Redwood Supplies has signed a long-term contract to provide Toyota Motor with recycled supplies for the Japanese automaker’s $13.9 billion North Carolina electrical automobile battery plant, Redwood stated Thursday.
The Nevada-based supplies specialist stated it will remanufacture EV battery parts from supplies provided by Toyota and recycled from end-of-life autos, primarily hybrid-electric fashions such because the Prius.
Redwood, one of many world’s main battery recyclers, didn’t disclose particulars on worth or timing of the settlement.
In an interview, Redwood Chief Government J.B. Straubel, a co-founder and a director of worldwide EV chief Tesla, stated the brand new contract will allow Redwood’s enterprise “to develop and develop with Toyota’s future wants.”
“We need to be an answer for them for years to come back,” Straubel stated. “I count on they’re going to be persevering with to develop that plant and possibly others.”
Straubel has stated Redwood is constructing a closed-loop, or round, battery ecosystem geared toward decreasing EV prices by lessening dependence on imported supplies whereas decreasing the environmental affect.
Redwood goals to construct annual battery part manufacturing capability within the U.S. of 100 gigawatt-hours — sufficient to provide greater than 1 million EVs a 12 months, with the long-range choice to develop annual capability to 500 GWh.
Straubel, previously Tesla’s chief know-how officer, based Redwood in 2017. The corporate has raised $2 billion at a valuation of $5.25 billion, in keeping with investor web site PitchBook, and has negotiated a Division of Power-backed $2 billion mortgage.
Straubel stated the corporate will provide battery parts to Toyota from its Sparks, Nevada facility and finally from a $3.5 billion facility it’s constructing outdoors Charleston, South Carolina.
Redwood will promote remanufactured cathode lively materials, created from recycled lithium, nickel and cobalt, in addition to anode foil created from recycled copper. These two parts characterize a majority of the price of present lithium-ion cells.
A number of corporations have introduced plans to make battery parts in North America, to make the most of incentives constructed into the U.S. Inflation Discount Act and comparable laws geared toward decreasing imports of batteries and supplies from China.
Redwood beforehand introduced recycling offers with Panasonic, Volkswagen and Ford, amongst others. Redwood is also promoting remanufactured battery parts to Panasonic, which collectively operates an EV battery plant with Tesla in Nevada.
(Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Enhancing by David Gregorio)