How old batteries will help power tomorrow’s EVs

Hand disassembly won’t be ideal once the company starts taking in more materials, says Andy Hamilton, Redwood’s VP of manufacturing. Eventually, Redwood hopes to automate more of this sorting process, though building automated systems that can deal with the variety of batteries the company takes in will likely be a challenge.   After sorting and disassembly, the batteries that still hold charge can be loaded onto a conveyor belt and carried up into one of four massive chambers for a process called calcination, where batteries are cooked at high temperatures to discharge them and remove solvents. The material is then crushed into powder before it enters the hydrometallurgical process to separate individual elements.  Despite recent technical progress, recycling won’t meet demand for battery materials anytime soon, says Alissa Kendall, an energy systems researcher at the…

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