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(VIDEO) Redwood Materials launches new EV battery recycling program in California

Ford Motor Company and Volvo Cars are the first automakers to directly support the program, but Redwood will accept all lithium-ion (Li-ion) and nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries in California.

Redwood has launched an electric vehicle battery recycling program, beginning in California, to establish efficient, safe, and effective recovery pathways for end-of-life hybrid and electric vehicle battery packs. Ford Motor Company and Volvo Cars are the first automakers to directly support the program, but Redwood will accept all lithium-ion (Li-ion) and nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries in California. Redwood will welcome other automakers who wish to join the program. 

To make electric vehicles sustainable and affordable, pathways for end-of-life battery packs to be collected, recycled, and remanufactured into new battery materials need to be created. Scaling production of EVs, increasingly from recycled materials, is how  Redwood can create a circular, sustainable, and secure supply chain to meet the US' electrification plans. While the first major wave of end-of-life electric vehicles is still a few years away, Redwood and the company's initial partners at Ford and Volvo are committed to creating these pathways now.  

Annually, 6 GWh of lithium-ion batteries, or the equivalent of 60,000 EVs, come through Redwood's doors. The company has been accelerating its processes in preparation for the first wave of these vehicles to come off roads and is ready to support the battery market in identifying and creating pathways to collect battery packs. 

California has been at the forefront of the transition to electric transportation and has one of the largest electric vehicle markets. When the first major wave of EVs begins to retire from roads, it will happen in California.

When Redwood first partnered with Ford last, the company shared that its initial workstream was to collaborate to determine how to create pathways together for Ford and Lincoln electrified vehicles to come off the road at the end of their lives and be recycled and manufactured into battery materials to make more locally manufactured electric vehicles. Volvo, while a new relationship, is similarly focused on ensuring responsible and secure pathways for end-of-life batteries.   

Redwood will work directly with dealers and dismantlers in California to identify and recover end-of-life packs. Redwood will then safely package, transport, and recycle these batteries at Redwood facilities in neighboring Northern Nevada, and then return high-quality, recycled materials back into domestic cell production. Over time, as EOL packs scale, Redwood expects these batteries to become valuable assets that will help make EVs more sustainable and affordable. 

Redwood's goal is to learn and share those learnings with the industry. The company will demonstrate the value of end-of-life packs and how to improve those economics as volumes scale up. Another goal of Redwood is to create an effective and sustainable closed-loop system for end-of-life battery packs to re-enter the domestic supply chain.

Company info

2801 Lockheed Way
Carson City, NV
US, 89706

Website:
redwoodmaterials.com

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