Solid Progress with Solid State Battery

Management at Ion Storage Systems (private) have made comments in recent months in support of the solid state battery design as a promising alternative to lithium ion batteries now powering electric vehicles around the world.  Of course, they are just talking their own book.  Ion Storage engineers have been toiling away at a ceramic electrolyte that would replace the liquid electrolytes that in use today.

Most people think of flower pots or crockery when ceramics are mentioned, both of which are valued in to those uses for long lasting strength and unyielding hardness.  Indeed, ceramic material is so durable it may be downright brittle, not such as good thing in a battery that may need its components to show some flexibility as it charges and discharges. 

Ion Storage has sidestepped the brittleness issue, by building its ceramic electrolyte in three layers using metal oxides.  They are considered preferable over metal sulfides because the oxides are responsive over a wider voltage range.  A thin, dense layer of lithium-oxide ceramic is sandwiched between two layers of more porous ceramic.  The layers are coated with a thin aluminum oxide to give the ‘sandwich’ a resistant quality.

Prototypes of Ion Storage’s batteries reportedly have an energy density of as much as 300 watt hours per kilogram.  This compares favorably to the conventional lithium ion batteries on offer today that have at most 250 watt hours per kilogram. 

Ion Storage Systems is the commercial housing for technology developed at the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute at the University of Maryland.  Early on the company relied on funding from various renewable energy programs at the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as well as an investment by Lockheed Martin.

In June 2019, the company tapped venture capital, raising $8 million in a Series A round.  Ion Storage management disclosed that Alsop Louie Partners led the deal, but did not name any other participants.  Alsop Louie was offered a seat on the board.

Ion Storage has used the capital infusion to reorganize its management team.  A new chief executive officer was hired in January 2020, with a view to taking its ceramic electrolyte to market.  His background is more in operations than business development or marketing.  The new CEO was previously the senior vice president of operations at EOS Energy Storage and before than executive director of Apple’s battery operations.  The company currently has an open position for materials process engineer, suggesting that the new CEO is very much focused on manufacturing processes that will get finished products to customers.

For investors that can get past the all-boys club appearance of the company’s C-suite (not a female in sight on the corporate website), Ion Storage might be a good company to watch for future investment opportunities.  Most likely there will be another private placement, most likely populated by venture funds.  While minority investors might be frozen out of that round, an initial public offering may soon follow to help give the crafty venture capitalists a lucrative exit.  

 

Neither the author of the Small Cap Strategist web log, Crystal Equity Research nor its affiliates have a beneficial interest in the companies mentioned herein.