Redwood Materials goals to recycle all VW and Audi EV batteries in North America

Volkswagen Group of America is the newest automaker to group up with Redwood Materials for battery recycling.

Redwood would be the designated recycler for all VW EV batteries in North America, in addition to these from the Audi luxurious model, the businesses mentioned Tuesday in a press launch. Redwood mentioned it should work instantly with VW sellers to get better batteries after they’ve ended their helpful lives in EVs. Those batteries will then be shipped to amenities in Nevada for recycling.

Redwood claims it may get better greater than 95% of metals, together with nickel, cobalt, lithium, and copper, from batteries. That matches a aim set by VW for battery recycling final 12 months. And recovered supplies will probably be used to fabricate new anode and cathode elements that will probably be provided to cell producers within the United States, Redwood claims.

Ford and Toyota have additionally teamed up with Redwood for battery recycling, and the corporate claims to deal with nearly all of present lithium-ion battery recycling in North America. Redwood claims to deal with 6 GWh of batteries yearly, with considerably bigger quantities doable as its companion automakers ramp up manufacturing of EVs.

As extra EVs attain North American roads, Redwood envisions a bigger stockpile of recyclable battery packs, with supplies recovered from these packs driving down the price of new autos. The battery recycling trade will not attain these volumes straight away, although.

Founder and Tesla veteran JB Straubel has mentioned that the majority EV batteries will final 15 years, so the recycling portion of the trade has slightly time to ramp up. Overall, it is a “less sexy” however super-important a part of the trade as EVs turn into the long run.