General EV Conversation
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 26,190
Likes: 4,380
From: Alberta
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 26,190
Likes: 4,380
From: Alberta
Awesome thread on battery recycling by Redwood Materials
This is especially neat
This is especially neat
A key invention is the RC1, the machine that eats the machine. A giant rotating tunnel slow-cooks batteries at ~300C. It uses almost no energy—a self-perpetuating release from the cooked batteries. No oxygen, no fire, no waste. Gases are trapped & made into industrial products.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/featu...&sref=Z0b6TmHW
Gift link for the above article. Super impressive what they've been able to do!
Gift link for the above article. Super impressive what they've been able to do!
The company’s rapid progress flummoxed a group of independent Stanford researchers who were given access to Redwood’s data over the last two years to conduct an environmental assessment of its battery recycling. By the time the researchers would finish analyzing part of Redwood’s process, they’d discover that process had changed, said Will Tarpeh, an assistant professor of chemical engineering and one of the paper’s senior authors.
“Month to month, they were always tweaking,” Tarpeh said. “That made it challenging but was fantastic to see. They are navigating very well through a world where everything is shifting very quickly.”
The Stanford report, which was still under peer review, found that Redwood’s recycling and refining operations cut carbon dioxide emissions by 70% compared with traditional recycling methods and 40% compared with other recycling processes. The savings were even greater when Redwood was dealing with manufacturing scrap, which currently makes up roughly half of the materials available for recycling.
...
At Redwood, nothing goes to landfill, and no water leaves the facility except the sanitary waste from sinks and toilets. There are no gas lines; everything is electric.It’s also built for scale, allowing the company to quickly break down a truckload of assorted batteries without manual sorting or tedious disassembly.
...
“Once we've changed over the entire vehicle fleet to electric, and all those minerals are in consumption, we’ll only have to replace a couple percent each year that’s lost in the process,” said Colin Campbell, Redwood’s chief technology officer and the former head of powertrain engineering at Tesla. “It will become obvious to everyone that it doesn't make sense to dig it out of the ground anymore.”
“Month to month, they were always tweaking,” Tarpeh said. “That made it challenging but was fantastic to see. They are navigating very well through a world where everything is shifting very quickly.”
The Stanford report, which was still under peer review, found that Redwood’s recycling and refining operations cut carbon dioxide emissions by 70% compared with traditional recycling methods and 40% compared with other recycling processes. The savings were even greater when Redwood was dealing with manufacturing scrap, which currently makes up roughly half of the materials available for recycling.
...
At Redwood, nothing goes to landfill, and no water leaves the facility except the sanitary waste from sinks and toilets. There are no gas lines; everything is electric.It’s also built for scale, allowing the company to quickly break down a truckload of assorted batteries without manual sorting or tedious disassembly.
...
“Once we've changed over the entire vehicle fleet to electric, and all those minerals are in consumption, we’ll only have to replace a couple percent each year that’s lost in the process,” said Colin Campbell, Redwood’s chief technology officer and the former head of powertrain engineering at Tesla. “It will become obvious to everyone that it doesn't make sense to dig it out of the ground anymore.”
Bit the bullet and bought a 3rd party NACS -> CCS adapter for the Rivian. Given the slow roll out, I can always sell it in the future when my official Tesla made one comes or have a backup if anything happens to one or the other. It has a lot of good early reviews and seems to be well made.
Bit the bullet and bought a 3rd party NACS -> CCS adapter for the Rivian. Given the slow roll out, I can always sell it in the future when my official Tesla made one comes or have a backup if anything happens to one or the other. It has a lot of good early reviews and seems to be well made.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 19,948
Likes: 3,841
From: California
The A2Z will work fine, it meets all the requirements. Some Polestar owners have started buying them in preparation
ClubLexus Stories
Celebrating Lexus & Toyota from Around the Globe
Lexus NX 350h: A Fuel-Sipping Secret Hot Hatch???
Michael S. Palmer
5 Best & 5 Worst Lexus Daily Drivers
Joe Kucinski
Top 5 Hottest Lexus & Toyotas in 2026 (Hardest To Buy)
Brett Foote
2026 Lexus IS 350 F Sport Review: The Last of Its Kind Still Rocks
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Confusing Things Lexus Has Ever Done!
