Redwood Materials signs deal to recycle BMW’s EV batteries in the US
Enlarge / BMW is moving to cylindrical cells for its sixth-generation EV powertrain, which debuts in the Neue Klasse. And now it has a recycling partner.
BMW
Battery recycling company Redwood Materials gained a new automaker partner today. It has agreed to a deal with BMW of North America to recycle lithium-ion battery packs from BMW’s electrified vehicles and will eventually use recycled material from Redwood in battery packs for BMWs built in North America as the automaker works toward a closed-loop supply chain.
“Our partnership with BMW of North America ensures responsible end-of-life battery management that will improve the environmental footprint of lithium-ion batteries, help decrease cost and, in turn, increase access and adoption of electric vehicles,” said Cal Lankton, chief commercial officer at Redwood Materials.
Redwood was founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel in 2017, and in recent years, the startup has signed partnerships with Ford, Volvo, Volkswagen, and more recently General Motors. These companies route end-of-life battery packs (and, in the case of GM, battery manufacturing scraps) to Redwood, where the nickel, cobalt, copper, lithium, and other minerals are recycled in a hydrometallurgy facility.
The deal with BMW falls along the same lines. BMW’s network of dealerships, distribution centers, and service centers will send end-of-life packs on their final journey to Redwood, either to the company’s campus in Reno, Nevada, or, in time, a second campus in Charleston, South Carolina, near BMW’s factory in Spartanburg, and soon its battery factory in Woodruff.
These two facilities are slated to build a number of new EVs in the coming years, including the Neue Klasse. The Neue Klasse promises plenty of innovations, including a more circular approach to car manufacturing. (BMW’s factory in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, is also scheduled to build Neue Klasse BMWs in 2027.)