Rivian Expands Redwood Materials Partnership for Battery Recycling

Rivian is expanding its partnership with Redwood Materials, giving the battery recycler a larger role in managing batteries from manufacturing scrap to retired packs that can be reused for energy storage.

Rivian factory to use retired EV batteries for peak shaving

The expanded agreement announced October 15, 2026 will see Redwood handle battery scrap from Rivian’s manufacturing operations while continuing to collect used packs through its service network.

Redwood will first evaluate whether packs still have enough capacity for stationary energy storage. Packs that qualify could be deployed at Rivian facilities or other locations, while the remainder will be recycled to recover materials.

The announcement builds on an April partnership when Rivian and Redwood outlined plans to install 10 megawatt-hours (MWh) of energy storage at Rivian’s Normal, Illinois manufacturing plant. The system will use repurposed Rivian battery packs to store electricity when demand is low and discharge during peak periods.

Recycling critical materials for the R2 ramp

Once batteries can no longer be reused, Redwood says its process can recover more than 95% of critical materials, including lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper. Recovered materials can return to the battery supply chain, reducing dependence on newly mined resources.

The expanded agreement comes as Rivian prepares to scale production of its more affordable R2 SUV, making battery supply, manufacturing efficiency and cost management increasingly important.

Rivian recently hired Jody Kerns, formerly Tesla Cybercab production manager at Giga Texas, to lead R2 general assembly in Normal. The company has added a second shift at its Normal factory with a third planned for 2027.

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