US start-up Gridtential said it is three months into a collaborative agreement with major US battery producer East Penn to optimise and commercialise the design and process for a high performance, low-cost and deep cycle bipole battery.
It is finalising agreements in Europe and India to introduce products into field trials, it said.
The company has also just appointed Amber Hetzendorf as new CEO and has attracted new investment in recent months (two battery makers and an end user). It has eyes set on a $25 million funding round in late 2025.
Kubis said Hetzendorf has “an impressive track record” with Koch Industries, and then as an EVP for Freyr Batteries, a Norwegian lithium battery company.
The start-up is designing a battery with treated silicon wafers in a bipole format and is aiming at the energy storage systems market. Its Silicon Joule technology makes a battery that it claims “performs like lithium-ion but is just as safe and low-cost as lead.” It integrates solar wafer technologies to achieve longer life, up to five times the dynamic charge acceptance and up to 35% less weight.
By replacing traditional lead plates with specially-formulated silicon hybrid bipoles, batteries can operate at higher temperatures and tolerate vibration better than traditional lead-based batteries.
Kubis said the company has added engineering leadership and on-site engineering personnel with East Penn, its development/commercialisation partner in the US.
He said: “After multiple evaluation programmes across applications ranging from automotive high power apps to cycling applications, the company concluded to focus for 2025 its resources to develop a single familiar larger commercial battery for a true long life (3,000+) deep cycle product, scalable to 48V and to further develop scalable manufacturing processes.”
Gridtential’s technology roadmap includes long-life data centre and telecom back-up batteries, and low voltage transportation applications from hybrids to EV auxiliary batteries. It is working with chemistries including lithium, sodium and zinc.
