Ford Backed Redwood Materials Makes 2024 Time100 List

June 15, 2024 9:03 am

Since Ford first invested in battery recycling upstart Redwood Materials a few years ago, the company has grown exponentially, expanding its operations across the U.S. and even into Europe. The goal of that partnership is to create a battery recycling and domestic battery supply chain for electric vehicles, and thus far, that operation is well under way, with Redwood Materials already recycling a rather large number of EV and hybrid batteries. Now, it has also been recognized for those efforts in a big way.

Redwood Materials is among the companies that made the cut on this year’s Time100 list, which highlights what the magazine determines to be the most influential outfits in the world. It does this by leaning on contributors, outside experts, and correspondents from around the globe, after which Time‘s editors evaluate each on a number of key factors such as their impact, innovation, ambition, and success.

“Even as he was helping to launch the electric-car revolution, Tesla co-founder J.B. Straubel was thinking about what would ultimately happen to the valuable nickel, cobalt, and lithium in battery packs,” the magazine wrote of its selection. “Redwood Materials, which he founded in 2017, is helping to create a circular battery economy that shrinks the environmental footprint of EVs. Its proprietary process mines up to 95 percent of key elements from used batteries, as well as other minerals. In Straubel’s view, the startup is developing the business and engineering plan for ‘the inevitable future’ of EV batteries, which will serve to drive down their cost – and therefore the cost of EVs – by returning materials to battery manufacturers.”

After securing billions from investors and the U.S. government alike, Redwood Materials has also grown the list of automakers it is partnering with as well. In addition to Ford, the company has since aligned with Toyota, General Motors, Volkswagen, and Audi, in fact.

We’ll have more on Redwood Materials soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for ongoing Ford news coverage.

By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.