Meet The Battery Startup Taking On The Chinese Giants

The field of Lithium batteries are currently dominated by Chinese companies such as BYD and CATL. Not only them sell many of the batteries that go into electric vehicles and energy storage projects around the world, they are too opening new factories in your backyard. When companies outside of China try to compete, like in Europe Northvolthe realizes quickly how difficult it is.

But there is hope for Chinese competitors. If one company can disrupt the next generation of battery technology, it can still lead the way. And the battery industry already has a consensus on what the technology could be: solid batteries.

Today, almost all batteries contain a liquid electrolyte that transports ions between the positive and negative sides. But the water can spill, liquefy, and even catch fire. So for many years, scientists have been trying to put a strong electrolyte that can help make batteries safer, stronger and able to withstand cold.

Solid state batteries have been developed in labs, but they are expensive and difficult to produce on a large scale. Many companies are trying to find the right product that will make this technology profitable. That’s also the goal of Vincent Yang, the founder and CEO of ProLogium, a Taiwanese company that says it will start producing super-strong batteries as soon as 2027.

I recently met Yang in New York City. (Although they share the same last name, no relation.) With a doctorate in physical science and more than 20 years of research and development in batteries, he’s seen it all. He said: “I have made almost every type of battery.

Until recently, ProLogium was one of the smaller players in the battery space. Then, earlier this year, the company introduced a fourth-generation battery that it says will be cheaper and easier to mass-produce. Now, ProLogium is growing fast: In February, it broke ground on a gigafactory in Dunkirk, France, after receiving a government grant of 1.5 billion to produce solid batteries in Europe. In May, ProLogium announced a merger with TDAC, an American non-profit company, to go public on the Nasdaq for $3.8 billion.

ProLogium solid state battery cells.

Courtesy of Prologium

For solid state battery researchers, the current era seems ripe with opportunity. Indeed, Chinese companies like CATL are also investing in solid state battery research, and they have the advantage of having more resources and more customers. But the fact that solid-state batteries use very different materials and manufacturing methods means that there is a level playing field where upstarts have the opportunity to beat established players. “We are competing with the best people in the world, but even with the biggest companies in the world, these are still technical challenges that are difficult to solve,” Yang said. Competition provides pressure, and an adrenaline rush.