Rivian has announced initial award recipients for grants from its philanthropic arm, coming a few years after the electric vehicle (EV) maker first detailed plans for the project.
On Monday, the company launched a dedicated website detailing the Rivian Foundation, which the company first announced in 2021 as a way to provide funding to sustainability and conservation projects. Rivian has named the first 41 grant winners, mostly based in the U.S., which will collectively be awarded over $10 million over the course of one- and two-year projects.
The awards range in value from $2 million to smaller grants between $40,000 and $60,000, with a number of other totals in between. The Rivian Foundation is also giving to projects with a broad range of geographical scopes, with some being granted to those in specific U.S. states, across the country, or in North America overall, along with some footing more global efforts.
The top awardee was The Nature Conservancy, which received $2 million as part of a two-year project to help preserve wildlife and protect cultural resources in California. Other high-value grantees included the global Ocean Resilience Climate Alliance (ORCA) and the U.S.-based Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy, which received $1 million and $500,000, respectively.
Rivian Foundation: initial grant recipients
- Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy ($500,000)
- Billion Oyster Project ($100,000)
- CalWild ($50,000)
- Conservation Lands Foundation ($400,000)
- Cumberland River Compact ($100,000)
- Deep Sea Conservation Coalition ($200,000)
- Duwamish River Community Coalition ($140,000)
- Ecology Action Center ($60,000)
- Force Blue ($200,000)
- Friends of the Owyhee ($60,000)
- Grid Alternatives ($300,000)
- Georgia Conservancy ($140,000)
- Greening Youth Foundation ($120,000)
- Harlem Grown ($100,000)
- Indigenous Led ($250,000)
- Laguna Canyon Foundation ($60,000)
- Maasai Wilderness Conservation ($300,000)
- Mad Agriculture ($140,000)
- National Indian Carbon Coalition ($300,000)
- Nature for All ($120,000)
- Northern Chumash Tribal Council ($140,000)
- Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project ($100,000)
- Ocean Resilience Climate Alliance (ORCA) ($1,000,000)
- Open Space Institute ($250,000)
- Oregon Natural Desert Association ($140,000)
- Prairie Rivers Network ($100,000)
- Resolve ($125,000)
- Rare ($300,000)
- Save The Waves ($160,000)
- Shelterwood Collective ($100,000)
- Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) ($300,000)
- Soul Trak Outdoors ($40,000)
- South River Watershed Alliance ($80,000)
- Surfrider Foundation ($200,000)
- The Ecology Center ($180,000)
- The Film Collaborative ($250,000)
- The Greening of Detroit ($180,000)
- The Nature Conservancy ($2,000,000)
- Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy ($100,000)
- Trout Unlimited ($300,000)
- Urban Roots ($80,000)
- Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust ($370,000)
Rivian has also shared additional details on each grant program selected, which you can find on its website here.
Rivian Foundation mission, renewable matching, R1 footprint report
Upon initially announcing the philanthropic program, Rivian said it would dedicate 1 percent of its equity at the time of its IPO to the foundation’s efforts, as part of a mission to make the “natural world” a stakeholder.
Rivian also announced a renewable energy matching initiative on Monday, in which it’s purchasing 4.8 MWh of renewable energy certificates (RECs) from U.S. wind and solar projects for every vehicle it sells by the end of the year. The company also shared its initial carbon footprint report for the R1 Gen 2 this month, noting that it has decreased vehicle carbon footprint by 15 percent with the newly refreshed EVs.
Rivian opens Yosemite Charging Outpost with snacks, games, and more
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla has lost its Model Y Program Manager, he announced on LinkedIn, marking the second major departure from the company today.
Emmanuel Lamacchia has been in the role for 4 years and 7 months, responsible for the rollout of the all-electric crossover in several markets.
The Model Y became the best-selling vehicle in the world for two years under Lamacchia’s watch, making this a huge loss for the company. However, it seems the decision was made under Lamacchia’s own initiative.
He confirmed his decision on LinkedIn:
“After 8 incredible years, I’m moving on from Tesla.
What a journey it’s been… from leading NPI for Model 3 and Model Y variants to becoming the Vehicle Program Manager for Model Y, the best-selling car in the world!
Leading the All-New Model Y launch was the highlight: converting all 4 factories across 3 continents in just 2 weeks. Something that had never been done before in the auto industry.
To the teams who made this possible: you should be incredibly proud. This achievement belongs to you: the engineers, designers, buyers, and associates in Fremont, Shanghai, Berlin, and Austin who turned an impossible timeline into reality.
Grateful to the leaders who trusted me with programs that stretched my capabilities and to the cross-functional partners who showed me that great solutions come from collaboration, not hierarchy.
Tesla taught me how to move fast without breaking things and how to scale from prototypes to millions of units.
Excited for what’s next. More to share soon.”
It marks the second major program loss for Tesla today, as it also bid farewell to Cybertruck and Model 3 Program Manager Siddhant Awasthi, who said he left voluntarily in “one of the hardest decisions of his life.”
Lamacchia was at Tesla for just a shade under eight years, and previously worked for Rolls-Royce for roughly the same amount of time.
