Redwood Materials has a new business: Helping AI data centers avoid America's backed-up electric grid

JB Straubel, co-founder and chief executive officer of Redwood Materials. Bloomberg/Getty Images Redwood Materials wants to help AI data centers get electricity faster. It plans to combine retired EV batteries with solar and other on-site power sources. Redwood is working with Rivian and has built a battery system for Crusoe in Nevada. Redwood Materials wants to help companies sidestep years-long waits for electricity by building on-site energy systems with recycled EV batteries, according to CEO JB Straubel . The battery recycling startup is expanding beyond collecting and processing old electric-vehicle batteries. It's increasingly pitching itself as a way for AI data centers to get power faster, without waiting for new connections to America's backed-up electric grid. "Connecting to the grid can take years," Straubel wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.