Latest news with #Redwood
USA Today
a day ago
- Automotive
- USA Today
GM inks deal to recycle EV batteries to power AI
Used batteries from General Motors vehicles may soon power artificial intelligence centers. The Detroit automaker signed a 'non-binding memorandum of understanding' to deploy new and used electric vehicle batteries for storage systems that power a Nevada microgrid, which, in turn, powers a modular data center for AI infrastructure company Crusoe, the company said last Wednesday. GM defines the terms of the deal as a business plan in place that outlines the automaker's intentions to work together moving forward on the deployment of energy storage systems meant to strengthen American grid resiliency. This expands on an existing partnership with Redwood Materials, which the companies announced in May 2024 to recycle production scrap from two Ultium Cells battery plants, in Warren, Ohio and Spring Hill, Tennessee. Ultium Cells is the joint battery cell manufacturing venture between GM and LG Energy Solution. These GM EV batteries are already powering Redwood's microgrid in Nevada supporting AI infrastructure company Crusoe. That installation can deliver 12 megawatts of power at any instant, and the total capacity of the site is 63-megawatt hours, GM said. 'The market for grid-scale batteries and backup power isn't just expanding, it's becoming essential infrastructure,' said Kurt Kelty, vice president of batteries, propulsion and sustainability at GM. 'Electricity demand is climbing, and it's only going to accelerate. To meet that challenge, the U.S. needs energy storage solutions that can be deployed quickly, economically and made right here at home. GM batteries can play an integral role.' The business of recycling batteries The news comes on the heels of several announcements GM has made regarding investment in electric vehicle propulsion. Earlier this week, GM and LG said they would scale production of lithium iron phosphate battery cells, a lower-cost alternative to the nickel-rich batteries the companies also produce together, at their Ultium facility in Tennessee. In case you missed it: GM inks multibillion-dollar deal for synthetic battery materials to bypass China Redwood Materials, founded and run by former Tesla chief technology officer JB Straubel, also partners with Toyota Motor Co., Ford Motor Co., Volvo, Volkswagen and Audi to extract lithium, nickel and cobalt from 'end-of-life' battery packs. Redwood Materials then remanufactures those materials into cathodes, according to its website. 'Both GM's second-life EV batteries and new batteries can be deployed in Redwood's energy storage systems, delivering fast, flexible power solutions and strengthening America's energy and manufacturing independence,' Straubel said in a statement. GM's contract with Redwood allows it to enter a new business much like its partner LG Energy Solution in the race to build batteries that support the U.S. electric grid and fuel the growing demand of artificial intelligence. The South Korean battery maker, the largest in the country, completed expansion of its Holland, Michigan, facility last month after investing over $1.4 billion to manufacture batteries for storage systems. The plant, operational since 2012, also produces automotive vehicle batteries for partners, including General Motors, Honda and Hyundai Motors. Still, the collaboration with Redwood Materials to deploy energy storage systems does not put it in direct competition with its joint venture partner. Rather, the expansion requires using new GM-manufactured battery packs made from cells from Ultium Cells JV with LG Energy Solution, and second-life GM EV batteries with Redwood Materials integrating GM battery technology into battery energy storage systems, according to a company spokesman. Striking a deal Partnerships between automakers and battery recyclers are a growing trend in North America, but are still in their infancy and it remains to be seen how well the business model will work, according to Tony Flanagan, a partner and managing director in the automotive and industrial practice at AlixPartners. The investment required to get a battery recycling operation up and running is substantial, and the revenue stream for U.S. automakers is difficult to project due to the mercurial changes facing the EV environment in North America. 