Former Tesla CFO Ahuja Joins EV Battery Recycler Redwood Materials

Redwood Materials, the electric vehicle battery recycling venture founded by Tesla board member and former CTO J.B. Straubel, has appointed another seasoned Tesla executive, Deepak Ahuja, as its Chief Financial Officer. The move signifies a significant strengthening of Redwood’s financial leadership as it scales its ambitious operations.

Ahuja brings a wealth of experience in financial stewardship from his previous tenure at Tesla. He served as the electric vehicle and clean energy giant’s finance chief from March 2017 to March 2019, marking his second stint with the company. His initial engagement with Tesla began in 2008, during which he played a pivotal role in navigating the company through its landmark Initial Public Offering in 2010. Ahuja had briefly departed Tesla in 2015 before being persuaded to return two years later.

Speaking with CNBC, Ahuja highlighted his long-standing professional relationship with J.B. Straubel as a primary catalyst for his decision to join Redwood Materials. “Knowing J.B. for the past 18 years, I have immense respect for him as a leader, an engineer, and a forward-thinker,” Ahuja stated. “The presence of so many individuals from the Tesla leadership team at Redwood makes it easier for me to integrate with a sense of credibility and effectively contribute to building this business. While the specific business models and growth avenues will present a learning curve, I am eager to tackle these challenges.”

Straubel initially launched Redwood Materials in 2017, concurrently managing the company while serving as Tesla’s CTO until July 2019. Since then, Redwood Materials has emerged as a significant player in the circular economy for battery materials.

The Carson City, Nevada-based startup has garnered substantial financial backing, raising over $2.3 billion in venture funding from a diverse group of prominent venture capital firms and strategic investors. These include notable names such as Google, Nvidia’s Nventures, Microsoft, OMERS, and Eclipse. Furthermore, Redwood Materials secured a substantial $2 billion loan commitment from the Department of Energy, underscoring the strategic importance of its mission.

The company now commands a valuation exceeding $6 billion, reflecting strong investor confidence in its business model and growth trajectory. Ahuja expressed his enthusiasm for Redwood Materials’ work in ensuring that critical minerals—including lithium, cobalt, and nickel—are retained within the United States. These minerals are indispensable for the production of a wide array of essential products, from consumer electronics and vehicles to defense systems and renewable energy technologies.

“The sheer scale of growth anticipated for this industry and its critical importance to the nation are incredibly motivating for me,” Ahuja added.

Following his departure from Tesla in 2019, Ahuja held the position of CFO at Verily Life Sciences. In 2022, he joined Zipline, a leading drone delivery company, where he served as Chief Business and Financial Officer. Zipline, recognized on the 2025 CNBC Disruptor list, is the world’s largest operator of drone delivery services, having successfully completed over 2.3 million commercial deliveries to date. The company recently concluded an $800 million funding round, valuing it at $7.8 billion. Zipline’s fleet of delivery drones are entirely electric.

A spokesperson for Zipline confirmed that Ahuja continues to serve as a close advisor to the company.

Redwood Materials views end-of-life electric vehicle batteries, as well as those from other machinery and devices, as highly valuable energy assets. This perspective stems from the fact that these batteries retain significant energy storage capacity even after their primary use cycle. Moreover, spent batteries contain precious critical minerals that can be efficiently extracted and repurposed for the manufacturing of new products. This closed-loop approach is central to Redwood’s mission to reduce waste and secure domestic supply chains.

In its formative years, Redwood Materials focused on a “closed-loop” recycling model. This involved taking end-of-life electric vehicle batteries and manufacturing scrap, processing them into raw materials and components essential for the production of new battery cells. This strategy not only diverted waste from landfills but also created a more sustainable and cost-effective supply of battery materials.

Expanding its scope, Redwood Materials now also designs and deploys battery energy storage systems. These systems are critical for managing the intermittency of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydropower, allowing stored energy to be utilized when demand is high or supply is low. A key innovation in Redwood’s energy storage solutions is the integration of “second-life” EV batteries—those that have been repurposed from their initial automotive use.

The burgeoning demand for data centers across the United States is a significant driver for these energy storage systems. They are also being deployed in manufacturing facilities, defense operations, and to enhance the stability and reliability of the national power grid. Ahuja emphasized the critical role of these systems: “Without robust battery storage systems, our grid risks falling behind, and we cannot effectively implement off-grid solutions for even large-scale industrial or commercial requirements.”

Ahuja’s arrival at Redwood Materials comes shortly after a strategic restructuring within the company, which involved a workforce reduction of approximately 10%, impacting 135 employees. This restructuring was partly aimed at reallocating resources to bolster the company’s rapidly growing energy division. TechCrunch was the first to report on this organizational change.

Redwood Materials had been operating without a CFO for over a year following the departure of its previous finance leader, Jason Thompson, in December 2024. In a widely distributed internal communication, J.B. Straubel conveyed to employees that “Redwood today is the strongest it’s ever been.” He further elaborated, “The materials business is well on its way to profitability and has an exciting road map ahead, and we’re seeing great momentum in Redwood Energy.”

Ahuja expressed his optimism regarding the future of fully electric vehicles in the U.S. market, noting that despite recent fluctuations, the overall demand trajectory remains positive. He also highlighted Redwood Materials’ strategic partnerships with major automotive manufacturers like Ford and Rivian. The company has also successfully deployed a significant microgrid system in Abilene, Texas, boasting a 12-megawatt and 63-megawatt-hour capacity. This installation, dubbed “the largest second-life battery deployment in the world,” is designed to power the AI infrastructure company Crusoe.