U.S. battery startup Redwood Materials sets deal with Korea's L&F (updated)

L&F

27/10/2021 14:57

(Adds background, details)
    By Paul Lienert
    Oct 27 (Reuters) - Battery recycling company Redwood
Materials said on Wednesday it has forged an alliance with
Korean battery materials maker L&F Co  066970.KQ  that could
help transform the Nevada startup into a major battery component
manufacturer over the next decade.
    Redwood has signed a multi-year deal to use L&F's design and
manufacturing technology at a new U.S. facility to make enough
battery cathodes to supply up to 1 million electric vehicles a
year by 2025, and more than 5 million by 2030, Redwood told
Reuters, without elaborating.
    The partnership is the latest element in Redwood Chief
Executive J.B. Straubel's vision of building a "closed loop" or
circular supply chain for EV batteries, from raw materials to
recycling.
    Redwood currently recycles lithium, cobalt, copper and
aluminum from several sources, including the Nevada battery
plant that is jointly owned and operated by Panasonic Corp
 6752.T  and Tesla Inc  TSLA.O . That factory has the capacity
to make batteries for about 350,000 electric vehicles a year.
    Straubel, a co-founder of Tesla, left the company to start
Redwood in 2017. The L&F partnership is the second major
alliance he's announced in the past month.
    In September, Redwood said it would supply anode and cathode
material to Ford Motor Co  F.N , which has a U.S. joint venture
with Korean battery maker SK Innovation  096770.KS  to make EV
battery cells.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2QN1JV    
    L&F supplies battery materials to SK as well as to Korea's
LG Energy Solution  051910.KS  and Samsung SDI  006400.KS . 
    Its technology will enable Redwood to scale its annual
cathode manufacturing capacity in the U.S., from a planned 100
gigawatt-hours in 2025 to 500GWh by 2030. 
    The deal is exclusive to North America and Europe. Redwood
will continue its own cathode R&D.
    Redwood, which raised $775 million in July from investors,
including Amazon.com Inc  AMZN.O , Fidelity, T. Rowe Price and
Baillie Gifford, is valued at $3.8 billion by investor website
PitchBook.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2P32K8

 (Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by David
Gregorio and Mike Harrison)
 ((Paul.Lienert@thomsonreuters.com; mobile +1 313-670-2452;))