Westborough EV recycling firm extends Honda battery deal
Photo | Courtesy of Ascend Elements
Arata Ichinose, operating executive and head of business development at Honda Motor Co., meets with Mike O'Kronley, CEO of Ascend Elements in Westborough. The companies reached a basic agreement to collaborate on the stable supply of recycled lithium-ion battery materials for Honda electric vehicles in North America.
Ascend Elements in Westborough and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. reached an agreement to extend their collaboration on recycled lithium-ion batteries for Honda’s electric vehicles in North America. Ascend Elements has recycled used lithium-ion batteries for American Honda Motor Co. since 2021.
The agreement, which is a non-binding strategic alliance and has no timeframe or expiration date, was announced on Feb. 27 and will help Honda as it tries to reach its 2050 goal of zero environmental impact. Honda has been giving Ascend its lithium-ion batteries to recycle for two years and now will purchase those recycled materials back to be used in the manufacturing of its cars.
"Honda is aiming for 'zero environmental impact' by 2050 and sourcing recycled battery materials for its electric vehicles is a huge part of that," Mike O'Kronley, CEO of Ascend Elements, said in the Feb. 27 press release. "We're honored to continue our strategic relationship with Honda in North America."
Ascend spun out of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2015, and the company specializes in electric vehicle battery recycling and commercial-scale production of lithium-ion battery materials. This is another step in the company realizing its vision of creating a closed-loop for lithium-ion batteries, which are used in electric vehicles, and recycling the raw goods that go into them, since those materials are costly and environmentally damaging to procure.
Ascend is building a $1-billion battery recycling facility in Kentucky.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments