Rivian plant is a hellish nightmare of safety violations: report
Workers describe horror scenes over at the Rivian factory in Normal, Illinois – from cracked skulls to amputated fingers to one person vomiting “Rivian blue”-colored bile after painting R1s without proper safety gear. According to a scathing new report in Bloomberg, the American-made EV maker has racked up more “serious” US safety violations than any other automaker since the start of 2023 – despite having only one plant.
The American EV upstart, which has hit some serious financial woes, now has a different set of problems on its hands. Rivian has received initial citations for 16 “serious” violations from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the past 21 months, the report cited. By comparison, Toyota, Honda, Volvo, Nissan, GM, and Fordach received no more than 10, while Volkswagen and Subaru had none. Tesla and Chrysler maker Stellantis, with considerably larger workforces than Rivian, also received fewer initial serious citations, with Telsa receiving three “repeat” violations, which carry a heavier penalty, and Stellantis receiving two.
Bloomberg merges both government findings and interviews with current and past employees to paint a gory picture of dangerous safety violations, employees lacking in safety training and proper equipment, paying the price with back injuries requiring surgery or amputated fingers, and a lack of procedures put in place as the cash-strapped company aims to ramp up production of its luxury EVs and Amazon delivery vans. “Move fast and break things,” literally.
Updated: For its part, Rivian responded to Electrek with a statement: “The safety of everyone at Rivian is our top priority. We’re continually improving our processes and have not received any serious citations this year. It’s incredibly disappointing to see how Bloomberg has misrepresented the facts in this story. Since January 2023, Rivian has received two serious OSHA citations. Initial citations should not be confused as final citations, and to suggest otherwise is incredibly misleading.”
The company added that it has committees in place that regularly review its factory processes and make recommendations on how to improve them. It also has an open-door policy to its employees to bring their concerns to supervisors or report them anonymously. To be fair, Rivian says its self-reported rate of work-related injuries and illnesses this year has been better than the industry average for light-duty manufacturers in 2022, which was the last full year of data available.
OSHA, too, said that since it began inspections at Rivian in 2021, the company “has improved their safety and health team and are very cooperative with the OSHA process.” But this gets a bit murky as Bloomberg clarified OSHA’s motivations in quickly downgrading violations and working with companies, rather than dragging out litigations, to improve workplace safety sooner rather than later.
From Bloomberg:
Rivian says that as part of settlements with the agency, almost all of the violations OSHA initially labeled as serious were ultimately downgraded from that category or dismissed. “Initial citations should not be confused as final citations, and to suggest otherwise is incredibly misleading,” a Rivian spokesperson said.
Former OSHA leaders, however, say initial citations — which are issued after the agency has investigated a job site and considered the company’s perspective — reveal more about workplace hazards. OSHA agrees to downgrade citations because its priority is for companies to address hazards, whereas litigating a dispute for years could leave them unresolved, according to former OSHA head David Michaels.
“OSHA’s objective is to get the hazard abated,” said Michaels, who ran the agency from 2009 to 2017 and is now a George Washington University public health professor. “And so OSHA is often willing to reduce both the penalties and the number of citations in order to get that settlement.”
Worker interviews fill in the rest, with workers saying they are being put in harm’s way as the company ramps up “production of delivery vans for Amazon.com Inc. and $100,000 luxury SUVs popular with celebrities including Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, and looks to access hundreds of millions of dollars of state subsidies.” It’s not a great look.
According to the report, 20-year-old Addison Zwanzig started working at Rivian in July 2023 for $23 an hour plus benefits to spray vehicles in the paint room for eight hours a day, six days a week. Within weeks, she complained of dizziness, alongside other symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting, leading to weight loss. After requesting that her supervisor provide her with a respirator, which she saw other colleagues using, her request was declined. By September, she had seen doctors regarding what she described as blue-tinted vomit. Rivian then provided a respirator the following month and then for other workers who were not issued one as well. She filed a complaint with OSHA and is still seeking treatment from specialists, according to the report. Rivian declined to comment to Bloomberg, citing privacy requirements, but added that they “provide all necessary safety equipment, including respirators.” Her employment has since been terminated.
