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VW’s “Dirty Diesels” gives life to Rivian’s future EV manufacturing plant

Photo: Jim Finch for Teslarati

Published

8 years ago

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Nothing normal is happening at the newly acquired Rivian Automotive Factory in Normal, IL. Teslarati has discovered a massive stockpile of Volkswagen’s “dirty diesels” being stored on the aspiring electric car startup’s vast factory parking lot. The VWs on site were produced over the course of 6 years between 2009-2015, and are vehicles equipped with an emissions cheating device that became the subject of the global “VW Dieselgate scandal” which took place last year.

The owner of the plant, Rivian Automotive, is looking to make moves in the central Illinois town by developing their first production electric vehicle from the newly acquired ex-Mitsubishi factory. The company is leasing an onsite storage lot to a logistics company that’s responsible for transporting the thousands of affected vehicles to an unknown final destination.

Aerial inspections obtained via drone video by Teslarati, show an estimated 14,000 VWs being stored on the facility lots adjoining Rivian’s main factory. The plant was owned by Mitsubishi Motors until June 2016, before Rivian Automotive purchased the entire facility in January 2017 for $2 million. The facility was built in 1988 and boasts 1.9 million square feet of space, before expanding to 2.4 million square feet in 2003. Mitsubishi’s sales of the Outlander Sport (the sole vehicle produced at the factory) slumped when the Russian recession began in 2014; the vehicle was a massive hit in the country. The plant once employed 3,400 employees and ended production with 1,280 in late 2015.

“We know that the TDI emissions issue has understandably eroded the trust that we have worked so hard to build with you, our customers.” – VW in a pamphlet to affected customers

Images showing thousands of VW diesels on site paint a clear picture of the German automaker’s failure to come up with a real fix for vehicles equipped with emission cheating devices. VW has also been storing affected vehicles at the Pontiac Silverdome but based on our estimates, Rivian’s factory storage lots are approximately two and a half times larger than the Silverdome’s lots.

“These vehicles will be held  and routinely maintained until it is determined whether an approved emissions modification becomes available. If approved, the settlement allows Volkswagen to modify affected 2.0L TDI vehicles so they can be returned to commerce or exported. Vehicles that are not modified must be responsibly recycled.” – Jeannine Ginivan, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

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Uncertain effects from possible fixes

The vehicles stored at the site are expected to be pulled for parts and scrapped, but the company has not released official plans for all of 475,000 vehicles affected in the US as part of “Dieselgate”. VW is in the process of buying some vehicles and working towards solutions for vehicles that have been less affected by the emission devices. The 67,000 2015 3rd generation VW diesels were the first to receive an approved fix earlier this year. The fix does not bring the cars within federal compliance, but the vehicles emit significantly less NOx pollutant. VW is expected to release a phase 2 fix for the 3rd generation vehicles in 2018, which will bring the vehicles into federal compliance.

A spokesperson for Volkswagen Group of America told Teslarati that they have removed or modified more than 25% of the affected vehicles in the US, insinuating that the firm has bought back over 50,000 diesel cars since beginning the program four months ago (~67,000 were modified).

Software fixes to the 3rd generation vehicles will cause the following changes to the cars:

  • Reduced performance in sport mode
  • Engine sound variation
  • 1-14 percent higher diesel exhaust fluid use

Owners of affected vehicles that have been given an approved fix also received two-thirds of the restitution cash that the company is issuing to customers. The last third will be distributed to owners after the phase 2 hardware update is completed. The phase 2 modifications are not designed to cause major differences in consumption or acceleration, but the cars efficiency and driving characteristics may change. Recently, The Daily Mail has reported that fixes to UK cars have resulted in “poor fuel consumption, weak acceleration, and mysterious rattles”.

Aerial Imagery of the Rivian Automotive Plant

While the terms of the deal between Rivian and Vascor Logistics are confidential, we know that revenue from the contract is contributing to the development of Rivian’s electric vehicle lineup. The global logistics company provides significant logistical services to automotive companies, one of which is VW. Rivian took ownership of the factory in January and has received incentive deals from both the State of Illinois and local municipalities.

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“We are working hard to utilize the factory leading up to our production launch.” Rivian CEO, RJ Scaringe said in a comment to Teslarati.

The factory has direct access to several nearby interstate routes and has a rail car station directly on the property. Mitsubishi shipped a large portion of its vehicles around the globe from the facility, and to this day still has an operations warehouse near their old plant that’s being used for vehicle parts storage and logistics.

As Rivian continues developing their electric vehicle lineup, the company can make use of the factory by leasing out the vehicle storage lots and generate revenue. It is unclear how many more vehicles will be stored in Normal, IL or how long the vehicles will be retained on site, but Vascor’s operations at the factory appeared to be very active. VW’s polluting diesels are now giving way to the future of the automotive industry.

Vascor Logistics & Wheelan Security did not respond to our request for comment.

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Christian Prenzler is currently the VP of Business Development at Teslarati, leading strategic partnerships, content development, email newsletters, and subscription programs. Additionally, Christian thoroughly enjoys investigating pivotal moments in the emerging mobility sector and sharing these stories with Teslarati's readers. He has been closely following and writing on Tesla and disruptive technology for over seven years. You can contact Christian here: christian@teslarati.com

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Elon Musk reveals Tesla’s next Robotaxi expansion in more ways than one

Tesla Robotaxi is growing in more ways than one. Tesla wants to expand and hopes to reach half the U.S. population by the end of the year.

Published

9 hours ago

on

July 24, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the company’s plans for its next expansion of the Robotaxi in terms of both the geofence in Austin and the platform overall, as it looks to move to new areas outside of Texas.

