The Battery Technology Podcast

As the world moves toward electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, and portable electronics, the demand for faster, safer, and longer-lasting batteries continues to grow. While materials like lithium, cobalt, and graphite often dominate the conversation, researchers and engineers are turning their attention to niobium—a versatile metal with unique properties that may help overcome some of the biggest challenges in battery technology. In this episode, we'll examine what niobium is, why it has attracted interest from scientists and battery manufacturers, and how it can improve charging speed, battery lifespan, and overall performance. We'll also discuss current developments, real-world applications, and the challenges that must be addressed before niobium-based battery technologies become widely adopted.   Speaker Notes: Anna Wise | Head of Strategy | Nyobolt https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamwise/   Host Ken Davies | Managing Director | GSE Media Ltd https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendavies/ [email protected]   Nyobolt http://www.nyobolt.com      Battery & Energy Storage Tech Europe | FIRA de Barcelona | September 2026 https://batterytechexpoeurope.com/ For more details, please contact: [email protected]   EU Battery Passport Conference | Grand Palais, Lille, France | Budapest  https://www.eubatterypassportconference.com/ For more details, please contact: [email protected]   Advertising and Sponsorship For companies looking to reach a global audience of battery professionals, the Battery Technology Podcast is the perfect place to promote your products and services in a thought-provoking way. For sponsorship and advertising opportunities and to reach our rapidly growing audience, please contact: [email protected]

A key part of the EU's strategy in the battery sector is the introduction of the EU Battery Passport. Successful implementation will rely on the development of a Digital Product Passport and the ability to access legacy data systems to populate the passport system with the information required. How this will work is a fascinating topic and in this episode I am joined by Ricky Thiermann of Spherity to discuss practical solutions for the implementation of digital product passports and how they can be integrated into business operations   Speaker Notes: Ricky Thiermann | Head of Product Management | Spherity https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricky-thiermann-96004911b/   Host Ken Davies | Managing Director | GSE Media Ltd https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendavies/ [email protected]   Spherity https://www.linkedin.com/company/spherity/ https://www.spherity.com/   Spherity’s Digital Product Passport solution, VERA https://www.spherity.com/digital-product-passport   What is a Digital Product Passport? A complete guide for 2025 https://www.spherity.com/post/what-is-a-digital-product-passport-a-complete-guide-for-2025   Battery Product Passport Solution by Spherity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5wVxY6BIuw   Digital Product Passports: Empowering Regulated Industries & New Business Models https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWdwJGQGxIQ     Battery & Energy Storage Tech Europe | FIRA de Barcelona | September 2026 https://batterytechexpoeurope.com/ For more details, please contact: [email protected]   EU Battery Passport Conference | Grand Palais, Lille, France | February 2026  https://www.eubatterypassportconference.com/ For more details, please contact: [email protected]   Advertising and Sponsorship For companies looking to reach a global audience of battery professionals, the Battery Technology Podcast is the perfect place to promote your products and services in a thought-provoking way. For sponsorship and advertising opportunities and to reach our rapidly growing audience, please contact: [email protected]

How AI is revolutionising the search and design of new battery material candidates is right at the cutting edge of material discovery for battery technology. The array of potential materials is huge, so how can AI help us navigate that and prioritise targets. In this episode I am joined by Qichao Hu and Daniel Hannah of SES AI to explore how SES AI are developing advanced AI systems to explore the material universe that are yielding real results in the quest for the next generation of battery materials.   Speaker Notes: Qichao Hu | CEO | SES AI https://www.linkedin.com/in/qichao-hu-solidenergy/ Daniel Hannah | Associate Director | SES AI https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielchannah/   SES AI https://www.ses.ai/ The Molecular Universe website: molecular-universe.com/about Demonstration of Molecular Universe: Live demo | Molecular Universe (MU-1): Building an End-to-End Workflow   Host Ken Davies | Managing Director | GSE Media Ltd https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendavies/ [email protected]   Sponsorship   The Battery Technology Podcast is sponsored by Battery Tech Europe | FIRA de Barcelona | September 2026 | Showcasing European based innovation in battery technology and systems across energy storage and next generation battery storage applications. We’re showcasing European battery technology development in applications where the next 10 years of battery technology growth will be found, particularly in BESS and emerging battery applications. Barcelona is a vibrant location providing access to the high growth Southern European markets undergoing rapid investment and government support in reliable energy infrastructure across many applications from data centers to grid infrastructure.   For more details: https://batterytechexpoeurope.com/   or contact me at [email protected]

