Energy
Tesla’s battery genius may hold the key to a closed-loop recycling endgame
Last year, a proverbial bomb dropped on Tesla after CTO and co-founder JB Straubel announced that he was transitioning into an advisor role and stepping away from his day-to-day duties in the company. While Straubel assured investors that he was not “disappearing” from Tesla in his final earnings call, he did stay notably under the radar following his departure. But as the date for the electric car maker’s Battery Day draws closer, it appears that some pieces are slowly falling into place suggesting that JB Straubel’s company, Redwood Materials, and Tesla, may be coming together at a key junction.
To state that JB Straubel was the backbone of Tesla’s industry-leading battery tech is no understatement. Much of the company’s breakthroughs in its battery-related efforts, such as the construction of Gigafactory Nevada, would not have been possible without Straubel’s genius. In fact, so notable were his contributions to Tesla’s battery tech in the company’s early days that he was eventually considered as a co-founder of the electric car maker.
But even during his last years at Tesla, Straubel has remarked that one key aspect remains missing from the EV transition — closed-loop battery recycling. Battery electric vehicles are great in the way that they are zero-emissions, after all, but disposing of their batteries at their end-of-life presents notable challenges under closed-loop recycling is developed. “Ultimately what we want is a closed-loop, right, at the Gigafactories that reuses the same, recycled materials,” he remarked at Tesla’s 2018 Annual Shareholders Meeting.
Prior to his departure from his day-to-day duties at Tesla, reports emerged stating that Straubel had founded a stealthy battery recycling startup called Redwood Materials. Interestingly enough, Redwood centered its operations in Nevada, the same state that hosts Tesla’s biggest battery facility to date, Gigafactory 1. When reports about Redwood initially emerged in 2018, however, Straubel was quick to note that his recycling startup’s operations are “unrelated to Tesla or to the Gigafactory directly.”
A recent report from The Wall Street Journal has now revealed some notable details that may explain some aspects of Straubel’s statement back in 2018. According to the publication, Redwood has already convinced Panasonic, Tesla’s battery partner at Gigafactory Nevada, to utilize Redwood’s technology to reclaim scrap from its operations in the facility. Panasonic reportedly started with a trial run that involved Redwood reclaiming more than 400 pounds of scrap from its Giga Nevada operations. The Japanese firm appears to have been satisfied with Redwood’s results in the trial run, as Panasonic reportedly upped its contract with the startup to 2 tons not long after.
Today, the Journal stated that all of the scrap coming from Panasonic’s side of Gigafactory Nevada’s battery production activities are being shipped to Redwood Materials for recycling. In a way, Redwood’s partnership with Panasonic seems to fit Straubel’s statement back in 2018, when he noted that his startup has no direct relation to Tesla’s operations. That being said, it is evident that Redwood’s tech is a notable step forward towards JB Straubel’s vision of a closed-loop battery recycling system.
Straubel’s plans for Redwood are ambitious, as he is looking to develop a recycling process that is so efficient that batteries coming from retired electric vehicles and energy storage units could be quickly stripped down, recycled for their core materials, and used to rebuild new batteries. With such a system in place, a closed-loop is created, and hardly any materials are lost. It’s a lofty goal, but it does hint at Straubel’s understated determination that made him such a powerful background force in Tesla.
Interestingly enough, Tesla’s new Impact Report specifically includes a section about closed-loop battery recycling. According to the electric car maker, such a setup at Gigafactory Nevada “presents a compelling solution to move energy supply away from the fossil-fuel based practice of take, make and burn, to a more circular model of recycling end-of-life batteries for reuse over and over again. From an economic perspective, we expect to recognize significant savings over the long term, as the costs associated with large-scale battery material recovery and recycling will be far lower than purchasing and transporting new materials.”
It remains to be seen if JB Straubel’s Redwood Materials and Tesla are indeed working together to recycle batteries from Gigafactory 1 and perhaps even the electric car maker’s own Roadrunner program, but despite the lack of confirmation for now, one thing is certain. One of the brightest minds in Tesla, who is arguably the genius behind the company’s battery tech and initiatives, has started a thriving company that fills in the crucial gap of battery recycling. And with such a key innovation at its doorstep, it appears out of character for Tesla to simply ignore the opportunities presented by Redwood Materials and its battery recycling technologies.
Energy
Tesla starts hiring efforts for Texas Megafactory
Tesla’s Brookshire site is expected to produce 10,000 Megapacks annually, equal to 40 gigawatt hours of energy storage.
Tesla has officially begun hiring for its new $200 million Megafactory in Brookshire, Texas, a manufacturing hub expected to employ 1,500 people by 2028. The facility, which will build Tesla’s grid-scale Megapack batteries, is part of the company’s growing energy storage footprint.
Tesla’s hiring efforts for the Texas Megafactory are hinted at by the job openings currently active on the company’s Careers website.
Tesla’s Texas Megafactory
Tesla’s Brookshire site is expected to produce 10,000 Megapacks annually, equal to 40 gigawatt hours of energy storage, similar to the Lathrop Megafactory in California. Tesla’s Careers website currently lists over 30 job openings for the site, from engineers, welders, and project managers. Each of the openings is listed for Brookshire, Texas.
The company has leased two buildings in Empire West Business Park, with over $194 million in combined property and equipment investment. Tesla’s agreement with Waller County includes a 60% property tax abatement, contingent on meeting employment benchmarks: 375 jobs by 2026, 750 by 2027, and 1,500 by 2028, as noted in a report from the Houston Business Journal. Tesla is required to employ at least 1,500 workers in the facility through the rest of the 10-year abatement period.
Tesla’s clean energy boom
City officials have stated that Tesla’s arrival marks a turning point for the Texas city, as it highlights a shift from logistics to advanced clean energy manufacturing. Ramiro Bautista from Brookshire’s economic development office, highlighted this in a comment to the Journal.
