Somewhere in Nevada, your ex-car battery just got promoted to regional power manager. Elon’s slinging curly fries under neon lights. Lucid showed up to the Supercharger orgy and brought… the wrong adapter. Meanwhile, Lyft wants to know if you still vibe with your driver. It’s giving... gridlock fever dream.

Redwood Materials just flipped the script on battery recycling. Instead of just breaking down old EV packs, they’re now turning them into giant energy storage systems and their first customer? An AI data center.

The 100 MW microgrid near Reno will use repurposed EV batteries to power CoreWeave’s Nvidia-fueled compute operation. Think: Tesla Powerwalls, but for infrastructure giants.

With GM on board as a battery supplier, Redwood’s stacking two fast-growing trends, AI and EV circularity, into a scalable energy model.

Here’s what it means for you:

This isn’t just battery recycling it’s the start of a second-life battery economy. For fleet owners, city planners, and charging operators, that means cheaper storage, grid-free charging hubs, and new ways to monetize used batteries.

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Lucid Air drivers are finally getting access to Tesla’s Supercharger network. Huge win, right?

Not so fast.

While the ports now fit (thanks to Tesla’s NACS plug), Lucid’s high-voltage setup isn’t fully compatible. So charging speeds are capped at a sluggish 50 kW, barely road-trip worthy compared to the 250 kW+ Tesla norm.

Lucid says faster charging is coming, but no timeline yet.

Why this matters:

Interoperability isn’t just about plugs, it’s about performance. For EV operators, slower speeds mean longer dwell times and higher costs. Until automakers truly align on charging standards, “access” might not equal usability.

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A neon-drenched 1950s diner with 32 Superchargers just opened on Hollywood Blvd. Yes, it’s kitschy. But it’s also a testbed for Tesla’s “charging-as-entertainment” model, and a peek into how automakers might monetize dwell time.

Riders can now curate their driver experience by favoriting top-rated drivers or blocking bad ones. It’s part of Lyft’s loyalty push, but also a smart retention play as competition with Uber heats back up.

This Texas-based startup is quietly building a niche in on-demand group transportation. Think party vans, campus shuttles, and private event rides, all bookable via app. Not huge (yet), but a clever angle on shared mobility.

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