Redwood materials Pioneers Enduring Energy Storage with Repurposed EV Batteries
Rural nevada is now home to an innovative energy storage system developed by Redwood Materials, a company founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel. The system utilizes retired electric vehicle (EV) batteries, giving them a second life by storing energy for the grid. This approach addresses the growing need for energy storage while also tackling the issue of battery waste.
Campbell, a representative from Redwood Materials, highlighted the practicality of this solution. “There’s really very little wrong with them,” he stated, referring to the used batteries. “Like, maybe they have lost 20% of their capacity. Maybe your electric vehicle’s a little bit slower. And so that’s appropriate that you don’t wont it in your car anymore. But it still works great. So we just looked at that and we were like, ‘Hey, why don’t we use it to store energy for the grid?'”
The engineering team at Redwood Materials focused on simplicity and cost-effectiveness in their design, opting for a system without pipes or pumps.Campbell described the effort as “fun engineering” to create something “robust, that is incredibly useful, but also very cheap and fast to put in the field.” The company is optimistic about the scalability of this model, believing that if it proves triumphant in rural Nevada, it can be replicated extensively.
Straubel emphasized the abundant supply of suitable materials already available from vehicles exiting American roads. “There’s no practical limit that we see on how we can scale this,” he told CBS News, noting the system’s modular nature as a key advantage.
Furthermore, Straubel positioned this initiative as a sustainable alternative for powering the AI revolution.”this is a different way to power the AI revolution,” he asserted. “We’re showing, you know, that AI doesn’t have to be in conflict with the existing grid.”
Redwood Materials’ work is supported by a significant $2 billion loan from the Department of energy,underscoring the national interest in their innovative approach to energy storage and battery recycling.
