General Motors and Redwood Materials announced a new phase of their partnership that will see approximately 100 repurposed GM battery packs deployed at one of GM’s operating plants in Michigan to provide 1.5 megawatts and 7.2 megawatt-hours of dispatchable energy.
The installation is expected to save more than $3 million in electricity costs over the lifetime of the project and demonstrates how GM’s battery technology can be utilized beyond electric vehicles to support manufacturing operations and improve energy resilience.
According to Redwood, the latest deployment makes General Motors the first automaker to collaborate with the company across every stage of the battery lifecycle. The relationship now encompasses the recovery of materials from manufacturing scrap, recycling of end-of-life electric vehicle batteries, and the deployment of second-life battery packs into energy storage infrastructure.
Under an existing partnership with Ultium Cells, General Motors’ battery manufacturing joint venture with LG Energy Solution, Redwood receives and recycles battery manufacturing scrap from facilities in the United States. When GM electric vehicle batteries reach the end of their useful life on the road, the packs are sent to Redwood, where they are either repurposed into energy storage systems or recycled to recover materials for future battery production.
To date, Redwood has processed more than 28,000 metric tons of material from GM and Ultium Cells for recycling. In addition, approximately 10,000 electric vehicle battery packs are currently slated for repurposing through Redwood Energy.
The companies said the partnership creates a pathway to extend the value of GM’s battery technology while helping address growing demand for reliable and dispatchable power resources.
Repurposed GM battery packs are already being used in Redwood’s facility in Sparks, Nevada, which supports AI infrastructure company Crusoe. Redwood describes the project as the world’s largest repurposed battery energy storage system and the largest microgrid in North America.
As the inventory of GM battery packs available for reuse continues to increase, Redwood said the batteries are being incorporated into a growing number of energy storage projects across the country. The new Michigan installation follows a recent deployment at Rivian’s manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois.
Redwood said the United States possesses a growing inventory of battery assets and that keeping those batteries within domestic energy infrastructure can help support factories, strengthen the electrical grid, and maintain critical mineral supply chains in the country. Through their partnership, GM and Redwood are demonstrating how batteries can be managed domestically from manufacturing to transportation to energy infrastructure.
KEY QUOTES:
“Today, we are announcing the latest chapter of Redwood’s partnership with General Motors. Redwood plans to deploy approximately 100 repurposed GM battery packs at one of GM’s operating plants in Michigan to provide 1.5 MW/7.2 MWh of dispatchable energy to the site. The installation is expected to save more than $3 million on local electricity bills at the plant over the lifetime of the installation, demonstrating how GM’s battery technology is flexing beyond EVs to help lower energy costs at manufacturing sites and support a more resilient energy future.”
Redwood Materials
“This deployment makes General Motors the first automaker to engage Redwood across every stage of the battery lifecycle, recovering material from manufacturing scrap, recycling end-of-life GM EV packs, and now deploying energy storage with GM EV packs in real-world energy infrastructure, including AI data centers and soon, an active manufacturing plant. Together, GM and Redwood are showing how repurposed EV batteries can keep working well beyond their useful life in a vehicle, first as energy storage, and ultimately as recovered material for future batteries.”
Redwood Materials
“With GM, Redwood is proving that the full battery lifecycle can be managed domestically, from the manufacturing line to the road to the grid, keeping American-made batteries at work in American industry.”
Redwood Materials
