SAE TOMORROW TODAY: Cleaning Up the EV Battery Supply Chain

Demand for lithium-ion batteries is estimated to grow 500% in the next 10 years. With such an intense surge on the horizon, there is a need to ramp up the supply chain quickly and sustainably to support this growth. Enter Redwood Materials. Founded by JB Straubel, co-founder and former CTO of Tesla, Redwood is transforming the EV battery supply chain by producing anode copper foil and cathode active materials in the US at scale for the first time--and using an increasing amount of recycled content to build those components. Currently, EV battery materials move 50,000+ miles before they reach a battery cell factory. By offering large-scale sources of domestic anode and cathode materials produced from an increasing number of recycled batteries that directly go back to U.S. cell manufacturers, Redwood is creating a closed-loop, domestic supply chain for lithium-ion batteries. We sat down with Alexis Georgeson, VP Government Relations & Communications, to discuss Redwood Materials' circular supply chain and how the company is recycling, refining, and remanufacturing battery materials for a clean energy future.