Elon’s former righthand man, Elon Musk, is making EVs affordable by recycling used batteries.

Redwood Materials employees dismantling a battery module.Redwood Materials
A new plant has been announced by the EV battery recycling company in South Carolina. The new plant will allow carmakers to get the materials needed to make EV battery batteries. This news is crucial as car companies race for compliance with this summer’s climate laws.

Redwood Materials, a giant in electric vehicle battery recycling, is investing $3.5 billion in a new factory. Its location near the American “battery belt”, is critical to auto companies for several reasons.

Redwood, which is run by JB Straubel (Elon Musk’s former right-handman at Tesla), recycles and refines precious materials such as lithium, nickel and cobalt that can be found in lithium-ion battery packs from electric cars and consumer electronics. Then, they send them back into the supply chains.

The new plant, which will be the company’s second, will be located near Charleston, South Carolina. Redwood claims it will begin construction in the first quarter 2023 and have it operational by the end. It is expected to supply 1,000,000 EVs annually.

Redwood’s headquarters is in Carson City, Nevada, but this plant is in the “battery Belt”: This area of the country, especially in the Southeast, is where battery manufacturers, car companies and others are opening new EV development shops.

Redwood refines and recycles precious materials like nickel and lithium that are found in lithium-ion batteries used from electric cars. Redwood Materials

Ford opened its BlueOval City campus and Kentucky’s two battery plants. Through its joint venture with LG Energy Solution and Ultium Cells, GM is investing in Tennessee battery-making. Panasonic is building a new Kansas battery factory. Hyundai invests in EVs in Georgia and in battery production.

Redwood’s rapid ramp-up is also critical as the auto industry races for compliance with this summer’s massive climate law. This law requires that car companies source and manufacture certain percentages of their EVs in their home country if they wish to be eligible for tax credits.

Even without federal support, the industry worked to bring all the parts of the new EV battery supply chain to America in an effort to lower materials costs and reduce the price tag for buyers.

Recycling can help ease the supply crunch and ultimately lower costs by allowing more people to use these materials. The better the industry can recycle, the more it will benefit.

Redwood goes beyond the recycling process by next, remanufacturing materials.

Jackson Switzer, Redwood’s senior director of business development, said that the goal is to create the most sustainable batteries materials. He was also one of Insider’s 100 People Transforming Business. We need to make sustainable battery materials by getting as much nickel, cobalt and lithium recycled into the system’s front end. The front end of the system must be scaled, which effectively amounts to recycling.

Business Insider has the original article.
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By: astjohn@insider.com (Alexa St. John)
Title: Elon Musk’s former right-hand man is taking the next big step in his plan to make EVs cheaper by recycling old batteries
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/redwood-materials-electric-vehicle-battery-recycling-expands-2022-12
Published Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2022 15:27:17 +0000