Tesla launched the Robotaxi platform last month on June 22, and has since expanded both the pool of users and the area that the driverless Model Y vehicles can travel within.

The first expansion of the geofence caught the attention of nearly everyone and became a huge headline as Tesla picked a very interesting shape for the new geofence, resembling male reproductive parts.

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The next expansion will likely absolve this shape. Musk revealed last night that the new geofence will be “well in excess of what competitors are doing,” and it could happen “hopefully in a week or two.”

Musk’s full quote regarding the expansion of the geofence and the timing was:

“As some may have noted, we have already expanded our service area in Austin. It’s bigger and longer, and it’s going to get even bigger and longer. We are expecting to greatly increase the service area to well in excess of what competitors are doing, hopefully in a week or two.”

The expansion will not stop there, either. As Tesla has operated the Robotaxi platform in Austin for the past month, it has been working with regulators in other areas, like California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida, to get the driverless ride-hailing system activated in more U.S. states.

Tesla confirmed that they are in talks with each of these states regarding the potential expansion of Robotaxi.

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Musk added:

“As we get the approvals and prove out safety, we will be launching the autonomous ride-hailing across most of the country. I think we will probably have autonomous ride-hailing in probably half the population of the US by the end of the year.”

We know that Tesla and Musk have been prone to aggressive and sometimes outlandish timelines regarding self-driving technology specifically. Regulatory approvals could happen by the end of the year in several areas, and working on these large metros is the best way to reach half of the U.S. population.

Tesla said its expansion of the geofence in Austin is conservative and controlled due to its obsession with safety, even admitting at one point during the Earnings Call that they are being “paranoid.” Expanding the geofence is necessary, but Tesla realizes any significant mistake by Robotaxi could take it back to square one.

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Tesla warns customers of incentive strategy on EVs as tax credit nears end

If you’re thinking of buying a Tesla, the time to order is now, the company claimed.

Published

11 hours ago

on

July 24, 2025

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla has warned customers about its incentive strategy for qualifying electric vehicles, as the days of both the $7,500 EV tax credit for new EVs and the $4,000 credit for used EVs are coming to a close.

Both tax credits, which impact some of the vehicles in the Tesla lineup, are set to be eliminated at the end of Q3. The phase out of these consumer credits was always in the plans of the Trump Administration, but now we’re in the final quarter of their existence.

As a result, EV companies are scrambling to see how they can reduce costs or make their vehicles more affordable for customers. The $7,500 will price many consumers out of many EVs on the market, and Tesla is not immune to that.

However, Tesla has made a significant push into Q3 deliveries, rolling out numerous incentives to customers, including 0% APR on select purchases, lease deals, free upgrades on certain inventory units, and more.

The extensive list of incentives on Tesla vehicles in the quarter will not get any longer, either. During last night’s Tesla Earnings Call for the second quarter of 2025, company executives stated that their intention for these incentives was to encourage customers to place orders early in the quarter.

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Tesla will only be able to apply the $7,500 credit with deliveries that occur before the end of September. Even if an order is placed before then, delivery must be completed by September 31 to receive the tax credit.

CFO Vaibhav Taneja confirmed that the incentives for the quarter are already out and encouraged customers to place an order sooner rather than later:

“Given the abrupt change, we have a limited supply of vehicles in the US this quarter. As we are already within lead times to order parts for cars, we have rolled out all our planned incentives already and will start pairing them back as we start to sell. If you are in the US and looking to buy a car, let’s roll now as we may not be able to guarantee delivery for orders placed in the later part of August and beyond.”

The loss of the incentives will impact every EV maker in the United States. Tesla has a plan moving forward, and it said last night that its affordable models would be rolled out in Q4, as introducing these cars any earlier could have detrimental effects on Model 3 and Model Y sales.

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Tesla Model Y awarded Top Safety Pick+ from IIHS

The new Model Y continues to impress with this new award.

Published

12 hours ago

on

July 24, 2025

By

(Credit: Tesla)

The 2025 Tesla Model Y was one of two midsize luxury SUVs to receive the Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

To qualify for the IIHS’s Top Safety Pick+ or even the lower-tier Top Safety Pick label, vehicles need good ratings in the small overlap front and side crash tests, an acceptable or good rating in the pedestrian front crash prevention evaluation, and acceptable or good ratings for headlights across all trim levels.

The difference between the two labels is that an “Acceptable” rating in the moderate overlap front test will get a car the Top Safety Pick rating, but a “Good” rating in this category will win the elusive Top Safety Pick+ category.

The 2025 Model Y, codenamed “Juniper” internally by Tesla, was released in the United States earlier this year and received the top rating across each of the categories, automatically qualifying it for the Top Safety Pick+ label:

Other vehicles in Tesla’s lineup have extraordinary marks in crash testing according to other agencies, like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), but there are reasons those cars are not on the IIHS lists.

In 2024, we reported that the IIHS had evaluated some Tesla vehicles for the necessary tests to achieve these marks. Joe Young of the agency told us that the Model 3, for example, was not featured on either the Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ lists because the vehicle had several missing tests.

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Here’s why the Tesla Model 3 wasn’t an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, and why it could be soon

This is not to say those other Tesla vehicles would not perform well. The Cybertruck performed better than any pickup has ever in NHTSA crash testing assessments.

The Model Y is Tesla’s most popular vehicle and was the best-selling car in the world over the past two years. Tesla’s intense focus on safety continues to show that this priority goes into every decision the company makes regarding design and engineering. This focus has continued to pay dividends as some real-world crashes save the lives of those inside the cars.

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