Solid-state lithium-ion battery developer Blue Current has named former Amazon Web Services (AWS) chief Ben Eiref as its CEO to aid the firm’s transition from R&D and prototypes to full commercialisation.
The former worldwide head of automotive solutions at AWS will help the US firm accelerate the scale-up of its technology and build a megawatt-scale factory in California.
At AWS, Eiref started the company’s cloud solution business supporting autonomous, connected and electric vehicles.
Prior to AWS, he led US strategy and business development for electric powertrain technology at NIO, overseeing innovation and partnerships with top automakers.
He was previously a member of the engineering team that built the original prototype of the General Motors EV1 electric car.
Solid-state battery R&D
In 2016, Blue Current first combined the mechanical elasticity and adhesive capabilities of polymers with the ionic conductivity of glass ceramics to maximise temperature, performance, and scalability of its battery.
In 2018 the company used this approach to create a fully dry solid-state battery with a high silicon content anode.
Eiref said the company is now focused on scaling up the technology and furthering innovations that improve system-level energy density.
The company is in early-stage testing with automotive customers, and plans to expand into consumer electronics and other market segments.
Blue Current’s 22,000-square-foot production-ready facility in California has wet and dry laboratories, battery cycling and high-bay logistics space.
Blue Current was founded by Nitash Balsara, PhD, the Charles W. Tobias professor of electrochemistry in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and Joseph M. DeSimone, PhD, the Sanjiv Sam Gambhir professor of translational medicine and chemical engineering at Stanford University.