Bloomberg writes that the sheer complaints and serious injuries happening at the plant “are all red flags,” said Deborah Berkowitz, who reviewed the records and served as OSHA chief of staff under President Barack Obama. Rivian’s plant has for several years been the target of union efforts from the UAW, which aims to help worker bring complaints to OSHA, which is of course unfunded and doesn’t have the resources to look into most violations.
Rivian’s factory employs around 7,400 workers in Normal, a university town with about 50,000 residents. Rivian is one of the city’s largest employers, with multiple members of some families working at the plant. The company says it has already invested more than $2 billion in Normal and has manufactured more than 100,000 electric vehicles since opening in 2021.
Head to Bloomberg for the full report.
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In the US in 2024, wind and solar accounted for 17% of total electricity generation, surpassing coal, which fell to a record low of 15%, according to a new report from global energy think tank Ember.
Since US coal power peaked in 2007, wind and solar have overtaken coal in 24 states, with Illinois the latest to join the ranks in 2024, following Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and Maryland in 2023, the report finds. It’s the first analysis of full-year US electricity data, which was published by the EIA on February 26.
After being stagnant for 14 years, electricity demand started rising in recent years and saw a 3% increase in 2024, marking the fifth-highest level of rise this century. The increase in demand and fall in coal was met with higher solar, wind, and gas generation. Natural gas grew three times more than the decline in coal, increasing power sector CO2 emissions slightly (0.7%). Coal fell by the second smallest amount since 2014, as gas and clean energy growth met rising electricity demand, whereas historically, they have replaced coal.
Despite growing emissions, the carbon intensity of electricity continued to decline. The rise in power demand was much faster than the rise in power sector CO2 emissions, making each unit of electricity likely the cleanest it has ever been.
Solar grew faster than natural gas
Solar generation rose by 64 TWh in 2024, compared to natural gas, which rose 59 TWh. It remained the fastest-growing source of electricity, with its generation rising by 27% in 2024, surpassing hydropower generation for the time. It made up 81% of all new annual power capacity additions in the US. Gas added no net capacity, as new plants were offset with closures.
California and Nevada both surpassed 30% annual share of solar in their electricity mix for the first time (32% and 30%, respectively). California’s battery growth was key to its solar success. It installed 20% more battery capacity than it did solar capacity, which helped it transfer a significant share of its daytime solar to the evening. Texas installed more solar (7.4 GW) and battery capacity (3.9 GW) than even California. Yet the growth of solar was uneven – 28 states generated less than 5% of their electricity from solar in 2024, highlighting significant untapped potential – even before adding battery storage.
As solar grew massively, wind saw a modest 7% increase in generation, adding the least capacity in 10 years. However, it still generated 50% more power than solar in 2024, making 10% of the US electricity mix.
Solar and wind can meet rising demand
With the adoption of EVs, air conditioning, heat pumps, and rapid expansion of data centers, demand for electricity is guaranteed to grow in the coming years.
To meet the rise in demand, clean generation needs to grow faster. Unlike solar, wind’s growth has been slow. Clean energy is able to meet rising electricity demand alone – without raising bills, sacrificing security of supply, or further relying on gas.
“As the demand remained unchanged for years, solar, wind, and gas together worked to replace coal, transforming the US electricity system,” Dave Jones, chief analyst at Ember, said. “But now that electricity demand is rising fast, the battle is between solar and gas to meet this. And solar is winning – it added more generation than gas in 2024, and batteries will ensure that solar can grow more cheaply and quickly than gas.”
Daan Walter, principal at Ember, said, “Electricity demand is rising as new uses emerge across the US economy, from data centers to transportation and heating. This makes the case for solar and wind today even stronger – they are not only fast to deploy and cheap but also help stabilize energy costs in the long run.”
