Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Automaker Ford announced on Wednesday that it will invest $50 million in an electric vehicle battery recycling company that was created by a former Tesla Motors executive.
Ford announced Wednesday that Redwood Materials -- a startup run by former Tesla chief technology officer JB Straubel -- will recycle its electric vehicle batteries and build a closed-loop supply chain in the United States.
The carmaker said it's investing in Redwood Materials, a Nevada-based company founded by former Tesla executive J.B. Straubel.
Ford said Redwood can recover about 95% of precious metals in EV batteries like nickel, cobalt and copper to be used again in manufacturing EV batteries.
Straubel said the partnership can decrease costs and help drive up adoption of electric vehicles in the United States.
"We are designing our battery supply chain to create a fully closed-loop life cycle to drive down the cost of electric vehicles via a reliable U.S. materials supply chain," Lisa Drake, Ford North American chief operating officer, said in a statement.
Ford said the deal with Redwood is part of efforts to invest $30 billion in U.S. vehicle electrification by 2025. Last week, the automaker announced hundreds of new jobs to produce its electric F-150 Lightning pickup. Ford also has plans to build batteries with South Korea's SK Innovation.
Other Redwood Materials customers include Nissan, e-bike company Specialized and Panasonic.