After the loss of both Lamacchia and Awasthi today, Tesla has lost a handful of key executives in 2025, including:
- David Imai, Director of Design
- David Lau, VP of Software Engineering
- Mark Westfall, Head of Mechanical Engineering
- Prashant Menon, Regional Director in India
- Vineet Mehta, Head of Battery Architecture
- Omead Afshar, VP/Head of Sales and Manufacturing in North America
- Milan Kovac, Head of Optimus Team
- Jenna Ferrua, Director of HR
- Troy Jones, VP of Sales, Service, and Delivery
- Pete Bannon, VP of Hardware Engineering
- Piero Landolfi, Director of Service
News
Tesla prepares to expand Giga Texas with new Optimus production plant
Drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer recognized Tesla construction crews performing ground leveling and clearing efforts at the plant earlier today.
Tesla is preparing to expand Gigafactory Texas once again with a brand new facility that will house the eventual manufacturing efforts for Optimus, its humanoid robot.
It is already building some units on a Pilot line at the Fremont Factory in Northern California, but Tesla is planning to build the vast majority of its Optimus project at Gigafactory Texas.
Tesla Optimus gets its latest job, and it’s not in the company’s factories
It will build one million units per year in Fremont, but CEO Elon Musk said the company would build 10 million units every year in Texas at a new building at Giga Texas.
Musk said:
“I think there could be tens of billions of Optimus robots out there. Um, now obviously it’s very important we pay close attention to safety here. Then a 10 million unit uh per year production line here the I don’t know where we’re going to put the 100 million unit production line. on Mars. Maybe on Mars, I don’t know.”
Evidently, Tesla is ready to begin thinking about the production efforts of Optimus beyond a theoretical standpoint and is starting to prepare for the construction of the manufacturing plant on Giga Texas property.
Drone operator Joe Tegtmeyer recognized Tesla construction crews performing ground leveling and clearing efforts at the plant earlier today:
Giga Texas News!
A brand-new, stand-alone factory is starting construction! This follows the Shareholders meeting & info that a 10-million-per-year @Tesla_Optimus production facility “on the Giga Texas campus” will be built & enter into production in 2027!
Here are some… pic.twitter.com/7ig5DohfOt
— Joe Tegtmeyer 🚀 🤠🛸😎 (@JoeTegtmeyer) November 10, 2025
Production is still slated for 2027, at least at Gigafactory Texas. As previously mentioned, the company is building some units in Fremont for the time being, at least until subsequent versions of the Optimus project advance.
Tesla has done a great job of advancing Optimus forward, but it also has truly grand expectations for the project.
Musk said it could potentially be the biggest product in the history of the planet, as it will revolutionize the way humans perform tasks, probably eliminating monotonous tasks from everyday life.
Tesla revealed its first customer for the all-electric Semi truck after it launches next year. Who it truly is should not be a surprise.
The Semi is going to finally start deliveries to new companies outside of Tesla’s pilot program starting in 2026. The company has been building a dedicated production facility in Reno, Nevada, that has finally taken shape, but Tesla was evidently not finished with the Semi’s development.
Last week at the Annual Shareholder Meeting, Tesla said it had implemented some new designs into the Semi, helping with efficiency, updating its design, and making it a more suitable vehicle for hauling loads, as the changes also helped increase payload.
Tesla has obtained a lengthy list of companies that have committed to implementing the Semi in their own fleets, hoping to bring their logistics lineups up to date with electric powertrains and autonomous technologies.
While it is already operating a pilot program with PepsiCo. and Frito-Lay, Tesla will expand to other businesses, primarily using it internally after its launch.
Head of the Semi program at Tesla, Dan Priestley, said the company would be the first user of the vehicle after its launch next year. It has been using it to a certain extent, but the company has not been able to completely abandon gas haulers.
Instead, it will implement the Semi into its fleet for more sustainable vehicle logistics starting next year:
Tesla will be the first customer as we electrify our supply chain. This includes Texas operations.
— Dan Priestley (@danWpriestley) November 7, 2025
Tesla has already received orders for the Semi from a variety of large companies, including Walmart, Sysco, Anheuser-Busch, UPS, DHL, J.B. Hunt, among others.
Many analysts see the Tesla Semi as a major contributor to future growth and increasing value within the company, especially from a Wall Street perspective. Some firms say the Semi is one of several near and medium-term contributors to the company increasing its market cap.
Cantor Fitzgerald is just one of those firms, as last week it explicitly listed the Semi as a catalyst.
Analyst Andres Sheppard said, “Overall, we remain bullish on TSLA over the medium to long term. We continue to see meaningful future upside from Energy Storage & Deployment, FSD, Robotaxis/Cybercab, Semis, and Optimus Bots.”
Tesla loses Model Y program manager in second blow in single day
Tesla prepares to expand Giga Texas with new Optimus production plant
Tesla reveals its first Semi customer after launch
-
News3 days agoTesla shares rare peek at Semi factory’s interior
-
Elon Musk3 days agoTesla says texting and driving capability is coming ‘in a month or two’
-
News2 days agoTesla makes online ordering even easier
-
News2 days agoTesla Model Y Performance set for new market entrance in Q1
-
News3 days agoTesla Cybercab production starts Q2 2026, Elon Musk confirms
-
News3 days agoTesla China expecting full FSD approval in Q1 2026: Elon Musk
-
News4 days agoTesla Model Y Performance is rapidly moving toward customer deliveries
-
News23 hours agoTesla is launching a crazy new Rental program with cheap daily rates