Redwood Materials

Redwood Materials is a Carson City, Nevada-based clean energy company founded in 2017 by JB Straubel, co-founder and former CTO of Tesla. Initially focused on battery recycling, Redwood has evolved into a fully integrated domestic battery ecosystem company with two core business lines: Critical Materials and Energy Storage. On the critical materials side, Redwood recycles end-of-life lithium-ion batteries - from EVs, consumer electronics, and industrial equipment - to recover and refine lithium, nickel, cobalt, and copper. These recovered materials are then used to produce cathode active material (CAM) and anode copper foil, the key components that feed back into new battery manufacturing. This closed-loop model creates one of the largest domestic sources of battery-grade critical minerals in the United States, directly reducing dependency on foreign supply chains dominated by China.

Redwood's second and rapidly growing business line is large-scale energy storage systems, branded as Redwood Energy. The company designs, integrates, and deploys grid-scale battery energy storage systems using a combination of new and repurposed ("second life") EV battery packs - at what it claims is the lowest cost on the market. These systems are being deployed to power data centers (including an AI infrastructure partnership with Crusoe), support utility grids, and enable industrial electrification. Redwood operates two major campuses: its flagship Tahoe Campus in Sparks, Nevada, and a Carolina Campus under development near Charleston, South Carolina, along with an R&D center in San Francisco. The company holds ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 certifications, reflecting its safety and environmental management standards.

Redwood Materials sits at a critical junction of the US energy supply chain: it addresses both the upstream critical minerals vulnerability and the downstream energy storage infrastructure gap. Its partnerships span the full battery lifecycle, including Panasonic, GM/Ultium Cells, Toyota, Volkswagen Group of America, Volvo, BMW, Amazon, Southern Company, Rivian, Caterpillar, and Lime. By recycling domestically sourced batteries and manufacturing materials and storage systems on American soil, Redwood is building a vertically integrated alternative to Asian-dominated battery supply chains. The company has been recognized by Fast Company (World's 50 Most Innovative Companies 2024 and 2026), Time Magazine (Most Influential Companies 2024, Time100 Climate 2024), and Business Insider, cementing its status as one of the most strategically important energy companies in the country.