“(Tesla) has great-paying jobs. Not just that, but the advanced manufacturing (and) clean energy is coming to the area,” he said. “So it’s not just your normal logistics manufacturing. This is advanced manufacturing coming to this area, and this brings a different type of job and investment into the local economy.”
Energy
Tesla and Samsung SDI in talks over new US battery storage deal: report
The update was related by industry sources and initially reported by South Korean news outlets.
Recent reports have suggested that Tesla and Samsung SDI are in talks over a potential partnership to supply batteries for large-scale energy storage systems (ESS).
The update was related by industry sources and initially reported by South Korean news outlets.
ESS batteries to be built at Samsung’s Indiana plant
As noted in a report from Korea JoongAng Daily, the demand for energy storage systems has been growing rapidly in North America, thanks in no small part to the surge in AI investments across numerous companies. With this in mind, Tesla has reportedly approached Samsung SDI about a potential battery supply deal.
The deal is reportedly worth over 3 trillion Korean won (approximately $2.11 billion) and will span three years, according to The Korea Global Economic Daily. A battery supply deal with Samsung SDI could make sense for Tesla as the company already has a grid-scale battery, the Megapack, which is perfect for industrial use. Samsung SDI could simply supply cells for the EV maker.
Production of the batteries would reportedly take place at Samsung SDI’s joint venture factory with Stellantis in Indiana, which is currently under construction. Samsung SDI recently announced plans to use part of that plant’s EV lines to produce cells for ESS, with a targeted capacity of 30 GWh by the end of next year.
Tesla and Samsung’s partnership
At present, only a handful of manufacturers, including Korea’s LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, SK On, and Japan’s Panasonic, are capable of producing energy storage-scale batteries domestically in the United States. A Samsung SDI official issued a comment about the matter, stating, “Nothing has been finalized regarding cooperation with Tesla.”
The possible energy storage system deal adds another layer to Tesla’s growing collaboration with Samsung, which is already in line as a partner in the upcoming production of Tesla’s AI5 and AI6 chips. Early sample manufacturing of the AI6 is expected to begin in South Korea, with mass production slated for Samsung’s Texas-based Taylor foundry when it starts operations.
The AI6 chip will power Tesla’s next wave of high-volume projects, including the Optimus humanoid robot and the autonomous Cybercab service. Musk has called the partnership with Samsung a “real collaboration,” adding that he personally plans to “walk the line” at the Taylor facility to speed up progress.
Energy
Tesla VP hints at Solar Roof comeback with Giga New York push
The comments hint at possible renewed life for the Solar Roof program, which has seen years of slow growth since its 2016 unveiling.
Tesla’s long-awaited and way underrated Solar Roof may finally be getting its moment. During the company’s Q3 2025 earnings call, Vice President of Energy Engineering Michael Snyder revealed that production of a new residential solar panel has started at Tesla’s Buffalo, New York facility, with shipments to customers beginning in the first quarter of 2026.
The comments hint at possible renewed life for the Solar Roof program, which has seen years of slow growth since its 2016 unveiling.
Tesla Energy’s strong demand
Responding to an investor question about Tesla’s energy backlog, Snyder said demand for Megapack and Powerwall continues to be “really strong” into next year. He also noted positive customer feedback for the company’s new Megablock product, which is expected to start shipping from Houston in 2026.
“We’re seeing remarkable growth in the demand for AI and data center applications as hyperscalers and utilities have seen the versatility of the Megapack product. It increases reliability and relieves grid constraints,” he said.
Snyder also highlighted a “surge in residential solar demand in the US,” attributing the spike to recent policy changes that incentivize home installations. Tesla expects this trend to continue into 2026, helped by the rollout of a new solar lease product that makes adoption more affordable for homeowners.
Possible Solar Roof revival?
Perhaps the most intriguing part of Snyder’s remarks, however, was Tesla’s move to begin production of its “residential solar panel” in Buffalo, New York. He described the new panels as having “industry-leading aesthetics” and shape performance, language Tesla has used to market its Solar Roof tiles in the past.
“We also began production of our Tesla residential solar panel in our Buffalo factory, and we will be shipping that to customers starting Q1. The panel has industry-leading aesthetics and shape performance and demonstrates our continued commitment to US manufacturing,” Snyder said during the Q3 2025 earnings call.
Snyder did not explicitly name the product, though his reference to aesthetics has fueled speculation that Tesla may finally be preparing a large-scale and serious rollout of its Solar Roof line.
Originally unveiled in 2016, the Solar Roof was intended to transform rooftops into clean energy generators without compromising on design. However, despite early enthusiasm, production and installation volumes have remained limited for years. In 2023, a report from Wood Mackenzie claimed that there were only 3,000 operational Solar Roof installations across the United States at the time, far below forecasts. In response, the official Tesla Energy account on X stated that the report was “incorrect by a large margin.”
Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.1.7 real-world drive and review
Elon Musk debunks report claiming xAI raised $15 billion in funding round
Tesla reportedly testing Apple CarPlay integration: report
-
News6 days agoTesla shares rare peek at Semi factory’s interior
-
Elon Musk6 days agoTesla says texting and driving capability is coming ‘in a month or two’
-
News5 days agoTesla makes online ordering even easier
-
News5 days agoTesla Model Y Performance set for new market entrance in Q1
-
News6 days agoTesla Cybercab production starts Q2 2026, Elon Musk confirms
-
News6 days agoTesla China expecting full FSD approval in Q1 2026: Elon Musk
-
News1 week agoTesla Model Y Performance is rapidly moving toward customer deliveries
-
News4 days agoTesla is launching a crazy new Rental program with cheap daily rates