As demand for energy skyrockets amid the rise of AI, one of Tesla’s co-founders is betting on a new solution: giving old EV batteries a second life. JB Straubel, who helped launch Tesla and served as its CTO until 2019, founded Redwood Materials in 2017 to recycle batteries and build a closed-loop supply chain for electric vehicles. Now, Straubel is using EV batteries that still hold usable capacity for grid-scale energy storage. Redwood’s new energy division recently partnered with AI infrastructure company Crusoe to launch its first microgrid, showcasing how repurposed batteries can help power data centers. CNBC visited Redwood’s Nevada operations to see how the company has grown and to learn more about its plans to use second-life batteries to meet the surging energy needs of the AI era
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