MIT Technology Review · Jun 27, 2025
MIT Technology Review reports Redwood’s plan to reuse EV batteries for AI data centers
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MIT Technology Review published this report on June 27, 2025. Redwood Materials has launched Redwood Energy, a business line that repurposes used electric-vehicle batteries in solar-powered microgrids. Its first system supplies electricity to a nearby Crusoe AI data center; Redwood says the system should provide more than 99% of the local facilities’ electricity, with the grid available during extended periods of little sunlight. The proposal gives batteries that retain capacity a second use before recycling. Redwood says reused batteries should make its microgrids substantially cheaper than systems built with new batteries. The project also offers a practical test of whether solar power and storage can serve data centers, which the report describes as a source of growing energy demand and concern about climate emissions and water use. A cited study estimated that microgrids with natural-gas backup could reduce emissions compared with running new AI data centers entirely on natural gas; that estimate is not a measurement of Redwood’s project. Redwood’s founder and chief executive, JB Straubel, expects the business line could someday surpass the company’s recycling operation and calls it the lowest-cost solution. Whether the Nevada system’s costs and performance will support that confidence, or lead other data center developers to adopt similar systems, remains unknown.
Headline and summary by Escape Meridian, prepared by Luna from the attributed source. A source check is not independent confirmation of the source’s claims.
Original source
MIT Technology Review · Article
Source details
Original source date: Jun 27, 2025 (2025-06-27T03:30:00Z).
Date basis: Date from the publisher’s own records, through its API.
Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-13T08:33:23.650Z. First observed: 2026-10-31T19:33:53.330Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-31T19:35:25.465Z.
Referenced by
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Limits
Text as retrieved on October 31, 2026; originally published June 27, 2025. The report does not provide measured operating costs or emissions for the Nevada microgrid; Redwood’s cost comparison and expected electricity supply are company statements, while the emissions comparison is an estimate from a cited study.
Open question
What operating costs and emissions will Redwood’s Nevada microgrid demonstrate compared with grid power or other backup options?
Source-stated
MIT Technology Review reports that Redwood Materials launched Redwood Energy to reuse batteries with remaining life in microgrids.
The event marked the launch of the company’s new business line, Redwood Energy, which will initially repurpose (rather than recycle) batteries with years of remaining life to create renewable-powered microgrids.
Source-stated
The first microgrid uses solar panels and supplies power to a nearby Crusoe facility with AI computing equipment.
That power flows to Crusoe, a cryptocurrency miner that pivoted into developing AI data centers, which has built a facility with 2,000 graphics processing units adjacent to the lot of repurposed EV batteries.
Source-stated
Redwood says its microgrid should supply more than 99% of Crusoe’s local facilities’ electricity, while allowing grid use during extended periods of little sunlight.
Redwood’s microgrid should provide more than 99% of the electricity Crusoe’s local facilities need. In the event of extended periods with little sunlight, a rarity in the Nevada desert, the company could still draw from the standard power grid.
Source-stated
A study cited in the report estimated lower emissions for a specified microgrid scenario than for powering new AI data centers entirely with natural gas.
If solar-powered microgrids were used to power 30 gigawatts of new AI data centers, with just 10% backup from natural gas, it would eliminate 400 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions relative to running the centers entirely on natural gas, the study found.
Source-stated
Straubel says he expects Redwood Energy could someday surpass Redwood Materials’ core recycling operation.
Straubel expects Redwood Energy to become a major business line, conceivably surpassing the company’s core recycling operation someday.
Source and contributor context
MIT Technology Review · Publisher
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Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement.
Editorial provenance
Version 1. Publication ID: 2c4f3b17-4aee-5820-89a6-4388cf9306c6.
Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5.
Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-13T08:28:47.087Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true.
Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge_admitted_by_model, second_opinion_categorical.
Observation: 0859fe7dc0fc37301994c2039cd61ceb8569425b3e12febb4ea87d26f2e348b0. Source text hash: bf5833ce8e2aae6c03943b86888e2fa814fe5a9fcd05649f07f84ab124660987.
Revision and source-check history
Version 1 · 2026-11-13T08:33:23.650Z
MIT Technology Review reports Redwood’s plan to reuse EV batteries for AI data centers
MIT Technology Review published this report on June 27, 2025. Redwood Materials has launched Redwood Energy, a business line that repurposes used electric-vehicle batteries in solar-powered microgrids. Its first system supplies electricity to a nearby Crusoe AI data center; Redwood says the system should provide more than 99% of the local facilities’ electricity, with the grid available during extended periods of little sunlight. The proposal gives batteries that retain capacity a second use before recycling. Redwood says reused batteries should make its microgrids substantially cheaper than systems built with new batteries. The project also offers a practical test of whether solar power and storage can serve data centers, which the report describes as a source of growing energy demand and concern about climate emissions and water use. A cited study estimated that microgrids with natural-gas backup could reduce emissions compared with running new AI data centers entirely on natural gas; that estimate is not a measurement of Redwood’s project. Redwood’s founder and chief executive, JB Straubel, expects the business line could someday surpass the company’s recycling operation and calls it the lowest-cost solution. Whether the Nevada system’s costs and performance will support that confidence, or lead other data center developers to adopt similar systems, remains unknown.
