Ford, Volvo join Redwood in EV battery recycling push in California

FILE PHOTO: An assembly worker of Ford Motor works on an F-series pickup truck at the Dearborn Truck Plant in Dearborn, Michigan, U.S., January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo

(Reuters) - Ford Motor and Geely Automobile’s Volvo Cars will join battery recycling startup Redwood Materials in developing processes, starting in California, to collect end-of-life batteries from electric and hybrid vehicles and recover the materials for use in new batteries, the companies said Thursday.

Redwood Materials, co-founded by former Tesla executive JB Straubel, formed an earlier partnership last fall with Ford to develop a “closed loop” or circular supply chain for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, from raw materials to recycling.