Ford partners with battery recycling startup to recycle EV batteries
By Shubhangi on Sep 22, 2021 | 03:32 AM IST
Ford is entering
in a partnership with battery recycling startup Redwood Materials with the aim
of reusing raw materials from electric vehicle battery packs.
As EV sales
is expected to rise in the U.S., many automakers are working on the supply and
cost of raw materials needed for the manufacturing of EV batteries.
Ford’s chief operating officer, Lisa Drake said, “It will
help us reduce the reliance on importing a lot of the materials that we use
today when we build the batteries, and then it’ll reduce the mining of raw
materials, which is going to be incredibly important in the future as we start
to scale.”
“Creating this domestic supply chain is really a major step
towards making electric vehicles more affordable and more accessible to
everyone.”
As demand of EVs is growing, the deal is expected to be
beneficial for both the companies. Redwood Materials will recycle battery packs
and ship back the key elements including lithium, nickel and copper to Ford for
future use.
“We’re building and deploying around a little more than
2.000 batteries onto the roads in America, every single day,” said JB Straubel,
founder and CEO of Redwood Materials.
“We need to at least be planning to figure out how we can
very efficiently and sustainably recycle and disassemble a similar number of
batteries.”
Redwood will recycle scrap materials from Ford initially and
as the automaker and its battery manufacturing partner SK Innovation add
plants, it might build new recycling centers near those plants.
Recycling of EV batteries is not quite popular in the U.S.
as only a small number of electric vehicles have reached the end of their lives
which will change over the next 10 years.
Ford has pledged to spend $22 billion by 2025 in building
EVs. Redwood Materials has raised $800 million in funding as many companies have
invested in the company.
(With
inputs from CNBC)
Picture
Credits: Ford