Also causing environmental challenges, electric cars are starting to be integrated into circular approaches. Redwood Materials Inc., by partnering with car manufacturers, state agencies and cities, is for instance triggering the reutilisation of materials from famous car brands.

Although electric cars are frequently presented as ideal solutions to tackle air pollution generated by vehicles, they do also have some problems. First, their construction process can produce up to 50% of CO2 than a thermal car. Indeed, the battery and the motor of these electric cars require more raw materials, in particular rare-earth materials such as cobalt, lithium, nickel or manganese, whose extraction requires a lot of energy and water resources. In addition, to refine the metal, chemicals are added to the water, which is then generally discharged without treatment into the ecosystems. Also, batteries require energy to be recharged, which can also contribute to greenhouse gas emissions depending on the energy mix. Finally, once batteries are used, recycling them is complicated. Today, extracting metals from a mine can still be cheaper than recycling old metals. However, some companies are starting to counteract this situation by integrating electric vehicles into the circular approach.

Redwood Materials Inc., the start-up founded by former Tesla Inc. Chief Technical Officer, has recently launched strong battery-recycling efforts in California. As Californian cities have led the transition to electric vehicles in the U.S., with the goal to end the sales of new cars and trucks powered by gasoline or diesel by 2035, Redwood is partnering with state agencies including the California Environmental Protection Agency. Ford Motor Co., based in Carson City in Nevada, and Volvo group are being the frontrunners in the sector to join this program. After aging and retired, Redwood will extract key metals from the cars, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper to reuse the materials in new battery packs.

Reusing such key metals, which are costly and have a strong environmental footprint, is expected to drive down the costs for the industry, while creating a sustainable closed-loop system that will allow end-of-life battery packs to return to the U.S. supply chain. Overall, Redwood will contribute to America’s transition to sustainable and carbon-neutral electric vehicles manufacturing.

Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash