Written by?/?Editor by Ma Xiaolei?/?Huang Dalu Design?/?Du Kai Source?/?Wall Street Journal?Author?Tim Higgins Location: A warehouse in Carson City, Nevada, USA; Time: Every day; Event: Old iPhone

and other scrapped personal electronics arrive by the truckload, where warehouse workers crack them open, remove the batteries, and strip them into raw materials.

When people mention Tesla, they will invariably think of Elon Musk. Known as the "Iron Man of Silicon Valley," he carries all the honors brought by Tesla's success.

And there is one person who is inseparable from Musk's success. He and Musk came together because of like-mindedness in their youth. In the more than ten years since Tesla started to become famous, every step it has taken and every technological innovation has made.

All improvements are indispensable to his credit. This person is JB Straubel, the former chief technology officer of Tesla.

What's the secret to building cheaper electric cars?

Straubel already has the answer.

It starts with a bunch of old cell phones.

Straubel, a member of the brain trust behind Tesla, said this discarded electronic waste is the key to driving the electric vehicle revolution forward and making cars affordable for everyone.

Straubel joined Tesla in 2004 as Tesla's fifth employee and was appointed co-founder and first chief technology officer.

In 2017, Straubel established Redwood Materials, a company dedicated to the recycling of lithium-ion batteries and electronic waste.

Where do battery raw materials come from?

Straubel pioneered the design of lithium-ion battery powertrains and was instrumental in helping the Silicon Valley company become the most valuable company in the auto industry.

Since leaving Tesla a year ago, he has been grappling with the underlying problems behind that success.

So where to find the nickel, cobalt and lithium needed to make batteries?

Extracting these materials from nature through mining and other processes is expensive and difficult, and production lags far behind expected demand.

Straubel's Redwood Materials is taking a different tack, quietly aiming to build the largest auto battery recycling operation in the United States.

He was convinced that he could perfect a quick and efficient way to collect and repurpose these materials, upending centuries of mining.

Although Straubel and Musk are equally obsessed with electric vehicles, they are otherwise very different.

Musk is an arrogant performer on stage, while Straubel is a low-key engineer behind the scenes. He once stayed in a hotel and took the initiative to replace the light bulbs in the room because the power was too low.

Although Straubel did not initially plan to work in the automotive industry, his passion for electric vehicles has been long-standing.

Straubel has been interested in chemistry and batteries since childhood. When he was a student at Stanford University, he modified an electric Porsche 944 and won the world electric car racing record in 2000.

He enjoys racing cars and has become famous in the emerging electric car circle.

Today, he is engaged in a large-scale, difficult and even dangerous work.

The furnaces used for battery recycling operate at temperatures of 1,482 degrees Celsius, reducing the material into a brightly colored powder.

Lithium-ion batteries can easily catch fire if not handled properly, and the battery packs that encase them often weigh thousands of pounds and come in a variety of sizes and configurations.

It’s unclear what the market will look like for car battery recycling and who the competitors will be, as various long-time recyclers, mining companies and start-ups are eyeing the market, but few are willing to invest in the machines and tools needed for the work.

Make a huge investment.

Regulatory pressure to lower emissions and falling battery costs have led nearly all automakers to include electric vehicles in their lineups.

Straubel said that according to the current plans of various automakers, if they want to keep up with the speed of increasing the production of electric vehicles, the recycling of vehicle batteries is essential.

Simon Moores, general manager of the research organization Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said that global demand for lithium-ion batteries is expected to surge in the next five years, increasing from 177 GWh last year to nearly 800 GWh, about 2019.

22 times the output of Tesla’s Reno Gigafactory.

What to do with used batteries?

For a long time, the high cost of batteries has been the biggest obstacle to making electric vehicles affordable for everyone.

Therefore, the price of electric vehicles still has a high premium compared with fuel vehicles.

McKinsey & Company estimates this premium averages $12,000.

For example, Hyundai Motor Company's plug-in hybrid Kona SUV is priced at $17,000 more than the gas version.