Original source
MIT Technology Review · Article
Source details
Original source date: Jun 27, 2025 (2025-06-27T03:30:00Z).
Date basis: Date from the publisher’s own records, through its API.
Added to Escape Meridian: 2026-11-13T08:33:23.650Z. First observed: 2026-10-31T19:33:53.330Z. Retrieved: 2026-10-31T19:35:25.465Z.
Limits
Text as retrieved on October 31, 2026; originally published June 27, 2025. The report does not provide measured operating costs or emissions for the Nevada microgrid; Redwood’s cost comparison and expected electricity supply are company statements, while the emissions comparison is an estimate from a cited study.
Open question
What operating costs and emissions will Redwood’s Nevada microgrid demonstrate compared with grid power or other backup options?
Source-stated
MIT Technology Review reports that Redwood Materials launched Redwood Energy to reuse batteries with remaining life in microgrids.
The event marked the launch of the company’s new business line, Redwood Energy, which will initially repurpose (rather than recycle) batteries with years of remaining life to create renewable-powered microgrids.
Source-stated
The first microgrid uses solar panels and supplies power to a nearby Crusoe facility with AI computing equipment.
That power flows to Crusoe, a cryptocurrency miner that pivoted into developing AI data centers, which has built a facility with 2,000 graphics processing units adjacent to the lot of repurposed EV batteries.
Source-stated
Redwood says its microgrid should supply more than 99% of Crusoe’s local facilities’ electricity, while allowing grid use during extended periods of little sunlight.
Redwood’s microgrid should provide more than 99% of the electricity Crusoe’s local facilities need. In the event of extended periods with little sunlight, a rarity in the Nevada desert, the company could still draw from the standard power grid.
Source-stated
A study cited in the report estimated lower emissions for a specified microgrid scenario than for powering new AI data centers entirely with natural gas.
If solar-powered microgrids were used to power 30 gigawatts of new AI data centers, with just 10% backup from natural gas, it would eliminate 400 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions relative to running the centers entirely on natural gas, the study found.
Source-stated
Straubel says he expects Redwood Energy could someday surpass Redwood Materials’ core recycling operation.
Straubel expects Redwood Energy to become a major business line, conceivably surpassing the company’s core recycling operation someday.
Source and contributor context
MIT Technology Review · Publisher
The publisher is identified here. No individual author has been inferred.
Source media
Media retrieval status: unchecked.
Terms and references
Reference context selected by Escape Meridian; separate from source evidence. Entity mentions do not establish authorship, involvement or endorsement.
Editorial provenance
Version 1. Publication ID: 2c4f3b17-4aee-5820-89a6-4388cf9306c6.
Prepared by openai/gpt-6-luna; grounding review by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5.
Source check: passed by anthropic/claude-opus-5.5 on 2026-11-13T08:28:47.087Z. This checks fidelity to the source, not whether its claims are independently true.
Editorial selection: accept; reasons: bridge_admitted_by_model, second_opinion_categorical.
Observation: 0859fe7dc0fc37301994c2039cd61ceb8569425b3e12febb4ea87d26f2e348b0. Source text hash: bf5833ce8e2aae6c03943b86888e2fa814fe5a9fcd05649f07f84ab124660987.
passed · 2026-11-13T08:28:47.087Z · anthropic/claude-opus-5.5
Publication: 2c4f3b17-4aee-5820-89a6-4388cf9306c6
attribution — pass: The reading names MIT Technology Review as the reporter and attributes plans, cost claims and forecasts to Redwood or Straubel. It also marks the emissions estimate as coming from a cited study. One small point: the 99% figure appears in the report without explicit attribution, and the reading assigns it to Redwood. It is still clearly a forward-looking 'should' figure, so this is not a material misattribution.
Redwood’s microgrid should provide more than 99% of the electricity Crusoe’s local facilities need.
summary — pass: The reading leads with the development: Redwood Energy reusing EV batteries in solar microgrids that power a Crusoe AI facility. It explains why this matters (a second life before recycling, possible lower cost, a real-world test of solar plus storage for data centers) and keeps Straubel's confidence. The question is open and grounded in the evidence. 'Microgrid' is not formally defined, but context makes clear it is a local solar and battery power supply, so a general reader can follow.
Such small-scale energy systems can operate on or off the larger electricity grid, providing electricity for businesses or communities.
date — pass: The originalPublished instant 2025-06-27T03:30Z falls on June 27, 2025 in UTC. That matches the stated date, even though the URL path shows 06/26 and the event took place June 26. Forecasts such as Straubel's expectation are kept as forecasts. The later sidebar items, such as the 2026 list, are not used. This is a publisher page, so no archive disclosure is needed.
during a press tour at its headquarters on June 26
support — pass: Each claim matches the source text. The cost advantage is attributed to Redwood, and the study's emissions figure is labeled as an estimate rather than a measurement of the project. The 'practical test' framing follows the article's 'test case' wording. The open question about adoption by other developers reflects Hausfather's stated hope rather than an invented outcome.
Redwood’s new business division offers a test case for a strategy laid out in a paper late last year
media — pass: No media was selected and no verified media candidates were supplied, so there is no media identity or relevance to check.
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