Photo: Ford
Ford announced this September 22 that it will join forces with Redwood Materials to recycle battery packs. The company founded by JB Straubel may give Ford an edge when it comes to recovering raw materials from old battery packs. However, the automaker failed to disclose how it plans to recover the battery packs it intends to use.
Like Volkswagen, Ford said it is working on a closed-loop approach that will make the components that are not useful anymore land in Redwood Materials. The issue is that battery packs are valuable elements that car owners may decide to use otherwise. They can also sell them to other companies, for example.
Volkswagen first told autoevolution that it would create an incentive program that would make owners return old battery packs to the carmaker. At the IAA 2021, Herbert Diess said his company would lease its electric vehicles three times or more so that batteries would remain as a Volkswagen property.
In Ford’s case, all we know is that it wants to recycle the battery packs with Redwood Materials. To do that, the American automaker invested $50 million in Straubel’s company. Redwood recently announced it would recycle raw materials and produce anode copper foil and cathode active materials.
Another doubt the announcement brought was where Redwood Materials would get enough battery packs to have a relevant recycling activity. Similar businesses in China complained that they have very little to work with. When that sort of difficulty comes from the largest car market in the world, that’s something other recycling businesses should have in mind.
If Ford has a good plan to get these battery packs back and Redwood Materials can obtain enough of them to really make a difference, this partnership may help ease the pressure on mining that electric cars represent. According to Simon Moores from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, “the lithium deficit in 2025 will be bigger than (the) industry was in 2016.”
Volkswagen first told autoevolution that it would create an incentive program that would make owners return old battery packs to the carmaker. At the IAA 2021, Herbert Diess said his company would lease its electric vehicles three times or more so that batteries would remain as a Volkswagen property.
In Ford’s case, all we know is that it wants to recycle the battery packs with Redwood Materials. To do that, the American automaker invested $50 million in Straubel’s company. Redwood recently announced it would recycle raw materials and produce anode copper foil and cathode active materials.
Another doubt the announcement brought was where Redwood Materials would get enough battery packs to have a relevant recycling activity. Similar businesses in China complained that they have very little to work with. When that sort of difficulty comes from the largest car market in the world, that’s something other recycling businesses should have in mind.
If Ford has a good plan to get these battery packs back and Redwood Materials can obtain enough of them to really make a difference, this partnership may help ease the pressure on mining that electric cars represent. According to Simon Moores from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, “the lithium deficit in 2025 will be bigger than (the) industry was in 2016.”
The lithium deficit in 2025 will be bigger than industry was in 2016. @benchmarkmin #EV #Battery pic.twitter.com/lBnGxLmnf7
— Simon Moores (@sdmoores) September 22, 2021
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