Grid-scale

General Motors to supply Redwood Materials with new and second-life batteries for stationary storage

US President Donald Trump has declared his disdain for electric vehicles (EVs) and with sales disappointing, carmakers who invested heavily in battery production could follow General Motors’ (GM) lead and diversify into stationary battery energy storage systems (BESS).

By

Max Hall

Jul 23, 2025

With EV sales having fallen short of analysts’ historic predictions and President Trump singling out electric vehicles as part of his anti-renewables agenda, GM is turning to stationary energy storage for its battery pack output.

The Detroit-based automaker has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to supply Nevada-based battery recycler Redwood Materials with newly-manufactured GM battery packs for use in large-scale, stationary BESS.

GM is already one of the suppliers whose used EV batteries are being deployed by Redwood in stationary BESS, and has helped power the 12 MW/63 MWh project at Redwood’s base in Sparks, Nevada which is supplying power for a Crusoe Energy data center. That project has been described by Redwood as America’s biggest battery-powered microgrid and the world’s largest second-life battery deployment.

With GM stating data centers are expected to consume 12% of the United States’ national electricity by 2028 – up from 4.4% in 2023, thanks to artificial intelligence energy needs – the move to supply new battery packs to Redwood represents recognition of a new revenue opportunity and of tanking EV sales and the prevailing policy environment.

Announcing the move in a press release which indicates further details of the partnership will be revealed this year, GM wrote, “This collaboration marks a significant step toward taking GM’s advanced battery technology beyond EVs.”

JB Straubel, former chief technical officer at Tesla and founder and CEO of Redwood, said, “Electricity demand is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, driven by AI and the rapid electrification of everything from transportation to industry. Both GM’s second-life EV batteries and new batteries can be deployed in Redwood’s energy storage systems, delivering fast, flexible power solutions and strengthening America’s energy and manufacturing independence.”

GM and Redwood Materials expect to announce more details on their plans later in 2025.

Written by

Max Hall

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