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☆ The electric-car industry is set for a pivotal year. Here are 6 VCs' top predictions for 2023, from new trends to investment opportunities.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

2023 is set to bring even more momentum to the electric-car industry than 2022 did. Even with challenges — and some executives' losing faith in the EV biz — the industry can't turn back on its ambitions. Robert Knopes/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesCharging, charging, chargingHistorically, charging hasn't been a money-making venture. Alexei Andreev, a managing director at AutoTech Ventures, said a shakeout could come in the battery industry, where hundreds of startups are racing to compete with giants. The autonomous-vehicle industry took several hits in 2022, but General Motors is still optimistic about Cruise.

☆ East-West battleground will shift from fossil fuels to metals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MILAN, Dec 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The global trade war will shift from fossil fuels to metals and raw materials. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlighted the risk of relying on autocratic states for energy. Europe needs to cumulatively spend $5.3 trillion on clean energy projects by 2050. That requires a sixfold increase in the global production of copper, lithium, graphite, nickel and some rare earths by 2040, International Energy Agency estimates show. It refines 58% of lithium produced globally, 65% of cobalt and over one-third of nickel and copper.

☆ East-West battleground will shift to metals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MILAN, Dec 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The global trade war will shift from fossil fuels to metals and raw materials. Europe needs to cumulatively spend $5.3 trillion on clean energy projects by 2050. That requires a sixfold increase in the global production of copper, lithium, graphite, nickel and some rare earths by 2040, International Energy Agency estimates show. It refines 58% of lithium produced globally, 65% of cobalt and over one-third of nickel and copper. That’s why Western nations’ best option is ultimately to recycle metals from used appliances.

☆ Redwood Materials to Build Second Battery-Parts Factory in South Carolina
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Sean Mclain | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Battery-recycling startup Redwood Materials Inc. is accelerating its U.S. investment, saying it plans to build a second factory in South Carolina. The $3.5 billion plant will recycle spent lithium-ion batteries and manufacture anode and cathode components, Redwood Materials said—two of the most costly parts of the batteries that power electric vehicles. The company decided to build another plant in the South to better position itself to supply a flurry of battery plants going up to take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act.

☆ Redwood Materials joins electric vehicle, battery trek to South Carolina
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Paul Lienert | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 14 (Reuters) - Redwood Materials is the latest company to set up shop in South Carolina's growing community of electric vehicle and battery manufacturers, the Carson City, Nevada-based firm said on Wednesday. Redwood said it will build a $3.5 billion battery materials campus in Ridgefield, about 30 miles (48.28 km) northwest of Charleston, that will recycle, refine and remanufacture cathode and anode materials such as nickel, cobalt, lithium and copper. The Ridgefield facility is expected to supply battery materials to Ford Motor (F.N) and SK On in Kentucky, Toyota Motor (7203.T) in North Carolina and Volvo and Envision AESC in South Carolina. Volvo is building a battery plant next to its assembly facility in Ridgeville and BMW is partnering with Envision AESC on a $700 million battery plant in Woodruff. A second North American “battery belt” is springing up in Canada, in Becancour, Quebec, on the St. Lawrence River.

☆ Elon Musk's former right-hand man is taking the next big step in his plan to make EVs cheaper by recycling old batteries
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The EV battery recycling giant just announced a new plant in South Carolina. The plant will help carmakers get the materials they need to make EV batteries. With more and more demand for the materials to make these things, taking advantage of recycling can ease a supply crunch and eventually drive down costs. "The goal is to make the most sustainable battery materials," said Jackson Switzer, Redwood senior director of business development and one of Insider's 100 People Transforming Business. "To make the most sustainable battery materials, we need to get as much recycled nickel, cobalt, and lithium as we can into the front end of the system.

☆ Redwood Materials to supply cathode material to Panasonic U.S. battery plant
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Paul Lienert | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 15 (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp (6752.T) will buy remanufactured battery cathode material from Redwood Materials, beginning in 2025, for the Japanese battery maker’s new Kansas plant, the companies said on Tuesday. Those targets are a focus of U.S. President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to build up a battery materials supply base in North America. “The IRA just accelerated this entire transition” of the battery supply chain, Redwood Materials Chief Executive J.B. Straubel said in an interview. He expects the company to be the first to produce cathode material at volume in North America. Redwood recycles Panasonic scrap materials from that factory, and has an agreement to supply Panasonic at the Nevada plant with remanufactured anode copper foil.

