Ford, Volvo partner with startup to revitalize old electric vehicle batteries

Ford Motor Company and Volvo Cars are collaborating with an e-waste startup to launch a first-of-its-kind electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling program in California, the companies announced Thursday.

The companies will work to create “efficient, safe and effective recovery pathways for end-of-life hybrid and electric vehicle battery packs,” stated a news release from the startup, Redwood Materials.

While Ford and Volvo are the first carmakers to offer their support to the program, the operation will accept all lithium-ion and nickel metal hydride batteries in California, the partners added.

“We are excited to be strengthening our partnership with Redwood Materials in identifying solutions for electric vehicle batteries that have reached the end of their useful lives,” Ford president and CEO Jim Farley said in a statement Thursday.

An initial partnership between Ford and the Nevada-based startup — which recycles lithium-ion batteries, phones, laptops power tools and other e-waste — began in September. At the time, the two companies agreed to determine jointly how the companies could create pathways for aging Ford and Lincoln vehicles to be recycled into battery materials and locally manufactured EVs, according to Thursday’s news release.

In September, Ford said it had invested $50 million in Redwood to help expand the startup’s manufacturing footprint as part of the corporation’s overall plan to invest more than $30 billion in electrification through 2025. On average, according to Redwood, the startup’s technology can recover more than 95 percent of elements like lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper.

JB Straubel, Redwood’s co-founder and CEO, also co-founded Tesla, where he served as chief technical officer and then in an advisory role through 2019.

While Redwood’s relationship with Volvo is new, the startup described the automaker as “similarly focused on ensuring responsible and secure pathways for end-of-life batteries.”

Each year, Redwood receives about 6 gigawatt-hours of lithium-ion batteries — the equivalent of 60,000 EVs, and the brunt of North America’s recycled lithium-ion battery supply, according to the company.

The startup said it is ramping up its recycling processes as the first wave of EVs begins to come off the country’s roads, while identifying pathways to collect used battery packs.

California was chosen for the program since it has been a consistent leader in the transition to electric transportation and houses, the companies said.

Redwood and the automakers will be working directly with dealers and dismantlers in the state to recover the end-of-life packs and then safely package, transport and recycle the batteries at the startup’s facilities in Northern Nevada. Following this process, Redwood will then return high-quality, recycled materials to the domestic battery production market, the company said.

Farley, with Ford, lauded the Redwood team for bringing what he described as “world-class technology and know-how” to their joint initiative.

“This new program with Redwood Materials will help Ford lead America’s transition to sustainable and carbon-neutral EV manufacturing and ultimately help make electric vehicles more environmentally responsible and affordable for our customers,” Farley added.