A 3D-printed 4680 Tesla battery cell replica, courtesy of Reddit user u/Bimmer3389
JB Straubel, a former Tesla employee and head of battery recycling company Redwood Materials hopes to put a dent in mining and electric vehicle (EV) battery degradation, and in a new partnership, the company has furthered its reach into the battery cell industry.
On Tuesday, Teslarati reported that Redwood Materials had signed a partnership agreement with Envision AESC, meaning that the company now works with the two largest battery manufacturers in North America – AESC and Panasonic, the latter of which has its major operations at Tesla’s Sparks, Nevada factory.
With AESC operation out of Tennessee, Redwood Materials has effectively established a nationwide reach for battery cell recycling, during a time when mainstream EV adoption is still in its infancy.
We are excited to be recycling with Redwood Materials. JB Straubel and his team are doing amazing work. Envision AESC is proud of this partnership! #batteries #electricvehicles https://t.co/OhHdml730H
— ⚡️Bill Williams⚡️ (@EVguy) February 23, 2021
Major critics of the EV movement have cited battery cell degradation as a major environmental concern, though Straubel and his company have gotten to the point where new and recycled batteries are largely indistinguishable – effectively helping to curb waste from used car batteries.
In any case, Redwood hopes to someday be able to establish a completely circular, zero-waste supply chain with AESC, which would eliminate the need for mining pushes and battery material suppliers altogether.
