The Biden administration’s climate change investments are still taking shape even amid the president’s very last days in the White House. Over the last few weeks, it’s been an absolute blitz: Fast-tracked approvals for loans and grants for all sorts of clean energy projects, including chargers and battery plants. Now days before Trump takes office, the U.S. Department of Energy has finalized a colossal loan for Rivian’s long-promised Georgia factory.
Welcome back to Critical Materials, your daily roundup of news and events shaping up the world of electric cars.
Also on our radar today: Last year was big for Honda’s electrified vehicle sales. This year could be even bigger. Plus, we also discuss the incoming changes at Polestar aimed at turning things around. Let’s begin.
30%: Rivian Gets A $6 Billion Federal Lifeline
Rivian’s new factory in Georgia was supposed to have broken ground last year. It is meant to churn its new R2 electric crossover, a Tesla Model Y rival, giving the start-up a much-needed production boost.
But those plans came to a grinding halt last year amid uneven demand for EVs and a major cash crunch. Since then, Rivian pivoted to making the R2 at an expanded facility at the brand’s Normal, Illinois plant.
Now things seem poised to change dramatically. The Biden administration has finalized a $6 billion loan for Rivian to put those plans back on track, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The automaker plans to launch at least three new models in the coming years and it will need all the production capacity it can muster.
Rivian sold a record number of EVs in 2024 despite facing supply chain problems. However, its current lineup is limited to the R1T electric truck and the R1S SUV. Although a new generation of these vehicles launched last year with cutting-edge tech and software upgrades, they still sport the old design and come with hefty price tags, both exceeding $70,000.
If the carmaker wants to survive, it needs to make affordable mass-market EVs. Last year, it showed a strong intent to do just that, with the R2, R3 and R3X concepts; fans were especially enamored of the R3. It will also need more manufacturing capacity to build those cars—the former Mitsubishi factory where it currently makes its cars won’t cut it.
The startup is getting major cash infusions from several directions to make its dreams come true. The Volkswagen Group and Rivian announced a $5.8 billion joint venture last year. As a part of the deal, Rivian will get the capital it requires to sustain and the VW Group will benefit from the start-up’s expertise in software and electrical architectures—an area where VW has been struggling.
The incoming Trump administration may attempt to throw a wrench in Rivian’s plans. Trump’s top aides have fiercely opposed the loan for Rivian. But attempts to repeal this federal support may not be easy and could involve lengthy legal battles.
For now, at least, it seems like Rivian may weather out this tough and brutal shift. And I may sound biased here, but I’m hoping the R3 becomes a reality.
60%: Honda Expects To Outpace Industry Growth This Year
Photo by: InsideEVs
Honda proved last year that despite having a not-so-fancy EV made by another carmaker in its portfolio, it can still sell tens of thousands of units purely on brand value, reputation and trust. The Prologue, made by General Motors, was one of America’s top-selling EVs last year. Its premium and more expensive iteration, the Acura ZDX, also did well.
Now Honda is feeling confident about what lies next. It’s expecting a 5% sales growth thanks to its EVs, hybrids and gas cars, the automaker said on Wednesday. Honda sold 1.4 million cars last year in the U.S., the majority of them being hybrids and gas models. EVs accounted for a small but growing percentage of that, with just over 40,000 units combined of the Prologue and the ZDX. But the share of EVs and hybrids is expected to increase gradually.
This year Honda and Acura plan to sell more than 1.5 million vehicles in the U.S. And there’s plenty to be excited about. Not only will Honda EVs get Tesla Supercharger access this spring with an adapter, but the automaker’s own EVs, developed on an in-house-built electric platform, are in the pipeline. The Acura RSX, a sleek crossover with a sloping coupe-like roofline will enter production by the end of this year to rival the Tesla Model Y. Honda’s 0 Saloon and 0 SUV concepts made waves at CES 2025 and are expected to enter production next year at the brand’s Ohio facility.
Of course, it’s not all fun and games—it never is with EVs. There’s still uncertainty over how its merger with Nissan will pan out. We don’t know how the two brands, with operations scattered across the globe, will integrate their research and development, production plans and product portfolios. And while I’m not very bullish about Nissan, I think Honda’s new EVs look cool as heck and the automaker’s loyal fanbase may warm up to those.
Now we’ll find out if its tie-ups with Nissan and Sony give it a boost or end up as liabilities.
90%: Polestar Wants To Be Sales-Focused
Photo by: InsideEVs
Swedish automaker Polestar has been stuck in a perpetual state of, erm… not selling enough cars. And if you ask me, it’s also been battling an identity crisis. But it’s majority-owned by China’s Geely Group—so it appears to have a strong financial backing. Plus its new CEO, Michael Lohscheller, is sales- and finance-driven whereas Thomas Ingenlath seemed to be more designed-focused.
Here’s more from Wired on how the brand plans to turn things around:
In yesterday’s review, Lohscheller claimed Polestar would grow sales by 30-35 percent in the coming three years, and he expects positive free cash flow “after investments” in 2027, which is two years later than the company’s previous break-even prediction.“
Geely will continue to support Polestar’s development and strategy implementation, including working with Polestar to secure additional equity and debt funding,” Daniel Donghui Li, Geely’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
“We manufacture regionally for the different regions in the world, so [we have] to be protected and make sure that we don’t depend on sudden changes,” Lohscheller stressed in yesterday’s review. “There are more offers in the market, so it becomes much more competitive,” he admitted.
Polestar EVs don’t have a quality or performance problem. They’re great cars with a strong Scandinavian vibe. This doesn’t seem to be a VinFast- or Fisker-type issue. I think Polestars look cool and one of them even won an extreme winter range test this week.
Unfortunately, that’s not enough to move volumes. That’s especially true when you heavily rely on Geely Group’s plants in China for manufacturing. With fierce competition in China, in addition to trade tensions with the U.S., Polestar needs a strategic makeover. The new Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 should definitely help, but it’s still a brand facing serious headwinds.
The new CEO is optimistic about future-proofing the brand. We’ll see how that pans out.
100%: Will Rivian Weather The Storm?
Photo by: InsideEVs
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—Tesla’s stance on ending federal incentives is peak hypocrisy.
Remember, before the Model S hit the streets, Tesla took in hundreds of millions of dollars in federal loans to sustain its business. It paid that amount back quickly, but not before Tesla buyers started getting billions from purchase incentives.
Now Rivian’s leaning on a similar lifeline, but with the new administration and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in an advisory role, clean energy programs are getting the cold shoulder.
Can Rivian weather this uncertain landscape?
Have a tip? Contact the author: [email protected]
