Fire at Rivian’s Illinois factory damages several parked cars

A fire broke out at Rivian’s Illinois automotive factory over the weekend, and authorities are saying it was contained to the parking lot and only affected an undisclosed number of cars, rather than reaching the actual facility.

On Saturday evening, local news reports detailed a fire in the parking lot of Rivian’s factory in Normal, Illinois, with it spreading to an unspecified number of the company’s electric vehicles (EVs) in the parking lot. The vehicles were severely damaged in the fire, though the factory building itself was unaffected.

“We are investigating the cause of a fire that damaged a number of vehicles in a parking lot at our Normal plant late Saturday night,” a Rivian spokesperson told Teslarati. “The plant itself is unaffected. At this time, we are not aware of any injuries.”

The spokesperson declined to comment on how many vehicles had been affected.

The Normal Fire Department said it was called to the factory at 9:43 p.m. on Saturday, due to a fire in the parking lot north of the factory. The fire is out at this time, and its cause is currently under investigation, according to spokesperson Matt Swaney.

Swaney also reiterated that there are no reporters of injuries, either to firefighters or Rivian’s employees.

The incident was also captured on camera by Sergei Lebedev on Instagram, as later reposted by X user EVguyZach.

Uhh this is NOT good… This must have just happened….. #rivian #rivianfire

@ Rivian Normal IL Plant

Hopefully everyone is ok! pic.twitter.com/NsfACloz6o

— Zach (@EVguyZach) August 25, 2024

Last week, Rivian officially gained approval from the Normal Town Council to expand the facility, in order to help prepare for the production of the upcoming R2 platform. Although the upcoming platform was expected to be built at a new, upcoming factory in Georgia, construction of that plant has been put on hold and Rivian has moved R2 production to Illinois—garnering massive state incentives.

The electric vehicle (EV) maker also paused production of its Electric Delivery Vehicles (EDVs) at the factory, though it’s not currently clear how long production was halted for. The pause was reportedly due to a parts sortage, though it’s unclear for what part or parts.

Updated 12:29 p.m. MT: Added comments from the Normal Fire Department.

Rivian approved to expand its factory in Normal, Illinois

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