U.S.-based energy storage and battery materials provider Redwood Materials and electric vehicle maker Rivian announced the launch of a new partnership aimed at deploying energy storage systems using second-life battery packs at Rivian’s manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois.
Under the agreement, Rivian will supply EV battery packs to Redwood, which will integrate them into a Redwood Energy system supported by the company’s Redwood Pack Manager technology, allowing the stored energy to be used on-site at Rivian’s manufacturing facility.
According to the companies, the project will use more than 100 second-life Rivian battery packs, initially delivering 10 MWh of dispatchable energy. The system is designed to reduce energy costs and alleviate grid strain during peak demand periods, while offering scalability and cost advantages through the reuse of proven EV battery technology.
EV batteries are often the longest-lasting component of a vehicle, designed to last many hundreds of thousands of miles and, in many cases, remain functional even when the vehicle reaches end-of-life, making them well-suited as stationary energy storage devices.
Rivian Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said:
“EVs represent a massive, distributed and highly competitive energy resource. As energy needs grow, our grid needs to be flexible, secure and affordable. Our partnership with Redwood enables us to utilize our vehicle’s batteries beyond the life of a vehicle and contribute to grid health and American competitiveness.”
Founded in 2017 by Tesla co-founder and former CTO JB Straubel, Nevada-based Redwood provides energy storage at scale and produces critical battery materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper to help build one of the largest domestic sources of these materials. The company’s two key business lines include grid energy storage, in which it designs, integrates and deploys large-scale low-cost storage systems using new and repurposed batteries, and critical materials, which involves recycling batteries at end-of-life, refining their critical minerals, and manufacturing critical materials for the U.S. supply chain.
JB Straubel, Redwood Materials Founder and CEO said:
“Electricity demand is accelerating faster than the grid can expand, posing a constraint on industrial growth. At the same time, the massive amount of domestic battery assets already in the U.S. market represents a strategic energy resource. Our partnership with Rivian shows how EV battery packs can be turned into dispatchable energy resources, bringing new capacity online quickly, supporting critical manufacturing, and reducing strain on the grid without waiting years for new infrastructure.”
