Tesla has some connections with many firms like SpaceX, SolarCity, Panasonic, etc., but now, it has been linked to a materials recycling company. According to Reuters, two of Tesla’s top executives were listed as officers at Redwood Materials Inc, suggesting a possible connection between the two companies.
Tesla executives listed as officers at Redwood Materials
According to a filing dated April 28, Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel and Andrew Stevenson, head of special projects at Tesla, are listed as executive officers and directors at the Redwood City, California-based company. Last month, the company raised $2 million from a single undisclosed investor, the filing revealed.
The equity was sold on April 17, and Stevenson signed the document on April 28, notes CNBC. The filing was first noticed by research firm CBInsights on Monday. It must be noted that Straubel has invested in companies before without necessarily any involvement with Tesla, like Axiom Exergy, a new energy storage startup, notes Electrek.
Redwood Materials has a single-page website which does not provide many details, notes Reuters. So no proper link between Tesla and the materials recycling company can be established. According to its website, the company focuses on recycling, re-manufacturing and re-using materials. The company describes itself as making “advanced technology and process development for materials recycling, remanufacturing, and reuse.”
How could Tesla be related to this materials recycling company?
Over the past few years, Tesla has been moving beyond electric cars, and just last year, it acquired solar panel installer SolarCity. So it might have something to do with this materials recycling company. CBInsights believe that materials efficiencies and innovation could be a focus area for the company, considering Tesla’s plan to take its manufacturing for volume production.
Tesla has always maintained that in the long-term, recycling will be an important part as “battery packs are depleted and can be reuse to make new ones,” notes Electrek. It must be noted that in a keynote in March, the company listed “re-thinking the materials supply chain” as one of its focus areas, notes Reuters. And earlier this year, the company opened the Gigafactory to produce battery cells for its energy storage products. It is also ramping up production of its mass-market Model 3 car.
As of now, there have been no comments from Tesla on the matter, so there is no information as to how Tesla is involved with Redwood Materials be it as a partner, customer or even investor. Nevertheless, a company like Redwood Materials could help the EV maker better control its supply chain and possibly boost production, considering that it will be “recycling materials to be manufactured into different parts,” says CNBC. Going forward, the EV firm will need significantly more materials, considering its plans to make 1 million vehicles in 2020.
A materials recycling company could also help Tesla be more socially responsible toward natural resources, as has been seen lately with U.S. tech firms. In April, Apple vowed to make its products only from renewable resources or recycled material one day.
