In a move that underlines the practicality of electric vehicles in heavy-duty work, battery recycling firm Redwood Materials has employed a Tesla Cybertruck to haul significant loads of recycled battery materials.
What Happened: Redwood, a startup founded by Tesla co-founder and board member J.B. Straubel, has put the Cybertruck to good use, leveraging its all-electric capabilities to transport 10,000 pounds of recycled nickel and lithium products around its Nevada Battery Materials Campus.
The usage of the Cybertruck, as emphasized by Elon Musk, bolsters the vehicle’s potential as a formidable work vehicle. Redwood’s implementation of the Cybertruck is “quite literally driving circularity in the battery supply chain,” the company stated.
See Also: Everything You Need to Know About Tesla Stock
Redwood Materials aims to create a circular supply chain for battery materials and is currently developing anode and cathode components using recycled materials in the U.S.
The company’s use of the Cybertruck aligns with a broader marketing effort to attract new talent, as per Teslarati, as it prepares to build a cathode plant capable of producing materials for over a million electric cars annually at its Nevada campus.
This campus is strategically located near Giga Nevada, a 2170 battery cell facility jointly managed by Tesla and Panasonic, further accentuating the synergy between these Tesla-affiliated entities.
Why It Matters: Redwood Materials has made significant strides in the battery supply chain. In September 2023, the company raised $1 billion in a Series D round, pushing its post-money valuation beyond $5 billion and total equity capital to $2 billion.
This capital was earmarked for capacity enhancement, building a robust domestic battery supply chain, and selling U.S.-produced battery materials.
Only about 5% of lithium-ion batteries are currently recycled globally. As the demand for these batteries is projected to grow almost sevenfold between 2022 and 2030, the need for a circular economy for battery materials is crucial. Redwood Materials, with its focus on recycling and partnerships with companies like Panasonic and Toyota, is leading the charge in this domain.
Photo courtesy: Tesla
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