Battery Potential

Battery Potential is a retrospective on the early days of the commercialization of Li-ion batteries. Pioneers of the of Li-ion battery industry from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s are interviewed by two battery scientists: Vincent Chevrier and Kevin Eberman.

Battery Potential is produced by Cyclikal LLC, a battery consulting and testing company. See cyclikal.com for more information.

Contributors

Host

Kevin Eberman

Kevin Eberman is a seasoned material scientist with over two decades of experience in the development of Li-ion battery materials, including cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes, at 3M. He spent four years at Medtronic focusing on cell design for implanted medical device batteries and another four years at 3M working on battery packs for professional safety products. In the past three years, Kevin has leveraged his extensive expertise in new business development, primarily in climate technology, as a Director of Product Development. He holds a PhD in Materials Science from MIT.

Host

Vincent Chevrier

Vincent Chevrier completed his MSc and PhD in Physics at Dalhousie with Prof. Jeff Dahn and a post-doc at MIT with Prof. Gerbrand Ceder. Vincent joined 3M's battery group in 2010. In 2018, after 3M shut down its battery lab, Vincent and Larry Krause founded Cyclikal, a battery research and consulting company. In 2021, Vincent co-founded Calumix a startup producing advanced Li-ion battery current collectors.

He has 31 academic papers, over 12,000 citations, and 12 patents and patent applications. Cyclikal's clients range from start-ups to Fortune 50 companies. Cyclikal's services include cell testing and R&D.

https://cyclikal.com

Guests

Guest

Jeff Dahn

Jeff Dahn is recognized as one of the pioneering developers of the Li-ion battery. His career began at Moli Energy in the 1980s, where he was a key figure in the world’s first commercialization of rechargeable lithium cells. His 20-year research partnership with 3M led to the co-invention and commercialization of NMC cathode materials and advancements in alloy-based anode materials. Since 2016, he has led a research partnership with Tesla as the NSERC/Tesla Canada Industrial Research Chair. Dahn's recent work has concentrated on increasing the energy density, improving the lifetime and lowering the cost of Li-ion batteries.
As a dedicated mentor, Dahn has trained over 65 Ph.D. Students and 30 Postdoctoral fellows, many of whom now lead the global battery industry. He is the author of over 850 refereed journal papers. His many honors include the Order of Canada, the Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal (2017) and the Olin Palladium Medal (2023).

https://www.dal.ca/diff/dahn/people/jeff_dahn.html

Guest

Michel Gauthier

Michel Gauthier holds a PhD in Electrochemistry (UdeM) and completed post-doctoral research in Solid Ionics at Grenoble, France. Joining Hydro-Québec’s IREQ in 1972, he established a lithium battery R&D group that grew to 140 personnel, focusing on Solid-State Lithium Metal Polymer (LMP) technology. His tenure included leading international consortia with CNRS, Total, Yuasa, and 3M/USABC to advance LMP from fundamental chemistry to the ArGo Tech pilot production facility.

In 2001, Gauthier founded Phostech Lithium to commercialize Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP). He successfully consolidated a complex patent portfolio between UT Austin, UdeM, CNRS, and Hydro-Québec, scaling LFP production with Süd-Chemie. In 2020, he incorporated Ignis Lithium to develop a high-throughput melt-synthesis process, targeting thermodynamic and economic efficiencies to compete with incumbent solid-state LFP manufacturing.

https://www.ignislithium.com/team