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* Wow…
Breaking: Amazon ordering 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian, Bezos says
— David Shepardson (@davidshepardson) September 19, 2019
* More…
Amazon plans to sign a pledge to meet the goals of the Paris Climate agreement by 2040 and be net carbon neutral 10 years ahead of schedule, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said on Thursday. […]
Bezos said Amazon was placing an order to buy 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian Automotive LLC and to use 100% renewable energy by 2030, up from 40% today. Amazon and Ford Motor Co are among the investors in the EV startup. Amazon will also invest $100 million to restore forests and wetlands.
Cox Automotive recently announced a $350 million investment in the company, which will produce vehicles at its Normal plant.
…Adding… From May of last year…
At a press conference in Springfield, Illinois Governor Rauner Bruce Rauner fired off harsh words at automotive startup Rivian.
“That plant should have well over 1,000 people today. And that plant should have brought hundreds of millions of dollars today,” said Rauner, in response to a reporter’s question.
Contradictory to Rauner’s comments, Rivian appears ahead of schedule to employ 400 people across the country by the end of the year. The company is also ahead of their employment objectives at the facility in Normal. AdaptBN learned last week that Rivian already employs north of 325 people across the country and is still on track for production in 2020.
This isn’t the first time Rauner has made confusing statements surrounding Rivian’s involvement in the state. In an interview earlier this year Rauner stated, “No auto company wants to invest in Illinois because of Madigan’s power, because of regulations and the taxes.”
Genius.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:14 am
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Huh.
Comment by Excessively Rabid Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:17 am
Well that’s a nice slide to add to your power point for potential new investors.
Comment by Montrose Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:20 am
Jeff Bezos, the man with the massive carbon footprint in several states, does some virtue signalling.
Comment by Steve Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:21 am
“I can’t give this plant away,” Rauner said then, adding, “No auto company wants to invest in Illinois because of (House Speaker MICHAEL) MADIGAN’s power, because of regulations and taxes.”
https://www.sj-r.com/opinion/20180516/bernard-schoenburg-rauner-again-claims-no-company-would-take-car-plant
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:25 am
Good for Rivian. It seems more and more that people like our former Governor didn’t like Rivian just because they didn’t like Rivian and not for any legitimate business reason.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:26 am
Eric Greitens thanks Mike Madigan.
Comment by efudd Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:30 am
I’ve sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook.
Comment by ChuckIL Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:31 am
This is amazing news. For a monopolist, Amazon is making some incredibly good moves.
Comment by Dan Johnson Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:36 am
What does Rauner know about job creation? He couldn’t name one job he created in the debate vs. Quinn. That was a meatball down the middle of the plate that Rauner should have hit out of the park.
Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:37 am
Raunerism = Failure
Long view = Many capitalist opportunities in Illinois…building something…not just breaking up and liquidating, as was BVR’s MO.
Comment by northernwatersports Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:41 am
Bruce Rauner has succeeded at everything he ever did…
… except governing, job creation, and messaging.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:44 am
Along with the success of the Tesla Model 3 and the earlier long term success of the Nissan Leaf and now-discontinued Chevy Volt, this is a pivotal moment in plug-in vehicle adoption. Growth in EVs has otherwise been pretty stagnant in the US this year.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:53 am
Less pollution is great. So is local investment. They are still doing damage to the roads, pushing our infrastructure to the brink and need to pay their fair share.
Comment by Sonny Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:55 am
=This isn’t the first time Rauner has made confusing statements=
Understatement life-time achievement award winner.
Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 10:59 am
“pushing our infrastructure to the brink” Way to see the clouds through all that silver lining there Sonny.
Comment by Skeptic Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 11:04 am
Our infrastructure is pretty average for the US. Not sure where that comment came from Sonny.
Comment by Cronish Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 11:06 am
Literally just stopping by, saying hi and lending a little bit of support, and he could have claimed something like this as a little “win” for his legacy.
