(Bloomberg) -- Rivian Automotive Inc., the electric pickup maker backed by Amazon.com Inc., is looking for a location for a second assembly plant in the U.S. before it has produced its first vehicle.
The Irvine, California-based startup earlier this month pushed back plans to start output at its first factory -- a former Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plant in Normal, Illinois -- citing supply-chain bottlenecks for components such as semiconductors.
“While it's early in an evolving process, Rivian is exploring locations for a second U.S. manufacturing facility,” spokeswoman Amy Mast said in an email on Thursday.
Outside of its home market, Rivian has been scouting locations in Europe to build a new factory while also considering sites outside the European Union, Bloomberg News reported in February.
The company is a front-runner in a large pool of startups seeking to challenge Tesla Inc. in electric vehicles. Backed by high-profile investors including Ford Motor Co. and T. Rowe Price Group Inc., Rivian is looking to go public later this year, Bloomberg News has reported. The IPO could be valued as high as $70 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
Multiple State Bidders
Rivian's second U.S. plant will include battery cell production and multiple states have bid for the project, Reuters reported earlier Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Where We Are on the Road to Electric Vehicles: QuickTake
A global shortage of computer chips hasn't spared startups, a situation that prompted Rivian to shift the start of production of its R1T truck by two months to September.
It also moved back the timeline for its second planned model, an electric sports-utility vehicle known as the R1S, from August until an unspecified time in the fall. Rivian has a deal to build 100,000 electric delivery vans for Amazon.
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