Redwood Supplies will recycle e-bike batteries for Rad Energy Bikes in North America, thus getting into an often-overlooked marketplace for LEV batteries. Based by former Tesla man JB Straubel, Redwood additionally works with Panasonic, carmakers, and bike makers Specialised.
The brand new take care of Rad Energy Bikes is notable for the reason that firm claims it was among the many high sellers of electrical bikes in North America, nonetheless, specialising in fat-tired e-bikes with massive batteries and cargo-carrying capability.
Clients can deliver their depleted batteries to Rad Energy Bikes’ retail areas, after which the corporate will ship them to Redwood Supplies. The corporate at present operates ten retail and repair areas in North America. Choose Rad shops in California and Washington may also function drop-off areas for previous smartphones, laptops, and tablets, for Redwood’s rising client e-waste assortment program, so the assertion.
As a lot as it might be wanted, the service is “in-store solely,” seemingly resulting from e-bike batteries nonetheless counting as harmful items when shipped.
Redwood Supplies was based in 2017 by Jeffrey “JB” Straubel, former chief know-how officer of Tesla. Along with breaking down scrap from Tesla’s battery-making course of with Panasonic, Redwood reportedly recycles batteries from Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Specialised, Amazon, Lyft, and others. The corporate additionally produces cathode and anode elements.
Redwood claims it may recycle and reuse greater than 95 per cent of the important metals discovered within the batteries it collects, together with nickel, cobalt, copper, aluminium, lithium, and graphite.
The information was a part of an replace launched in March of this 12 months when it collected and recycled 1,268 end-of-life lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride battery packs over twelve months. Already on the time, Redwood stated that recycling was not probably the most important price issue. It’s the logistics. The big automobile batteries have been collected in California however processed in northern Nevada. “The important thing to lowering logistics prices for end-of-life battery packs is to realize economies of scale by means of elevated assortment quantity, and Redwood is assured that, in time, as EOL pack volumes enhance, the logistics price will lower in order that batteries will develop into property that may assist make EVs extra sustainable and inexpensive in the long term.”
Redwood’s recycling course of is already worthwhile for smaller batteries, reminiscent of these put in in client units, manufacturing scrap, and now, e-bike batteries.
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