Redwood Supplies is repurposing outdated EV batteries into power storage programs that price “considerably much less” than model new storage tasks, the corporate mentioned Thursday.
The electrical automobile battery recycling and manufacturing enterprise, which was based by Tesla’s former chief technologist, has created a brand new division referred to as Redwood Vitality to handle these tasks. The goal is to divert “depreciated however purposeful” EV batteries from the recycling stream and repurpose them into “low-cost, large-scale” power storage programs that may assist plug essential gaps within the power 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 sometimes occasions, the batteries it receives for recycling nonetheless have plenty of usable power 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 objective.
So relatively than recycle these nonetheless purposeful batteries, Redwood is popping them into stationary storage programs. And the corporate says this will likely be a rising alternative as extra EV batteries attain the top of their lifespan. Redwood estimates that greater than 100,000 EVs will come off the street this yr alone.
After recovering the battery packs, Redwoods engineers carry out a diagnostics verify 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 programs” which may function independently or connect 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 yr.
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 positioned on the firm’s campus in Nevada and is getting used to energy a 2,000-GPU modular information heart for AI infrastructure firm Crusoe. Redwood calls it the “largest second-life battery deployment on the earth” with sufficient power to energy “9,000 houses, help 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 JT Straubel. Along with breaking down scrap from Tesla’s battery-making course of with Panasonic, Redwood additionally recycles batteries from Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Specialised, Amazon, Lyft, Rad Energy Bikes, Lime, stationary storage amenities, and others. The corporate additionally produces anodes and cathodes, essential battery parts, at a facility in South Carolina.
