Toyota Partners with Redwood Materials for Key Battery Components, Boosting US Production
In a strategic move towards securing a domestic supply chain, Toyota has entered into a significant partnership with startup Redwood Materials. The collaboration, announced on Thursday, reveals that Redwood Materials will be the supplier of cathode material and anode copper foil for battery cells to be produced at Toyota's upcoming $13.9 billion electric vehicle (EV) factory in North Carolina, scheduled for production in 2025.
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This deal signifies a pivotal moment for both companies. For Redwood, it represents a valuable contract, while for Toyota, it establishes a critical U.S. source for two essential components, the cathode material, and anode copper foil. These components, constituting a major portion of a battery cell's cost, were previously sourced entirely overseas.
Although the specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed, it is expected to mirror a comparable deal with Panasonic, amounting to several billion dollars. This collaboration builds on the partnership between Redwood Materials and Toyota, initially announced in June 2022, focusing on the refurbishment and recycling of batteries from Toyota's hybrid and electrified vehicles.
Under the expanded agreement, Redwood will supply cathode active material and copper foil, produced in its U.S. facilities, to Toyota's North Carolina factory. Notably, the cathode materials provided will incorporate a minimum of 20% recycled nickel, 20% recycled lithium, and 50% recycled cobalt, along with 100% recycled copper in the anode copper foil.
This development comes as Toyota's battery lifecycle ecosystem is set to grow, encompassing the recycling, remanufacturing, and repurposing of nearly five million currently operating units.
Redwood Materials, founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel, is actively expanding its headquarters in Carson City, Nevada, and is poised to initiate the construction of a second battery materials campus in South Carolina later this year. These campuses will play a crucial role in recycling, refining, and manufacturing battery materials, with a targeted production volume of 100 gigawatt-hours per year, enough for one million electric vehicles, by 2025.
