With initial partners Ford Motor Company and Volvo, Redwood begins collecting and recycling EV batteries
Redwood is launching the most comprehensive 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 will accept all lithium-ion (Li-ion) and nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries in the state and welcome other automakers to join in the effort.
To truly make electric vehicles sustainable and affordable, pathways are needed for end-of-life battery packs to be collected, recycled and remanufactured into new battery materials. Scaling production of EVs, increasingly from recycled materials, domestically, is the only way to create a circular and, therefore, 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 its 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 – most of the recycled lithium-ion batteries in North America today. The company has been ramping its processes in preparation for the first wave of these vehicles to come off roads and it is ready to support the battery market in identifying and creating pathways to collect battery packs.
California has always been a leader in the transition to electric transportation and, as a result, is the oldest and one of the largest electric vehicle markets on earth. When the first major wave of EVs begins to retire from roads, it will happen in California.
When first announced its partnership with Ford last year, the company shared that its initial workstream was to collaborate to determine how it can 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 our facilities in neighboring Northern Nevada, and then return high-quality, recycled materials back into domestic cell production. Over time, as EOL packs scale, we expect 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. It will demonstrate the value of end-of-life packs today and how they can steadily improve those economics as volumes scale up. Ultimately, its aim is to create the most effective and sustainable closed-loop system that physics, and chemistry will allow for end-of-life battery packs to re-enter the domestic supply chain. The company looks forward to working with the State of California, dismantlers, dealers, and other automakers.