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Elon Musk said today that Tesla will double its electric vehicle production in the US in the next two years.
What would that look like? Let’s do the math.
Today, during a press conference to promote Tesla at the White House, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the following:
“As a function of the great policies of President Trump and his administration, and as an act of faith in America, Tesla is going to double vehicle output in the United States within the next two years.”
This raises many questions, as Musk’s phrasing of the statement suggests that Tesla is planning to add previously unannounced production capacity in response to Trump’s policies.
However, the reality could be different.
What is Tesla’s current production capacity in the US?
We only know Tesla’s installed capacity, which is much different than its actual production rate.
This is Tesla’s latest disclosed global production capacity at the end of 2024:
| Region | Model | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Model S / Model X | 100,000 | Production |
| Model 3 / Model Y | >550,000 | Production | |
| Shanghai | Model 3 / Model Y | >950,000 | Production |
| Berlin | Model Y | >375,000 | Production |
| Texas | Model Y | >250,000 | Production |
| Cybertruck | >125,000 | Production | |
| Cybercab | — | In development | |
| Nevada | Tesla Semi | — | Pilot production |
| TBD | Roadster | — | In development |
In the US, it adds up to 1,025,000 vehicles per year.
In reality, Tesla’s factories are operating at a much lower capacity.
Based on sales and inventory from 2024, Tesla is currently building fewer than 50,000 Model S/X vehicles per year compared to an installed capacity of 100,000 units.
As for Model 3 and Model Y, Tesla is currently building them in the US at a rate of about 600,000 units per year compared to claimed installed capacity of over 800,000 units.
Finally, the Cybertruck is being produced at a rate of less than 50,000 units per year compared to an installed capacity of over 125,000 units.
This adds up to Tesla producing 700,000 units per year in the US in 2024.
What will be Tesla’s new capacity?
Considering Musk mentioned that it will happen “within the next two years”, it is unlikely that he is referring to installed capacity.
The CEO is most likely talking about Tesla’s actual production, which would also make sense, especially considering he mentioned “output.”
Tesla currently outputs roughly 700,000 vehicles per year in the US.
Doubling that would mean bringing the total to 1.4 million units per year, which would be an incredible feat, but it’s not entirely a new plan for Tesla.
First off, Tesla has already announced plans to unveil two new, more affordable models this year. These models are going to be built on the same production lines as Model 3/Y, which would potentially enable Tesla to fully utilize its installed capacity for those vehicles.
That’s another 200,000 units already.
As already mentioned in Tesla’s installed capacity table, the company is currently developing its production facility for the Tesla Semi electric truck in Nevada.
Production is expected to start later this year and ramp up next year. Tesla has previously mentioned a goal of 50,000 units per year. It would leave Tesla roughly a year and half to ramp up to this capacity, which is ambitious, but not impossible.
Then there’s the “Cybercab”, which was unveiled last year.
The Cybercab is going to use Tesla’s next-gen vehicle platform and new manufacturing system, which is already being deployed at Gigafactory Texas.
Production is expected to start in 2026, and Musk has mentioned a production capacity of “at least 2 million units per year”. However, he said that this would likely come from more than one factory and it’s unclear if the other factory would be in the US.
Either way, Tesla would need to ramp up Cybercab production in the US to 450,000 units to make Musk’s announcement correct.
It’s fair to note that all of this was part of Tesla’s plans before the US elections, Trump’s coming into power, or the implementation of any policies whatsoever.
Electrek’s Take
Based on my analysis, this announcement is nothing new. It’s just a reiteration of Elon’s plans for Tesla in the US, which were established long before Trump came to power or even before Elon officially backed Trump.
It’s just more “corporate puffery” as Elon’s lawyers would say.
Also, if I wasn’t clear, we are only talking about production here. I doubt Tesla will have the demand for that, especially if Elon remains involved with the company.
The Cybercab doesn’t even have a steering wheel, and if Tesla doesn’t solve self-driving, it will be hard to justify producing 450,000 units per year.
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