Redwood Materials to supply new Panasonic EV battery plant

Redwood Materials will provide cathode material, a key component of the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, for a giant factory Panasonic is building in Kansas. The deal represents the first time the material will be made at gigafactory scale in the U.S. Redwood Materials said it plans to produce 100 gigawatt-hours of cathode for 1 million EVs from recycled battery cell material by 2025 at its $3.5 billion battery materials factory under construction near Reno, Nev. The plant is near Redwood’s headquarters in Carson City, Nev. Panasonic will use Redwood’s cathode material for battery cell production at a $4 billion lithium-ion battery factory it is starting to build in De Soto, Kan. The factory is expected to open in 2025 and create up to 4,000 jobs, Panasonic said this month. With the agreement, Redwood also hopes to make a sustainable closed-loop supply chain for producing cathode material and batteries in the U.S. In closed-loop supply chains, industries efficiently use their production byproduct and waste to create new products, preserve resources and save energy. (Source Automotive News)