Redwood Supplies is repurposing previous EV batteries into vitality storage techniques that price “considerably much less” than model new storage initiatives, the corporate mentioned Thursday.
The electric vehicle battery recycling and manufacturing venture, which was based by Tesla’s former chief technologist, has created a brand new division referred to as Redwood Power to handle these initiatives. The intention is to divert “depreciated however useful” EV batteries from the recycling stream and repurpose them into “low-cost, large-scale” vitality storage techniques that may assist plug important gaps within the vitality grid.
Redwood says it receives over 20 GWh of batteries yearly — the equal of 250,000 EVs— which represents about 90 p.c of all lithium-ion batteries and battery supplies recycled in North America. And infrequently instances, the batteries it receives for recycling nonetheless have quite a lot of usable vitality capability — as much as 50 p.c. These are batteries which might be now not appropriate to energy an electrical automobile, however nonetheless have sufficient life in them to serve some goal.
So moderately than recycle these nonetheless useful batteries, Redwood is popping them into stationary storage techniques. And the corporate says this will likely be a rising alternative as extra EV batteries attain the tip of their lifespan. Redwood estimates that greater than 100,000 EVs will come off the street this 12 months alone.
After recovering the battery packs, Redwoods engineers carry out a diagnostics examine to find out whether or not its an appropriate candidate for restoration or recycling. If its reusable, the pack is put in into “versatile, modular storage techniques” which might function independently or hook up with the grid. Redwood says it has “over a gigawatt-hour” of reusable batteries in its pipeline, a quantity it expects to develop by 5 GWhs within the coming 12 months.
Redwood has already deployed its first microgrid powered by upcycled EV batteries. The grid, with 12 MW of energy and 63 MWh of capability, is situated on the firm’s campus in Nevada and is getting used to energy a 2,000-GPU modular knowledge heart for AI infrastructure firm Crusoe. Redwood calls it the “largest second-life battery deployment on the planet” with sufficient vitality to energy “9,000 properties, assist 20 Amtrak journeys between New York and Washington, D.C., or cost an EV for a 240,000-mile journey—the gap to the moon.”
Redwood Supplies was based in 2017 by JB Straubel. Along with breaking down scrap from Tesla’s battery-making course of with Panasonic, Redwood additionally recycles batteries from Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Specialized, Amazon, Lyft, Rad Power Bikes, Lime, stationary storage facilities, and others. The corporate additionally produces anodes and cathodes, important battery elements, at a facility in South Carolina.