Comment by NIU Grad Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 11:18 am
He was just *so* bad at being governor.
Comment by lakeside Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 11:19 am
Wait, employees “across the country” was not in the terms of the EDGE agreement the State of Illinois made with Rivian
Employees in Illinois
Investment in the Illinois manufacturing plant
Were what Rivian had to achieve for the EDGE incentive.
If we’re on track for that….cool
But frankly I’ll believe it when I see it.
I have never trusted them.
I think Rauner was rightfully wary of them
Comment by Size10chaos Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 11:21 am
I freely admit that I was highly skeptical of Rivian. I was wrong. Apparently they’re the real deal. They’ve attracted a really impressive amount of outside capital from serious investors. Clearly they’re being vetted by big players. This is a great thing for Illinois.
Comment by Chicago Cynic Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 11:29 am
Obviously a vulture like Rauner couldn’t possibly understand having an idea for a product and a plan to make that product. He is a find a teetering company with a solid reputation, strip it for parts, and the sell the remainder kind of a guy. I bet he read Henry Ford’s biography shaking his head the entire time.
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 11:45 am
Rauner was a destructive success as Governor…but…far less so than he had planned.
Illinois is lucky…he’s gone.
Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 11:47 am
Seconding Chi Cynic.
They’ve raised $1,550 million in capital this year. About half from Amazon.
That’s at least as impressive as the order.
Now they need to execute, that’s the hard part. The real achievement will be when they start announcing significant numbers of trucks delivered.
Comment by Ebenezer Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 11:54 am
Do we have a date for the official Rauner portrait unveiling?
Perhaps it could be delivered to the Capitol in a Rivian vehicle.
Comment by Moe Berg Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 12:12 pm
If 30% of the electricity in the US is generated by burning coal and another 30% produced by natural gas and petroleum, how on earth is the Rivian fleet “green”?
https://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/faq/2009/08/how-much-of-the-us-electricity-generation-is-attributed-to-coal.html
Comment by Lucky Pierre Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 12:15 pm
Lucky, have you tried anti-depressants?
Worried about you.
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 12:25 pm
Lucky Pierre: we are in the process of an epic transition. Coal is dying everywhere, especially in Illinois.
Year by year, more renewable energy comes on line and it gets cheaper.
“For the first time, the United States produced more energy from renewable sources than from coal, according to new figures from the US Energy Information Administration. Hydroelectric dams, solar panels, and wind turbines generated 68.5 million megawatt-hours of energy during the month of April 2019, compared to 60 million for coal.” (The Verge)
That was a blip, and, for the moment coal is back ahead. But, the writing is on the wall.
We can’t wait until we are at 100% green energy to then develop electric vehicles. Both are moving in tandem. They complement and reinforce one another.
Comment by Moe Berg Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 12:30 pm
“If 30% of the electricity in the US is generated by burning coal and another 30% produced by natural gas and petroleum, how on earth is the Rivian fleet “green”?”
Because it’s electric and has nothing to do with the rest of the energy sector.
“Bezos said Amazon was placing an order to buy 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian Automotive LLC and to use 100% renewable energy by 2030, up from 40% today. Amazon and Ford Motor Co are among the investors in the EV startup. Amazon will also invest $100 million to restore forests and wetlands.”
Appears to be much more than virtue signaling.
Trump is trying to stop California from having stricter fuel emissions standards. For Trump supporters, breathing dirtier air and more climate and global damage is worth “owning the libs.”
Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 12:32 pm
=“No auto company wants to invest in Illinois because of Madigan’s power, because of regulations and the taxes.”=
This was our Governor. Good riddance.
Comment by Former State Worker Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 12:33 pm
===If 30% of the electricity in the US is generated by burning coal and another 30% produced by natural gas and petroleum, how on earth is the Rivian fleet “green”?===
So we’re ignoring the 100,000 cars to be ordered, that Rauner missed on that too?
