Redwood Supplies is repurposing previous EV batteries into power storage techniques that value “considerably much less” than model new storage initiatives, the corporate stated Thursday.
The electrical car 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 initiatives. The intention is to divert “depreciated however useful” EV batteries from the recycling stream and repurpose them into “low-cost, large-scale” power storage techniques that may assist plug vital 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 quite a lot of usable power capability — as much as 50 p.c. These are batteries which are now not appropriate to energy an electrical car, however nonetheless have sufficient life in them to serve some goal.
So slightly than recycle these nonetheless useful batteries, Redwood is popping them into stationary storage techniques. And the corporate says this will probably 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 highway 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 techniques” which might 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 situated on the firm’s campus in Nevada and is getting used to energy a 2,000-GPU modular knowledge middle for AI infrastructure firm Crusoe. Redwood calls it the “largest second-life battery deployment on the planet” with sufficient power to energy “9,000 properties, 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, vital battery parts, at a facility in South Carolina.
