COVINGTON, Georgia — In a reused half-century-old factory about an hour east of Atlanta, a Massachusetts company is on the front lines of expanding the American electric vehicle supply chain. And it all starts with recycling.
Ascend Elements’ new facility near Covington Municipal Airport takes spent lithium-ion batteries and scrap from EV battery-makers and grinds them to dust, salvaging minerals for reuse in new EV power sources. Ascend Elements and its 150,000-square-foot recycling plant, which opened last August, is an underappreciated part of the multi-billion-dollar wave in EV and battery investment that Govs. Nathan Deal and Brian Kemp have courted to make the Peach State an EV hub.
EV makers like Rivian and Hyundai Motor Group and battery companies like SK Battery America have captured much of the public attention. But companies like Ascend, if they’re successful, will help realize a goal of the automotive industry and President Joe Biden — to create a domestic supply chain for the electrified future of the industry.