'Europe and China seem to have better business models for these partnerships as we see the global supply of EV batteries for recycling on track to take off in 2028, driven largely by growth' outside the United States, he said, adding that battery recycling capacity is on track to be about three times what it is today by 2030, with China representing approximately 70% of the market and the U.S. just 10%. The U.S. Department of Energy said last December in its 2024 Report on U.S. Data Center Energy Use that data center load growth tripled over the past decade and is projected to double or triple again by 2028. Meanwhile, Redwood Materials anticipates more than 100,000 EVs will require recycling by the end of 2025. The lifespan of an EV battery Just because a battery is no longer useful in an electric vehicle does not mean it's useless, according to Liz Najman, director of market insights at EV research firm and shopping resource Recurrent. In 2025, the new electric vehicle will produce batteries with an average of 93 kilowatts of charge. Depending on the manufacturer, a battery is considered end-of-life in an electric vehicle, when around 70 kilowatt hours remain. 'When you lose that 30% in battery capacity, you lose around 30%, plus or minus, of range. For a lot of people, that's no longer satisfactory,' she told the Free Press. 'You're not just losing the capacity of the battery; you're losing the rate of energy delivery ― which is power.' Even for vehicles on the road for over five years, decommissioned electric vehicle batteries could last another 10 to 20 years before officially expiring ― but the technology hasn't been around long enough to specify accurate lifespans, Najman said. Microgrids like the one GM EV batteries will power are more resilient and cost-effective than a traditional energy grid, Najman said, and are exempt from the processes of a state-regulated utility. 'We don't actually know ― modern lithium-ion batteries have not been around and in use for that long,' she said. 'We don't know how long these vehicle batteries will continue to be useful, but it's longer than people expect.' Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Reach her at jcharniga@
Axios
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Axios
GM, Redwood Materials to team on U.S.-built batteries for storage
General Motors is partnering with Redwood Materials, a battery recycler and energy company, to supply U.S.-built batteries for backup energy storage systems. Why it matters: The companies are responding to the soaring demand for battery storage systems that can offset power outages and reinforce the grid during peak demand. Between the lines: It's also a hedge against slower-than-expected electric vehicle sales. While GM's EV lineup continues to expand, microgrid storage represents another market for its made-in-America batteries. The deal expands an existing partnership with Redwood Materials to supply end-of-life EV batteries for recycling or energy storage solutions. Already, second-life batteries from GM's EVs are being repurposed to help power the largest microgrid in North America. The Redwood installation in Sparks, Nevada, supports the AI infrastructure company Crusoe. By adding new EV batteries to the mix, the agreement ensures more feedstocks for Redwood Materials' newest business, Redwood Energy, which seeks to deploy new and used EV packs into energy-storage systems. The big picture: U.S. electricity demand continues to grow, driven in part by AI data centers. The Department of Energy says data centers are on track to triple their share of national electricity usage from 4.4% in 2023 to 12% by 2028. What they're saying:"The market for grid-scale batteries and backup power isn't just expanding, it's becoming essential infrastructure," Kurt Kelty, vice president of batteries, propulsion, and sustainability at GM, said in a news release. "Both GM's second-life EV batteries and new batteries can be deployed in Redwood's energy storage systems, delivering fast, flexible power solutions and strengthening America's energy and manufacturing independence," added JB Straubel, founder and CEO of Redwood Materials.
