Rivian and Redwood Materials have expanded their partnership to develop end-to-end energy solutions, covering the recycling of production scrap and end-of-life electric vehicle (EV) batteries, as well as the deployment of stationary battery storage at Rivian’s manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois. The expanded collaboration positions Redwood as a key partner in supporting Rivian’s battery recycling and energy storage needs.
Through the partnership, Redwood collects Rivian EV battery packs through Rivian’s nationwide network of service centers when they are no longer suitable for in-vehicle use. Redwood then evaluates each battery pack to determine whether to repurpose it for energy storage—deployed directly at Rivian’s manufacturing facilities or at other locations—or to recycle it. Redwood will now also recycle battery scrap generated at Rivian’s manufacturing operations.
This new scope of the partnership builds on the existing work, announced in April 2026, that is deploying 10 megawatt-hours (MWh) of battery energy storage from repurposed Rivian battery packs at the automaker’s manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois.
“Giving Rivian battery packs a second life in stationary storage is a massive unlock for the energy transition,” said RJ Scaringe, Rivian Founder and CEO. “By partnering with JB and the Redwood team we’re turning retired EV batteries into a powerful tool to make the grid more reliable and lower energy costs for everyone.”
“Every Rivian battery pack that comes back to us is a potential source of domestic grid energy storage in addition to critical materials,” said JB Straubel, Redwood Materials Founder and CEO. “Redwood’s unique ability to integrate and redeploy Rivian batteries with our technology is an opportunity to enable fast, flexible and more cost-efficient energy storage. As the demand and cost for energy keeps rising, working with companies like Rivian is how we help meet these challenges.”
When EV batteries reach the end of their useful lives in vehicles, they often still have substantial useful energy capacity for second-life applications, such as stationary storage. Energy storage applications with repurposed batteries can ease stress on the grid during periods of high electricity demand, improving grid reliability while reducing energy costs for the user, as well as the grid at large. During periods of low demand or when low-cost renewable energy is most productive, these packs can store electricity for easy dispatch during periods of higher demand. When paired with Rivian – and other – EV battery packs, Redwood’s proprietary technology architecture offers an integrated system that can respond intelligently to the needs of the facility it is serving.
Once batteries are no longer useful in energy storage applications, or where scrap is generated during manufacturing, they can be recycled. Redwood’s advanced process is capable of recycling and recovering critical minerals like lithium, nickel, cobalt, and copper at rates exceeding 95 percent, encouraging the development of a circular, domestic supply chain for battery materials in the United States.
This expanded partnership reflects a broader shift underway in how American manufacturers source power. As grid connections take years to secure and conventional infrastructure remains supply-constrained, companies increasingly need partners who can solve more than one piece of the problem—recovering materials, managing recycling, and deploying storage as a single system rather than separate vendors. Rivian’s work with Redwood is a model for that approach: one partnership spanning the full lifecycle of a battery, built to move faster than the grid alone can.
Rivian is an American automotive technology company that develops and manufactures category-defining electric vehicles as well as vertically integrated technologies and services. Through innovation across its electrical architecture, end-to-end software, autonomous driving platform, artificial intelligence and propulsion, the company creates vehicles that excel at work and play while accelerating the global transition to zero-emission transportation and energy. Rivian vehicles are manufactured in the United States and are sold directly to consumer and commercial customers. Whether taking families on new adventures or electrifying fleets at scale, Rivian vehicles all share a common goal — preserving the natural world for generations to come.
Redwood Materials is building the U.S. stockpile of critical materials and deploying large-scale energy storage. Founded by JB Straubel, the company produces lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, and cathode active material at scale in the U.S., manufactures key components for advanced batteries, and deploys energy storage systems that power data centers and the nation’s grid. Redwood is expanding domestic capacity for next-generation energy storage and strengthening U.S. energy dominance.
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