Redwood Materials publicizes $3.5 billion EV battery recycling plant in South Carolina

Redwood Materials, the battery recycling firm based by a former Tesla government, introduced as we speak that it’s going to construct an enormous $3.5 billion facility in South Carolina.

The 600-acre plant, which shall be situated simply exterior Charleston “in the heart of the ‘Battery Belt,’” will make use of roughly 1,500 individuals over 10 years and can produce 100 GWh of cathode and anode parts yearly, Redwood stated. Ground shall be damaged on the brand new manufacturing facility within the first quarter of 2023, with a watch towards initiating the primary recycling course of by the top of the yr.

Those parts are usually not at the moment manufactured in North America, forcing automakers to supply many of the supplies wanted for electrical automobile batteries from abroad. That has had the impact of making a 50,000-mile provide chain at a value of $150 billion by 2030, the corporate notes.

Redwood claims that by recycling EV batteries domestically, it might probably assist drive down emissions and cut back world insecurity, with a watch towards reuse and restoration. The firm says its operations shall be “100% electric and we won’t use any fossil fuel in our processes (we will not even pull a gas line to the site).”

Redwood additionally claims it might probably cut back CO2 emissions of EV battery supplies by “about 80% compared to the current Asia-based supply chain that we are dependent on for these crucial materials.”

Redwood chosen South Carolina after the state permitted no less than $225 million in taxpayer-funded debt for the corporate in what’s doubtless the largest economic development deal within the state’s historical past.

Redwood Materials was based in 2017 by Jeffrey “JB” Straubel, a former chief know-how officer of Tesla. In addition to breaking down scrap from Tesla’s battery-making course of with Panasonic, Redwood additionally recycles EV batteries from Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Specialized, Amazon, Lyft, and others.

Many of the batteries from these first-wave electrical autos, just like the Nissan Leaf, are simply now reaching their finish of lifespan and are in want of recycling. After receiving batteries from its varied companions, Redwood begins a chemical recycling course of, during which it strips out and refines the related components like nickel, cobalt, and copper. A sure share of that refined materials can then be reintegrated into the battery-making course of.

Redwood’s new manufacturing facility is the newest in a string of recent services, a lot of that are situated within the Midwest and South. Localizing battery manufacturing within the US is vital for automakers that wish to qualify for the $7,500-per-vehicle tax credit score, which requires EVs to be assembled within the US. Foreign automakers have expressed issues that the brand new tax credit may discriminate towards firms with out US-based manufacturing services — however they’ve additionally begun to make strikes to localize manufacturing within the US.

Ford has stated its three new battery vegetation will allow 129GWh a yr of manufacturing capability. General Motors is planning 4 new battery factories within the US with LG Chem for a complete annual capability of 140GWh, whereas Volkswagen is aiming to have six battery cell manufacturing vegetation working in Europe by 2030 for a complete of 240GWh a yr. Stellantis is planning a brand new manufacturing facility in Indiana, which may have an preliminary annual manufacturing capability of 23GWh. BMW, Hyundai and Honda have additionally introduced US-based manufacturing facility plans.

Globally, battery manufacturing is predicted to develop from 95.3GWh in 2020 to 410.5GWh in 2024, in keeping with GlobalData, an information and analytics firm. But raw material prices are also increasing, which may complicate the transition to electrical autos.