U.S. startup Redwood Materials Inc. on Tuesday said Toyota Motor North America has become the latest auto industry giant to join its comprehensive electric vehicle battery recycling initiative.
Redwood Materials, whose partners include Ford Motor Co. and EV battery maker Panasonic Holdings Corp., aims to lower EV costs by lessening dependence on imported materials while also reducing the environmental impact.
The five-year-old firm has focused initial work at a 175-acre campus in northern Nevada, but plans to build an even larger complex in southeastern U.S., its CEO and founder, JB Straubel, said in an interview. Straubel was a co-founder of Tesla Inc. and was the EV maker's chief technical officer.
The new facility would be able to supply Toyota's planned $1.3 billion battery plant in North Carolina, as well as Ford's planned battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky with South Korea's SK Innovation Co.
Redwood Materials is rampi…