Electric vehicle manufacturing Rivian, which is developing a service and demo center in St. Augustine, says it is seeing strong demand in Florida.
The St. John County center is expected to open in early 2026 at IGP/I-95 Logistics Park at 3405B International Golf Parkway. Rivian has not set a specific opening date.
The St. Johns County location is part of a nationwide service center expansion plan.
“Rivian is expanding service centers across the country, including Florida,” said Fallon Gates, Rivian’s manager corporate communications.
“We want to support the strong demand we’re already seen in Florida by expanding our service centers, making it easier for current customers to get assistance and for new customers to discover our vehicles.”
Similar to Tesla, the EV company sells vehicles directly to consumers online and uses its showrooms for demonstrations, service and storage instead of operating traditional dealerships. Service can be scheduled through the Rivian app and directly with its service support team.
The company has Florida service centers in Miami, Orlando and Tampa. A Fort Myers location also is planned, Gates said.
Across the U.S. and Canada, Rivian has 74 service centers and more than 600 mobile service vans that provide maintenance, repair and vehicle-to-vehicle charging.
Rivian vehicles include the SUV R1S, pickup truck R1T and crossover R3. The midsize SUV R2 is under development.
Its fleet vehicles are used by Amazon.
We’re gearing up to launch R2, a midsize SUV, next year. This vehicle will bring Rivian into a new addressable market with a starting price of $45,000,” Gates said.
“A huge percentage of our customers are buying a Rivian as their first EV – we have something that people find compelling enough to make the switch.”
Rivien’s 1S starts at $75,000. Its R1T and R3 start at $69,900.
In addition to service centers, Rivian maintains its Rivian Adventure Network of charging stations in Florida.
Rivian says the sites are powered by 100% solar renewable energy. Twenty minutes of charging can provide up to 150 miles of driving range.
In Florida, there are Rivian Adventure Network charging stations in Daytona Beach and Chipley in the Panhandle. This year, it plans to add West Melbourne and Tallahassee.
R.J. Scaringe founded Rivian, headquartered in Irvine, California, in 2009. The company manufactures its vehicles in Normal, Illinois, about 130 miles south of Chicago. A second plant is planned in Social Circle, Georgia, about 40 miles east of Atlanta.
It released its first-quarter financial results May 6.
Rivian reported a $206 million gross profit in the quarter, a $1 billion investment from Volkswagen Group and 36,000 demo drives — the highest number in a quarter to date.
“This quarter we hit our second consecutive gross profit and our highest gross profit to date at $206 million. We have continued to make significant progress on R2, including vehicle validation builds underway and our Normal, Illinois and manufacturing facility expansion on track,” Scaringe said in the report.