Business Wire
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Redwood Trust Announces Date of Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results Webcast and Conference Call
MILL VALLEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE: RWT; 'Redwood' or the 'Company'), a leader in expanding access to housing for homebuyers and renters, is scheduled to release its second quarter 2025 results on Wednesday, July 30, 2025 before the open of the New York Stock Exchange. In addition, Redwood's senior management team plans to hold a conference call to discuss its second quarter 2025 financial results that same morning at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time / 5:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Webcast Information The conference call will be webcast live in listen-only mode through the News & Events section of Redwood Trust's Investor Relations website at To listen to the webcast, please go to Redwood's website at least 15 minutes before the call to register and to download and install any needed audio software. An audio replay of the call will also be available on Redwood's website following the call. Conference Call Information To participate by phone, please dial-in at least 15 minutes prior to the start time to allow for wait times to access the conference call. The live conference call will be accessible domestically or internationally, by dialing 1-877-423-9813 or 1-201-689-8573, respectively. In addition to the aforementioned dial-in information, participants can also access the call, bypassing the live operator and receiving an instant callback, by accessing the callback link on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website or using the following link (this features is available 15 minutes prior to the scheduled event): A replay of the conference call will be available after 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time / 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, through 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time / 8:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, August 13, 2025. To access the replay, listeners may use 1-844-512-2921 (domestic) or 1-412-317-6671 (international). The passcode for the replay is 13754528. ABOUT REDWOOD TRUST Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE: RWT) is a specialty finance company focused on several distinct areas of housing credit where we provide liquidity to growing segments of the U.S. housing market not well served by government programs. We deliver customized housing credit investments to a diverse mix of investors, through our best-in-class securitization platforms, whole-loan distribution activities, joint ventures and our publicly traded shares. We operate through three core residential housing-focused platforms — Sequoia, Aspire, and CoreVest — alongside a complementary investment portfolio primarily composed of assets we source through these businesses. In addition, through RWT Horizons®, our venture investing initiative, we invest in early-stage companies that have a direct nexus to our operating platforms. Our goal is to provide attractive returns to shareholders through a stable and growing stream of earnings and dividends, capital appreciation, and a commitment to technological innovation that facilitates risk-minded scale. Redwood Trust is internally managed and structured as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") for tax purposes. For more information about Redwood, please visit our website at or connect with us on LinkedIn.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
GM teams up with Redwood Materials to power data centers with EV batteries
GM is sending new and old EV batteries to recycler Redwood Materials, which then repurposes the packs for stationary energy storage storage, the two companies announced today. Second-life batteries from GM have already made their way through Redwood's process and into a 12 megawatt microgrid at the company's Sparks, Nevada, headquarters. Electricity from that installation then flows to a nearby 2,000 GPU data center owned by Crusoe. The microgrid is part of Redwood's new energy storage division that launched publicly in June and focuses on repurposing EV batteries for grid-scale energy storage. Through testing, the company found that many of the cells which arrived at its facilities still had a good amount of life left in them. Rather than recycle the embedded materials, the company kept the packs intact, then connected them to create a large energy storage system that can store excess electricity, often generated by solar and wind, for later use. The batteries for the Crusoe project are fed by solar panels. 'I think this has the potential to grow faster than the core recycling business,' Redwood co-founder and CEO JB Straubel said at the time. Redwood already recovers around 70% of all used or discarded batteries in the U.S. The company plans to deploy 20 gigawatt-hours of energy storage by 2028. Redwood isn't the only company following that playbook, though its ability to integrate a variety of packs — from different manufacturers and chemistries — could give it an edge over competitors. Both GM and Redwood have an existing agreement, but the new collaboration marks an expansion. One notable detail: GM's willingness to supply Redwood with new batteries, not just old ones, gives it a hedge against uneven growth in EV sales. New sales dipped 6.3% in the second quarter of this year, according to Cox Automotive, though they're expected to surge before tax credits are phased out September 30. Energy storage, on the other hand, has been growing consistently in recent years. New installations in the first quarter of this year hit a new record, up 57% year-over-year. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
GM inks deal to recycle EV batteries to power AI
