Redwood Supplies will present cathode materials, a key part of the lithium ion batteries that energy electrical autos, for an enormous manufacturing unit Panasonic Power Co. is constructing in Kansas.
The deal represents the primary time the fabric can be made at gigafactory scale within the U.S.
Redwood Supplies mentioned it plans to supply 100 gigawatt-hours of cathode for 1 million EVs from recycled battery cell materials by 2025 at its $3.5 billion battery supplies manufacturing unit below development close to Reno, Nev. The plant is close to Redwood’s headquarters in Carson Metropolis, Nev.
Panasonic will use Redwood’s cathode materials for battery cell manufacturing at a $4 billion lithium ion battery manufacturing unit it’s beginning to construct in De Soto, Kan. The manufacturing unit is predicted to open in 2025 and create as much as 4,000 jobs, Panasonic mentioned this month.
With the settlement, Redwood additionally hopes to make a sustainable closed-loop provide chain for producing cathode materials and batteries within the U.S. In closed-loop provide chains, industries effectively use their manufacturing byproduct and waste to create new merchandise, protect assets and save power.
At present, newly mined or recycled metals from the U.S. are first despatched to Asia, the place many of the world’s electrical battery infrastructure and manufacturing experience is situated, for refinement. The supplies are then despatched again to battery cell factories within the U.S., enduring a 50,000-mile-plus provide chain, in accordance with Redwood Supplies.
Redwood mentioned the U.S. may lose extra $100 billion if it continued to import the greater than 2 million metric tons of cathode by way of the yr 2030 which are wanted to maintain tempo with home electrification plans and elevated EV demand.
“The most important story within the trade over the previous yr has been the bottom worth of commodities,” Michael Ramsey, a Gartner Inc. transportation and mobility analyst, informed Automotive Information.
The value of lithium and different metals used to make EV batteries has exploded as demand has elevated and the COVID-19 pandemic has roiled international provide chains.
Lithium, the primary part of an EV battery, reached an all-time excessive of $74,500 per metric ton in October. In early 2020, in the beginning of the pandemic, lithium was buying and selling at $6,000 per metric ton.
The elevated demand for EVs is making a form of virtuous cycle for battery manufacturing within the U.S.
“At one level, with recycling these metals, there was no enterprise mannequin, it value an excessive amount of cash,” Ramsey mentioned. “However now since we’re producing so many extra batteries for EVs, the scrap supplies being produced are vital.”
Redwood expects to supply 500 gigawatt-hours of anode and cathode per yr, sufficient to energy 5 million EVs and meet the U.S. 2030 purpose of getting zero-emission autos make up half of all new-vehicle gross sales.
Cathode materials is made up of cobalt, nickel and manganese in crystal kind. Through the battery making course of, these oxidized metals are added to lithium.
Redwood mentioned its anode and cathode materials may have a excessive recycled content material of lithium, cobalt and nickel, making it essentially the most sustainable battery materials out there.
Panasonic will even be the primary long-term shopper for Redwood’s anode copper foil, one other important part in lithium ion batteries.
Redwood was began in 2017 by former Tesla chief technical officer JB Straubel. It started working with Panasonic in 2019, when it started recycling battery cell scrap for the Japan-based conglomerate.
Monetary phrases of Redwood and Panasonic’s settlement weren’t disclosed.