JB Straubel, the thinker and doer in the shadow of the visionary Elon Musk for 17 years, is now devoting himself to the reversal of energy storage. Again, he’s one step ahead of the world.
The humble engineer JB Straubel was the maker at Tesla and is preparing to transform the production of Li-ion batteries for e-cars into a circular economy.
When the then largely unknown electric car manufacturer Tesla launched its first production car, the Roadster, 14 years ago, JB Straubel, the company’s chief technology officer, had already been at work for three years.
The then 33-year-old Stanford graduate was co-founder of today’s electric car market leader and responsible for the technology of the Tesla Roadster, especially the central component – the battery cells. In addition to his role as Head of Research and Development, Straubel evaluated new technologies, took on the technical testing of key suppliers and partners as well as the acceptance of new key components for Tesla vehicles.
In our first conversation in 2008, Jeffrey Brian Straubel, known by everyone as JB, was anything but hyperactive. He was analytical and thoughtful. What didn’t quite fit into the picture was his remark that he had worked on the electrification of aircraft even before Tesla was founded – during his studies, by the way.
Straubel always remained humble in the shadow of the great visionary. Elon Musk was and is the incarnate PR machine, but Straubel was always at his side during public appearances – in the event that detailed technical questions were to arise and the feasibility of the bold ideas relating to the electric car were questioned.
One who thinks problems through to the end
But while Musk devoted himself to his next visions and their feasibility, Straubel stayed on the ground and thought about what the consequence of the electrification of mobility would be and how it could be tackled sustainably. JB was not only thinking of electric cars at the end of their life, but also of the much more numerous and short-lived battery carriers such as cell phones, tablets and laptops.
The rational and sustainable recycling of batteries as possible became Straubel’s very own vision. In 2018, in addition to his role as Tesla’s Chief Technical Officer, he founded Redwood Materials, based in Carson City, Nevada.
In 2019, Straubel quit Tesla. Although he stayed with the company as a consultant, he has since devoted himself to revolutionizing battery recycling and heads Redwood Materials full-time. “We know about the huge growth rates of materials that arise in the global transformation to sustainable energy,” says Straubel. “We know that it is by no means too early to plan the ‘reverse development’ of the many gigawatt hours that are built today as energy storage”.
Wherever Straubel appears, the smartest minds in Silicon Valley and the global technology scene listen up. It is therefore no surprise that the Tesla veteran was able to build a management team that is bursting with competence in just a short time. Concentrated intelligence and experience from companies such as Waymo, Sunpower, Norsk Hydro, Dow Chemical, Valvoline and Glencore have come together at Redwood Materials. Straubel from Tesla brought COO Kevin Kasskert with him after the specialist, who is also part of the close circle around Elon Musk, had built the first Gigafactory.
The Redwood team wants to work together on realizing Straubel’s recycling vision. “It almost sounds like science fiction, but we’re about to get there,” explains the Redwood founder. “If you assume a future in which practically all of the transport logistics will be fully electrified, we will hardly have to mine any new raw materials.”
Instead, the recycling of metals that are used in lithium-ion batteries should achieve a share of 95 to 98 percent, says Straubel. “We will be able to do this a hundred times before we need new materials”. As an example, JB cites the field of lead-acid batteries, such as those used in cars with internal combustion engines. “Such metals are not consumed, but built into the product, where they remain until the product’s end of life. We could recycle and reuse them ».
According to Redwood Materials, there is a wide range of materials that can be extracted and recycled from electric cars, but also from cell phones and other fast-moving small electronics. Lithium, nickel, copper, gold, silver, cobalt, palladium, tantalum, neodymium and carbon are just some of the substances on the “menu” at Redwood Materials.
Automakers are interested
Straubel’s strategies stand out in the auto industry. Since October there has been a partnership with Ford, the aim of which is to help Ford produce sustainable and more cost-effective electric cars. Redwood plans to acquire a stake in the Blue Oval City electric car plant, northeast of Memphis, Tennessee, planned by Ford in 2025.
Ford expects the partnership to cut costs in its Li-ion battery production. To this end, Redwood is to convert the entire supply chain so that Ford can operate its own circular economy in the production and recycling of batteries for electric cars. Current vehicles such as the Mustang Mach-e and the F-150 Lightning pickup should benefit from the new battery regime, but the new processes are primarily intended for future Ford electric cars.
Redwood’s share of new circular elements could grow enormously in the industry if more automakers jump on the bandwagon of the circular economy. It is not only the way in which the materials used are recovered from batteries that are intended to revolutionize the market, but also the creation of new battery components made from recycled material is part of the expertise of Straubel’s new company.
The funding to build a redwood gigafactory appears to be in place. Around 740 million dollars have been raised in two investment rounds since 2020, in both of which Straubel was involved, but well-known companies such as Goldman Sachs, the Amazon Climate Fund and Bill Gates are among the investors.
This is what the first Redwood Gigafactory should look like when it goes into production in 2023.
Ford is the first automaker to benefit from redwood electrode material in lithium-ion batteries. But Straubel thinks much further. In the next few days, Redwood will announce where the first recycling factory is to be built in North America. When fully developed, this is to produce cathode and anode material for lithium-ion batteries with 100 gigawatt hours annually in 2025. In 2030, production is expected to increase to 500 GWh per year – that would be enough for half of North American electric car production.
Straubel’s visions for growth are dizzying, but at Tesla he was able to show that his goals can be represented. JB even thinks that his estimates are too conservative: “If you analyze the market needs carefully, you can even ask yourself whether our planned growth is aggressive enough. In fact, we need at least four companies like Redwood that are pursuing the same goal and doing so at the same time as us ».