a commercial van used by Amazon. The EVs are built from the battery up.
At Rivian’s manufacturing plant, a new vehicle rolls off the line every three minutes. A lot of hands are involved in the process — both human and robotic — working together to build EVs that Rivian hopes will light up people’s adventurous spirit.
“We spent a lot of time thinking about, what should a Rivian look like?” said Rivian chief executive officer RJ Scaringe. “If you look at R1T, R1S, they’re vehicles that really enable and inspire you to go do the kinds of things you want to take photographs of.”
Scaringe grew up with car parts in his room — which explains why he feels at home on a factory floor.
“This is like my happy place, I would say. I love to be here,” he said. “I love to see the teams working so hard to continue making improvements, driving costs down, improving quality.”
Last year, Rivian built about 50,000 vehicles at the Normal plant. Now, the factory footprint is growing — as Rivian plans to launch its R2 in the first half of 2026.
The R2 is a more affordable mid-size sport-utility vehicle that can now be seen at the Chicago Auto Show.
Also on display at the Auto Show is a souped-up version of the R3, coming in 2027.
In its first trip to the Auto Show, Rivian joins a crowded field of EVs.
“Today, we’re less than 10% of new vehicle sales are electric, so the real competition is building products that appeal to people to get them to make the switch from an internal combustion engine vehicle to an electric vehicle,” said Scaringe.
At least in Normal, electric is the norm.
“I do feel we are making a revolution in the industry,” Materazzo said.
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