Got it. Thanks.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 12:34 pm
=Wait, employees “across the country” was not in the terms of the EDGE agreement the State of Illinois made with Rivian=
Yeah, that’s how EDGE credits work.
They don’t qualify for the credit until they get to 1,000 Illinois employees. That isn’t projected to happen until 2024.
Rauner made his comments in May of 2018 which is odd because Rivian didn’t even start remodeling the plant until March of this year. I’m not sure why he’d expect them to have 1,000 employees there at that point? Just add it to the pile of reasons of why this guy was such a horrible Governor.
We’ll see if they can get to 1,000 employees by 2024 but a Google search shows that there are plenty of job openings in Normal with production scheduled to start early next year.
Comment by Former State Worker Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 12:44 pm
From Quora: “The Tesla uses 320 Wh/mile of energy (85 kWh/265 miles). The gas powered car uses 940 Wh/mile of energy (33 kWh/35 miles). Once the energy is on board (not counting the efficiency of the power generation, oil refining, or charging), the Tesla is using only about a third as much energy as the comparable gasoline-powered car.”
And gas is 100% fossil fuels, all with more carbon than natural gas.
Comment by Jibba Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 12:48 pm
So nice for Central Illinois to be getting some positive economic news. Hope Rivian can keep it coming. Nice to see all the job postings at Rivian in the last month.
Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 12:51 pm
From the Sierra Club (so take it as you will), which does cite to other papers on electric vehicles (again take these sources as you will).
https://content.sierraclub.org/evguide/myths-vs-reality
Comment by SpfdNewb Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 12:59 pm
“there are plenty of job openings in Normal with production scheduled to start early next year”
That’s great. Job creation is happening in part because of market demand. More consumers want environmentally-friendly vehicles. Rauner wanted RtW zones, companies could cheapen us and push down economic standards of living. So unnecessary, and congrats to all who stood against this and defeated it.
Comment by Grandson of Man Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 1:09 pm
I have told people for years I thought the Rivian thing was a scam.
And even with this I am still not 100% convinced that those cars will be coming out of Normal.
But if I am wrong I’d admit it and be happy that there would be more jobs for the area.
Comment by btowntruth from forgottonia Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 1:17 pm
ChuckIL And I come before you good people tonight with an idea. Probably the greatest… Aw, it’s not for you. It’s more of a Shelbyville idea. [starts to walk out of the room]
Comment by Lyle Lanely Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 1:33 pm
Has Rivian entered into agreement with the UAW?
Comment by Blue Dog Dem Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 1:43 pm
1:52 was me
Comment by zatoichi Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 1:55 pm
Looks like Rivian got off on the wrong foot by employing out of town non union employees during renovation. Is it possible EDGe credits will be supporting 100,000 non union built vehicles.
Comment by Blue Dog Dem Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 1:59 pm
“But if I am wrong I’d admit it” It’s like a breath of fresh air to hear someone (anyone) say that. Thank you.
Comment by Skeptic Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 2:08 pm
Where is Bruce these days? Miss seeing him try to chum it up with the locals at Obeds on Mondays
Comment by bluegrassboy Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 2:20 pm
==Amazon will also invest $100 million to restore forests and wetlands.==
Over how many years do they plan to do that? It’s 0.04% of Amazon’s $233 billion annual revenue.
==Rauner is a find a teetering company with a solid reputation, strip it for parts, and the sell the remainder kind of a guy.==
TRS sees private equity as their most profitable sector and they want more.
https://www.trsil.org/sites/default/files/documents/CAFR-FY2018_1.pdf
Comment by Anonanonsir Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 2:32 pm
Greedy teachers….
Comment by Cronish Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 5:53 pm
===Greedy teachers….===
Spamming this blog to feel good about whatever you’re angry about, take a walk, paint, sculpt, music… but your spamming is only worse than the trolling.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Sep 19, 19 @ 5:58 pm