Fire damages dozens of EVs waiting to be delivered

A fire in the holding yard outside US electric vehicle (EV) specialist Rivian’s factory has damaged dozens of SUVs and pickups waiting to be delivered to their owners.

Illinois news outlet 25 News Now claims the unexplained fire broke out before 9:45pm on Saturday August 27, and continued to burn through the night and into Sunday before being extinguished that evening.

No injuries were reported and the factory itself was unscathed, however a video of the fire uploaded to YouTubeshows how intensely it burned.

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On Facebook, a photo and video of the holding yard shows the damaged vehicles have since been segregated from those unaffected by shipping containers, believed to be an attempt at protecting more vehicles if another fire breaks out.

Rivian hasn’t yet disclosed how many vehicles caught fire or suffered damage due to the blaze, telling 25 News Now it was investigating the cause of the inferno.

With retail prices of the Rivian R1T pickup and R1S SUV starting from US$69,900 (A$103,225) and $75,900 (A$112,080) respectively, it’s expected the damage bill will run into the multi-millions.

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