MCCARRAN, Nev. (AP) 鈥� A Nevada company that recycles batteries for electric vehicles has won a $2 billion green energy loan from the Biden administration.
Redwood Materials, a recycling venture founded by the former chief technology officer at Tesla Inc., secured the conditional loan from the Energy Department's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program,
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced the grant Thursday at Redwood鈥檚 facility in Nevada with Gov. Joe Lombardo, where they spoke from a stage to dozens of employees.
鈥淭his region is leading the way to a broader story of what is happening in the country,鈥� Granholm said, pointing to a map of 80 battery manufacturing or supply chain companies that are expanding or opening in the U.S. Most have been announced in response to the and she said.
Battery recycling will help the U.S. establish its own electric-vehicle supply chain, a major goal of the Biden administration as it seeks to move away from gas-powered cars in the larger fight against climate change. Biden also has promoted domestic production of critical minerals used in EVs and other electronics, as part of the climate fight and to counter China's longtime dominance in the supply chain.
With Redwood and other projects underway, 鈥淐hina might be starting to worry,鈥� Granholm boasted. 鈥淎nd to that I say we鈥檙e just getting started.鈥�
The Energy Department said its conditional commitment demonstrates its intent to finance the Nevada project, but several steps remain before officials approve a final loan.
Redwood Materials was founded in 2017 by Jeffrey 鈥淛B鈥� Straubel, Tesla鈥檚 former chief technology officer. It now has more than 300 employees who recycle used batteries and has supply contracts with Ford and with Panasonic, which makes batteries for Tesla.
Straubel said the company already has more material than it can process from spent consumer batteries from lawnmowers, cellphones and toothbrushes, as well as production scraps from lithium-ion battery manufacturing.
The company says it can recover more than 95% of the elements in a spent battery, including lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and copper. The metals are then used to make anode and cathode components for new battery cells.
Redwood Materials 鈥渋s going to play this outsized role in bringing the batteries supply chain home 鈥� because you鈥檙e focused on the pieces that we don鈥檛 have in the United States,'' Granholm told employees at Thursday's event. 鈥淵ou guys are making history in this.''
Redwood Materials is expected to create about 3,400 construction jobs and employ about 1,600 full-time workers, the department said.
Redwood Materials鈥� history in Nevada started under former Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who was in attendance on Thursday. It continued under Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak before the loan was conditionally approved under Lombardo, who acknowledged he was a latecomer to negotiations. The investments and subsequent jobs help fulfill a campaign pledge by Lombardo and past governors to diversify Nevada鈥檚 casino and tourism-based economy.
鈥淭his is what we鈥檙e going to have to do to have success in the state of Nevada,鈥� Lombardo said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 have all our eggs in one basket.鈥�
In December, the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development to Redwood, the second-largest capital investment in the office鈥檚 history, behind Tesla.
Last month, the Energy Department announced a to mine lithium in northern Nevada as
Redwood also has announced
Once fully operational, the battery materials campus in McCarran, Nevada, outside Reno, will be the first domestic facility to support production of anode copper foil and cathode active materials for a lithium-ion battery manufacturing process. The process would recycle end-of-life battery and production scrap and remanufacture it into critical materials,
Straubel, Redwood鈥檚 CEO, told The Associated Press last year that recycling battery materials will help the U.S. establish its own electric-vehicle supply chain. China now dominates the EV supply chain, including critical minerals needed for EV batteries.
鈥淩edwood fills a critical gap in that whole piece, and our goal is to close the loop on all the materials that we鈥檝e already mined and produced into products, keep them in the regions where they were bought and are being used,'' "Every battery that we can recycle is one battery worth of materials that we don鈥檛 need to mine again.''
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Daly reported from Washington.
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Associated Press auto writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this story.
Matthew Daly And Gabe Stern, The Associated Press
