JB Straubel, the former CTO and co-founder of Tesla had just recently announced a $700 million fundraise for his battery recycling startup Redwood Materials and he's wasted no time in closing a major partner in Ford. The two are partnering on battery recycling and supply. This comes after Straubel announced a 100 GWh battery material factory in the US which likely happened after the Ford deal was more or less closed. The two companies plan on creating a closed-loop for battery recycling and the development of a supply chain for battery materials in the US.
"The Ford and Redwood vision begins with incorporating battery recycling into Ford's American battery production strategy, integrating recycled battery materials, both scrap from battery production and batteries at the end of their useful life, into the battery supply chain to drive down costs, environmental footprint and secure a critical battery material supply that Ford will need to continue to ramp their electric vehicle production," the two said in a joint statement.
The electric pickup truck was recently endorsed by President Joe Biden as well
Ford has also invested $50 million in Redwood Materials something that was reinforced by Ford CEO Jim Farley as well.
"Our partnership with Redwood Materials will be critical to our plan to build electric vehicles at scale in America, at the lowest possible cost and with a zero-waste approach," said Farley at the announcement.
Ford and Redwood Materials are exploring ways to incorporate Redwood supplying Ford with battery materials for its new factory. "As part of this relationship, we're discussing how Redwood could supply Ford's American battery facilities to ensure a steady, domestic source of sustainable battery materials to fuel the production of Ford electric vehicles," Ford said in a statement.
Straubel has been working on reinventing battery recycling
"Increasing our nation's production of batteries and their materials through domestic recycling can serve as a key enabler to improve the environmental footprint of U.S. manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries, decrease cost and, in turn, drive up domestic adoption of electric vehicles. Redwood and Ford share an understanding that to truly make electric vehicles sustainable and affordable, we need to localize the existing complex and expensive supply chain network, create pathways for end-of-life vehicles, ramp lithium-ion recycling and increase battery production, all here in America," said JB Straubel at the time of the announcement.
This deal comes at a time where Ford is investing heavily in the EV space. It has already launched the Mustang E and the Ford F-150 Lightning will be launching in the US next year. It even has plans for making an electric version of the Bronco, so battery supply will be one of the major challenges for the fabled Detroit-based carmaker. It also hired Doug Field, the VP in charge of the Apple car project in a senior position for leading the adoption of key technologies and this deal seems to be part of the same strategy that Farley has been pursuing.
