Ford, Redwood type ’round’ provide chain for EV battery supplies By Reuters

By Paul Lienert

(Reuters) – Ford Motor (NYSE:) Co and startup Redwood (NYSE:) Supplies stated on Wednesday they’re partnering to type a “closed loop” or round provide chain for electrical car batteries, from uncooked supplies to recycling.

The goal is to decrease the price of EVs by lowering the dependence on imported supplies, whereas additionally narrowing the environmental affect from mining and refining of battery supplies.

Ford and Redwood will work carefully with Korean battery maker SK Innovation, which has a three way partnership with Ford referred to as BlueOvalSK to make EV battery cells in the USA, Ford govt Lisa Drake stated at a media briefing.

The problem

Redwood, which was based in 2017 by former Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc govt J.B. Straubel, has been recycling battery scrap and supplies at services in Nevada.

In mid-September, the corporate stated it could increase its enterprise to incorporate refining these supplies into battery elements, together with cathodes and anodes, with the goal of supplying sufficient of these elements to equip 1,000,000 electrical automobiles after 2025.

In July, Redwood raised $700 million from buyers, together with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:), Constancy, T. Rowe Worth and Baillie Gifford. On Wednesday, Straubel stated Ford had invested $50 million. Redwood at the moment is valued at $3.7 billion by investor web site PitchBook.

Redwood has partnerships with battery makers Panasonic (OTC:) in Nevada and Envision AESC in Tennessee, in addition to Amazon.

The problem of battery life-cycle administration has taken on rising significance within the plans of each car and battery producers.

Normal Motors Co (NYSE:) President Mark Reuss, at a convention on Tuesday, stated recycling and reuse of EV battery supplies is an important challenge for the auto trade because it ramps up manufacturing of electrical automobiles.

“There’s loads of materials in a battery cell that may be reused,” he stated. “We’re spending time on that.”

GM and battery companion LG Vitality Answer in Might introduced a partnership with startup Li-Cycle to recycle battery scrap materials from Ultium Cells, the GM-LGES three way partnership that’s constructing battery crops in Ohio and Tennessee.

Straubel stated Redwood goals to start recycling some materials from Ford this yr, with the aim of supplying the primary anode materials in 2023-2024 and the primary cathode materials at mid-decade.