Rivian and Redwood Materials have expanded their partnership into a closed-loop system covering US end-of-life battery recovery, factory scrap recycling, and stationary energy storage.

Under the expanded arrangement, the energy tech firm will collect retired battery packs from Rivian’s service network across the US.

It will inspect each unit to decide whether it retains sufficient capacity to serve as stationary power storage or should instead be routed directly to recycling.

Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said: “By partnering with JB [Redwood Materials founder and CEO JB Straubel] and the Redwood team we are turning retired EV batteries into a powerful tool to make the grid more reliable and lower energy costs for everyone.”

Units viable for secondary use may be installed at Rivian sites or third-party facilities.

In stationary setups, second-life batteries supply power during peak demand to lower facility strain on local grids.

They can also charge during off-peak hours or surplus renewable output, storing cleaner, lower-cost electricity for later dispatch.

The new scope builds on an initiative announced in April 2026 to install a 10MWh storage system derived from repurposed Rivian packs at the carmaker’s Normal, Illinois assembly plant.

Redwood will also handle production scrap from Rivian's manufacturing lines.

For materials that cannot be reused, Redwood processes them through a recovery line that is said to extract more than 95% of key metals, including lithium, nickel, cobalt, and copper, returning them to domestic supply chains.

By integrating scrap management, retired-pack collection, and secondary storage under one contract, Rivian hopes to simplify its power strategy amid multi-year waits for utility grid interconnections and ongoing equipment backlogs.

Founded by Straubel in 2017, Redwood Materials manufactures battery components, refines cathode materials, and installs grid-scale storage systems for industrial sites and data centres across the US.

Straubel added: "Redwood’s unique ability to integrate and redeploy Rivian batteries with our technology is an opportunity to enable fast, flexible and more cost-efficient energy storage.”

Earlier this month, Rivian received funding through a committed $1bn, ten-year term loan facility from Germany’s Volkswagen Group.