The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is joining a new non-profit initiative aimed at accelerating the commercialisation of advanced battery technologies in the US.
The collaboration centres on the newly launched Electrochemistry Foundry (ECF), which is developing what it describes as California’s first shared-use battery pilot manufacturing line. The initiative has received a $28 million award from the California Energy Commission and will establish a 20,000-square-foot pilot manufacturing facility in Hayward, California.
Other partners in the collaboration include University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Riverside, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Volta Foundation and Catalyst Innovation Group. South Korean company Top Material will provide operational support and manufacturing expertise for flexible lithium-ion production lines.
UCSB: bridging the gap between lab-scale research and industrial-scale manufacturing
According to UCSB, the project is intended to bridge the gap between laboratory-scale battery research and industrial-scale manufacturing — an area often described as a bottleneck for battery start-ups attempting to commercialise new chemistries and materials.
“The support from the California Energy Commission will help to establish a state-of-the-art battery-component manufacturing pilot line at UCSB’s recently established OASIS research facility, thus bolstering efforts to develop and scale-up of novel manufacturing processes while training the next-generation of battery engineers,” said Professor Jeff Sakamoto, a battery researcher in UCSB’s materials and mechanical engineering departments and the university’s lead on the project.
The ECF facility is expected to be capable of producing at least 10,000 battery cells per year in both pouch and cylindrical formats. The organisation said the shared-access model would allow companies developing new battery materials or cell technologies to manufacture pilot-scale cells without investing in their own dedicated production facilities.
“I’ve seen too many brilliant breakthroughs stall out in the pilot-scale gap,” said ECF chief executive Brenna Teigler. “Our vision is a world powered by electrochemistry, where the path from scientific discovery to societal impact is open to all innovators. The next great battery breakthrough — whether it comes from a startup or an established company — should not be stopped by the cost of infrastructure they can’t justify building alone.”
Sakamoto said UCSB’s contribution would focus on ceramic-electrolyte research and development for solid-state batteries and lithium separation technologies.
“The ECF will fill a great unmet need by bridging the gaps between cutting-edge battery innovation, commercialisation and scale-up in California,” he said.
The facility is scheduled for completion in late 2026, with the first users expected in early 2027. ECF said it would also support workforce development programmes in partnership with local colleges and the United Steelworkers.
Photo: the Oasis at University of California, Santa Barbara
Credit: Jeff Liang, University of California, Santa Barbara