Used batteries from General Motors vehicles may soon power artificial intelligence centers. The Detroit automaker signed a 'non-binding memorandum of understanding' to deploy new and used electric vehicle batteries for storage systems that power a Nevada microgrid, which, in turn, powers a modular data center for AI infrastructure company Crusoe, the company said July 16. GM defines the terms of the deal as a business plan in place that outlines the automaker's intentions to work together moving forward on the deployment of energy storage systems meant to strengthen American grid resiliency. This expands on an existing partnership with Redwood Materials, which the companies announced in May 2024 to recycle production scrap from two Ultium Cells battery plants, in Warren, Ohio, and Spring Hill, Tennessee. Ultium Cells is the joint battery cell manufacturing venture between GM and LG Energy Solution. These GM EV batteries are already powering Redwood's microgrid in Nevada supporting AI infrastructure company Crusoe. That installation can deliver 12 megawatts of power at any instant, and the total capacity of the site is 63-megawatt hours, GM said. 'The market for grid-scale batteries and backup power isn't just expanding, it's becoming essential infrastructure,' said Kurt Kelty, vice president of batteries, propulsion and sustainability at GM. 'Electricity demand is climbing, and it's only going to accelerate. To meet that challenge, the U.S. needs energy storage solutions that can be deployed quickly, economically, and made right here at home. GM batteries can play an integral role.' The business of recycling batteries The news comes on the heels of several announcements GM has made regarding investment in electric vehicle propulsion. Earlier this week, GM and LG said they would scale production of lithium iron phosphate battery cells, a lower-cost alternative to the nickel-rich batteries the companies also produce together, at their Ultium facility in Tennessee. Redwood Materials, founded and run by former Tesla chief technology officer JB Straubel, also partners with Toyota Motor Co., Ford Motor Co., Volvo, Volkswagen and Audi to extract lithium, nickel, and cobalt from 'end-of-life' battery packs. Redwood Materials then remanufactures those materials into cathodes, according to its website. 'Both GM's second-life EV batteries and new batteries can be deployed in Redwood's energy storage systems, delivering fast, flexible power solutions and strengthening America's energy and manufacturing independence,' Straubel said in a statement. GM's contract with Redwood allows it to enter a new business much like its partner LG Energy Solution in the race to build batteries that support the U.S. electric grid and fuel the growing demand of artificial intelligence. The South Korean battery maker, the largest in the country, completed expansion of its Holland, Michigan, facility last month after investing over $1.4 billion to manufacture batteries for storage systems. The plant, operational since 2012, also produces automotive vehicle batteries for partners, including General Motors, Honda and Hyundai Motors. Still, the collaboration with Redwood Materials to deploy energy storage systems does not put it in direct competition with its joint venture partner. Rather, the expansion requires using new GM-manufactured battery packs made from cells from Ultium Cells JV with LG Energy Solution, and second-life GM EV batteries with Redwood Materials integrating GM battery technology into battery energy storage systems, according to a company spokesman. Striking a deal Partnerships between automakers and battery recyclers are a growing trend in North America, but are still in their infancy and it remains to be seen how well the business model will work, according to Tony Flanagan, a partner and managing direction in the automotive and industrial practice at AlixPartners. The investment required to get a battery recycling operation up and running is substantial, and the revenue stream for U.S. automakers is difficult to project due to the mercurial changes facing the EV environment in North America. 'Europe and China seem to have better business models for these partnerships as we see the global supply of EV batteries for recycling on track to take off in 2028, driven largely by growth' outside the United States, he said, adding that battery recycling capacity is on track to be about three times what it is today by 2030, with China representing approximately 70% of the market and the U.S. just 10%. The U.S. Department of Energy said last December in its 2024 Report on U.S. Data Center Energy Use that data center load growth tripled over the past decade and is projected to double or triple again by 2028. Meanwhile, Redwood Materials anticipates more than 100,000 EVs will require recycling by the end of 2025. The lifespan of an EV battery Just because a battery is no longer useful in an electric vehicle does not mean it's useless, according to Liz Najman, director of market insights at EV research firm and shopping resource Recurrent. In 2025, the new electric vehicle will produce batteries with an average of 93 kilowatts of charge. Depending on the manufacturer, a battery is considered end-of-life in an electric vehicle, when around 70 kilowatt hours remain. 'When you lose that 30% in battery capacity, you lose around 30%, plus or minus, of range. For a lot of people, that's no longer satisfactory,' she told the Free Press. 'You're not just losing the capacity of the battery; you're losing the rate of energy delivery ― which is power.' Even for vehicles on the road for over five years, decommissioned electric vehicle batteries could last another 10 to 20 years before officially expiring ― but the technology hasn't been around long enough to specify accurate lifespans, Najman said. Microgrids like the one GM EV batteries will power are more resilient and cost-effective than a traditional energy grid, Najman said, and are exempt from the processes of a state-regulated utility. 'We don't actually know ― modern lithium-ion batteries have not been around and in use for that long,' she said. 'We don't know how long these vehicle batteries will continue to be useful, but it's longer than people expect.' Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Reach her at jcharniga@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM inks deal to recycle EV batteries to power AI