☆ Panasonic and Redwood Materials strike multibillion-dollar battery component deal for U.S. production
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Phil Lebeau | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Panasonic Energy of North America , the largest supplier of battery cells for electric vehicles in the U.S., has struck a deal with Nevada-based battery recycling company Redwood Materials to buy a key material for the production of batteries. Right now, Panasonic imports almost all of the cathode material used in the production of battery cells at its plant in Sparks, Nevada. The new Panasonic facility will use high-nickel cathode supplied by Redwood materials when production starts in 2025. For Straubel, the agreement with Panasonic Energy is further validation of his vision for Redwood Materials. By 2030, the company expects to produce anode and cathode materials annually to power five million electric vehicles.

☆ Morgan Stanley says this Tesla-supplying global battery material stock could soar by 81%
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Morgan Stanley expects shares in Asian battery component maker L & F Co to rally by 81% by the end of next year. Morgan Stanley maintained its price target and rating on the stock despite the delays to the U.S. joint venture. L & F, which also supplies battery materials to SK Innovation, LG, and Samsung , said it intends to resubmit its application to the South Korean government in the fourth quarter. Equity analysts at Jefferies have a buy rating and 370,000-won price target on the stock, implying a 67% upside. "L & F team has not seen any order slowing from key end customer (TSLA) and expects a continued sequential increase in the next two quarters," Kown said in a note to clients on Oct. 16.

☆ Battery-recycling startup Ascend Elements just pulled in $800 million in funding. Here's why investors are betting on it to beat out rivals like Redwood Materials.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ascend Elements wants to lead in the crucial EV-battery-recycling space. The burgeoning battery-recycling startup Ascend Elements is sitting on a fresh $800 million — and its CEO plans to spend it on beating out rivals like Redwood Materials. Redwood Materials, arguably the most-known player in the industry, saw a whopping $700 million Series C last year. Correction: October 26, 2022 — An earlier version of this story misstated the breakdown of Ascend Element's funding. The $50 million strategic investment from SK is part of the $200 million in equity funding, not in addition to it.

☆ Battery startup salaries revealed: How much Redwood, QuantumScape, and more pay the engineers they're desperate to hire
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Alexa St. John | Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The EV battery space will need to fill 10 million jobs globally by 2030. Firms like Redwood Materials, QuantumScape, and more, are searching for hundreds of workers. Battery companies are desperate for talent to meet the demand they're seeing from electric vehicle automakers — and some are paying big bucks to attract workers. Battery companies are racing to get critical materials like lithium and nickel. This need means that firms innovating all aspects of the battery value chain — including battery chemistry, materials, battery health, repurposing and more — are competing with one another to fill what the World Economic Forum expects will be 10 million jobs globally by 2030.

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☆ Here's how the $360 billion electric car battery market will impact the future of EVs — and how affordable they are for car-buyers.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

There's also money to be made: The EV battery market could hit $360 billion by 2030, according to McKinsey. At Insider, we've looked at white-hot EV battery technologies that give automakers the EV performance they need at the price their customers want. It just led a $400 million investment into the little-known EV battery startup that could make it work. Giants like Tesla, GM, and Ford are going to be desperate for EV materials in the next decade. The soon-to-be $339 billion battery industry is on a hiring tear to power the shift to electric cars.

☆ Factbox: Automakers accelerate drive to secure battery raw materials
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

read more08-Dec-2021 - Belgium's Umicore (UMI.BR) will supply cathode materials for Volkswagen's European battery cell factories under a joint venture. MERCEDES BENZ (MBGn.DE):23-Aug-2022 - Mercedes-Benz strikes cooperation agreement with Canada to secure access to lithium, nickel and cobalt. read more04-Oct-2021 - BHP Group (BHP.AX) will supply nickel sulphate from Western Australia to Toyota and Panasonic's joint venture. read moreFORD (F.N)22-July-2022 - Ioneer Ltd signs binding offtake agreement with Ford to supply lithium from Rhyolite Ridge in Nevada. read more22-Sept-2021 - Ford partners with startup Redwood Materials to form a "closed loop" or circular supply chain for electric vehicle batteries, from raw materials to recycling.

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