Joe Kucinski
2026 Lexus ES Review: Lexus Re-Embraces Founding Principles
Michael S. Palmer
10 Lexus Bargains That are Cheaper Than a New Toyota RAV4
Joe Kucinski
8 Weirdest Things Lexus Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
10 Lexus Designs That Have Aged Like Fine Wine
Verdad Gallardo
Yeah going to test the local EA and SC to make sure everything works as expected. There have been some issues with Rivian / EA in recent weeks and I just want to make sure I can get it to work when I need it. I've only fast charged a few times and those were with magic dock SCs
High demand though so I probably won't get it for a month
High demand though so I probably won't get it for a month
Yeah going to test the local EA and SC to make sure everything works as expected. There have been some issues with Rivian / EA in recent weeks and I just want to make sure I can get it to work when I need it. I've only fast charged a few times and those were with magic dock SCs
High demand though so I probably won't get it for a month
High demand though so I probably won't get it for a month
my experience with EA has been excellent after the first minute or two of confusion the first time.
Lead Lap
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 4,074
Likes: 1,723
From: San Diego, CA
Did the same thing. My free adapter from Ford is meant to arrive in May, but I've got the A2Z coming any day to tide me over in the meantime if needed.
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 296
Likes: 160
From: OC | SoCal
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 19,948
Likes: 3,841
From: California
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 19,948
Likes: 3,841
From: California
A member sent me a PM asking me what criteria I use when buying cars. I was going to respond back to the PM, but decided to make my response public. There are several types of criteria I use based on who I am buying the vehicle for and its purpose.
1) My personal vehicle
My personal vehicle is used mainly for my work commute and other daily driving. I've always loved performance cars, so my criteria has mostly been power. My first real performance car was an 86 VW GTI. When I could finally afford better cars, I would go for the bigger engines, for example I've owned three Camry's, two of them were V6 (3.0 and 3.3L). My last gasoline powered car was an IS350 Sport. When I went EV, I replaced it with the 2022 Polestar 2, I leased that car 100 percent for its performance. It's efficiency and cost savings are only the frosting. Had I not gone EV, I probably would have bought a GSF, RCF or possibly a BMW M3. So basically, performance is the main criteria for my personal car, and when the lease expires, I'm going to be looking at either a used Model 3 Performance or 2025 Model 3 Ludicrous...or whatever they call it
2) Family/travel Vehicle
This is where efficiency and utility is most important. Thankfully, our 2023 Model Y meets a bunch of criteria: It's roomy, has utility, is reliable, is extremely efficient, and meets my performance criteria. It works for me as both a family car, travel vehicle, and daily commuter. It has 385 HP, yet averages 122 MPGe. I wish there was a minivan version of it, but you can't have everything
3) Wife's commuter
Here I'm mainly looking for efficiency and cost savings. My wife doesn't really care about performance, but thankfully our 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is not only efficient, maint free, but also performs well with its 320 HP dual motors. My wife commute to work is about 30 or 40 miles a day, and it's less than a dollar a day in electricity. The downside is it's a 2-year lease, so next year I'm going to have to find a suitable replacement
So I hope I answered your question on the criteria I use to pick my cars
1) My personal vehicle
My personal vehicle is used mainly for my work commute and other daily driving. I've always loved performance cars, so my criteria has mostly been power. My first real performance car was an 86 VW GTI. When I could finally afford better cars, I would go for the bigger engines, for example I've owned three Camry's, two of them were V6 (3.0 and 3.3L). My last gasoline powered car was an IS350 Sport. When I went EV, I replaced it with the 2022 Polestar 2, I leased that car 100 percent for its performance. It's efficiency and cost savings are only the frosting. Had I not gone EV, I probably would have bought a GSF, RCF or possibly a BMW M3. So basically, performance is the main criteria for my personal car, and when the lease expires, I'm going to be looking at either a used Model 3 Performance or 2025 Model 3 Ludicrous...or whatever they call it
2) Family/travel Vehicle
This is where efficiency and utility is most important. Thankfully, our 2023 Model Y meets a bunch of criteria: It's roomy, has utility, is reliable, is extremely efficient, and meets my performance criteria. It works for me as both a family car, travel vehicle, and daily commuter. It has 385 HP, yet averages 122 MPGe. I wish there was a minivan version of it, but you can't have everything
3) Wife's commuter
Here I'm mainly looking for efficiency and cost savings. My wife doesn't really care about performance, but thankfully our 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is not only efficient, maint free, but also performs well with its 320 HP dual motors. My wife commute to work is about 30 or 40 miles a day, and it's less than a dollar a day in electricity. The downside is it's a 2-year lease, so next year I'm going to have to find a suitable replacement
So I hope I answered your question on the criteria I use to pick my cars
Lexus Champion
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 11,412
Likes: 1,642
From: FL
^^ Nice explanation @AMIRZA786!
Have you had a chance to drive the pricey Mercedes EV yet?
How about the Mustang EV?
What's your favorite so far across all the brands so far.
Have you had a chance to drive the pricey Mercedes EV yet?
How about the Mustang EV?
What's your favorite so far across all the brands so far.