GM Teams Up with Redwood Materials to Utilize EV Batteries for Data Center Energy Storage

General Motors will begin sending both new and used electric vehicle batteries to Redwood Materials, a company that will recycle them into stationary energy storage systems. These storage units will subsequently supply power to data centers.

GM’s used batteries are already in use within a 12-megawatt microgrid at the company’s headquarters in Sparks, Nevada. The energy generated from this facility is directed to a nearby data center operated by Crusoe, which utilizes 2,000 graphics processors.

This microgrid is part of Redwood’s newly launched energy storage division, which began operations in June and focuses on recycling electric vehicle batteries. During testing, the company found that many of the batteries arriving at its facilities still had substantial capacity remaining.

Rather than breaking down the materials, Redwood preserved the batteries as they were and then combined them. This approach resulted in a large-scale energy storage system capable of capturing excess energy commonly produced from solar and wind sources. For instance, the batteries used for the Crusoe project are powered by solar panels.

«I believe this venture has the potential to grow faster than our core recycling business,» stated JB Straubel, co-founder and CEO of Redwood.

Currently, Redwood recycles approximately 70% of all used or discarded batteries in the United States. The company aims to implement energy storage systems with a cumulative capacity of 20 gigawatt-hours by 2028.

GM’s willingness to provide Redwood with new batteries, in addition to old ones, offers the company a safeguard against fluctuating electric vehicle sales. According to Cox Automotive, sales of new vehicles decreased by 6.3% in the second quarter of this year, despite expectations for a surge as tax incentives are set to gradually phase out by September 30.

On the other hand, the energy storage market has experienced steady growth in recent years. The number of new installations in the first quarter of this year reached a record high, marking a 57% increase compared to the same period in 2024.

Meanwhile, researchers in China have discovered a method to revive spent lithium-ion batteries, aiming to reduce waste and decrease the need for new battery production. They employed an artificial intelligence model trained in chemistry principles. The researchers found that the chemical mixture identified by the AI could significantly extend the lifespan of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells. Typically, an LFP battery powering an EV can be charged and discharged around 2,000 times before it is deemed «dead» (when its capacity falls below 80%). By adding electrolyte each time the battery approached this limit, the team was able to recover much of the cell’s capacity, allowing it to perform nearly as well as a new battery. By the end of the experiment, the battery had restored 96% of its capacity after nearly 12,000 charge-discharge cycles.