The 17th February 2027 is a very important date for any organisation involved in the business of batteries. It marks the date set for the introduction of the EU Battery Passport. A mandatory digital record, accessed through a QR code, of the key technical data across every stage of an individual batteries’ life for any battery above 2kWh capacity. But the EU Battery Passport is more than just a compliance tool. It's a game changer for the future of batteries in Europe. Acting like a “digital identity card,” it will track key information such as where a battery’s materials come from, how it was manufactured, its carbon footprint, and how it can be reused or recycled. For businesses, it creates opportunities for innovation, competitiveness, and more efficient supply chains. In this episode I'm delighted to be joined by Dr. Susanne Guth-Orlowski , Digital Product Passport Pioneer, CEO of 4TheRecord Consultancy and Battery passport expert to discuss the Battery Passport in detail and how companies can ensure readiness, overcome the challenges and make the most of the opportunities that such a change brings with it.   Speaker Notes: Dr. Susanne Guth-Orlowski , Digital Product Passport Pioneer, CEO of 4TheRecord Consultancy. https://www.4therecord.io/training https://www.linkedin.com/in/sguth/ Host Ken Davies | Managing Director | GSE Media Ltd https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendavies/ [email protected]   Useful Links Conference The EU Battery Passport Conference | Wednesday 4th February 2026 | Grand Palais, Lille, France is the first dedicated conference aimed at readiness and technology in preparation for the introduction of the EU Battery Passport in February 2027 https://www.eubatterypassportconference.com/   https://www.4therecord.io/training https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/batteries_en https://cirpassproject.eu/   https://thebatterypass.eu/ https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/single-market/strategy_en https://unece.org/trade/documents/2025/07/session-documents/revised-recommendation-no-49-transparency-scale-fostering https://www.youtube.com/@4TheRecordGmbH       Global Battery Alliance Pilots & Benchmarks: https://www.globalbattery.org/battery-passport/ https://www.globalbattery.org/media/publications/gba-batterybenchmarks-final-web-resolution-duplicate.pdf   United Nations Transparency Protocol: Helping to standardise and facilitate the trustworthy upstream data exchange. https://spec-untp-fbb45f.opensource.unicc.org/   The GBA Transparency Protocol Extension on UNTP https://spec-untp-fbb45f.opensource.unicc.org/docs/extensions/ExtensionsRegister#global-battery-alliance-transparency-protocol    SAE J3327 Electric Vehicle EV Battery Traceabiltiy Record https://www.sae.org/standards/j3327-electric-vehicle-ev-battery-traceability-record/    Sponsorship   The Battery Technology Podcast is sponsored by Battery Tech Europe | FIRA de Barcelona | September 2026 | Showcasing European based innovation in battery technology.   European innovation in battery sector aims to create a globally competitive battery industry by research and development into advanced battery chemistries, world-class manufacturing capabilities, downstream battery management systems and development of recycling technology. Thereby, fostering a sustainable and competitive value chain across all end use applications in Europe.   Spain is an emerging powerhouse in battery technology development across all applications and the decision to locate the event in Barcelona is a strategic one, with the vision of providing access to a new audience of buyers and specifiers. This will be the first large scale battery technology event in Spain, providing access to a completely new buying audience, with an emphasis on emerging growth markets.   https://batterytechexpoeurope.com/   or contact me at [email protected]    

Flow batteries are a technology that is coming of age. With a distinctly different electrochemistry from Li-Ion, they offer some unique advantages especially in the Long Duration Energy Storage sector.  Innovation in stack technology is allowing further advances in flow battery technology. In this episode I'm delighted to be joined by Dr Laura Rizzi, CEO and Dr Fabio Di Fonzo, CSO of Flow-nano to discuss the potential of flow batteries and how nanostructured electrodes are delivering step changes in performance characteristics.   Speaker Notes: Dr Laura Rizzi | CEO | Flow-nano https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-giorgia-rizzi-58b4072b/   Dr Fabio Di Fonzo | CSO | Flow-nano https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabio-di-fonzo-a39607/   Flow-nano https://www.flow-nano.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/flow-nano/ [email protected]     Host Ken Davies | Managing Director | GSE Media Ltd https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendavies/ [email protected]    Sponsorship   The Battery Technology Podcast is sponsored by Battery Tech Europe | FIRA de Barcelona | September 2026 | Showcasing European based innovation in battery technology. European innovation in battery sector is creating a globally competitive battery industry by research and development into advanced battery chemistries, world-class manufacturing capabilities, downstream battery management systems and development of recycling technology. Thereby, fostering a sustainable and competitive value chain across all end use applications.   Spain is an emerging powerhouse in battery technology development across all applications and the decision to locate the event in Barcelona is a strategic one, with the vision of providing access to a new audience of buyers and specifiers.   This will be the first large scale battery technology event in Spain, providing access to a completely new buying audience, with an emphasis on emerging growth markets.   For more details:   https://batterytechexpoeurope.com/   or contact me at [email protected]

Battery Recycling is a crucial part of the global critical minerals’ strategy. But the economics of recycling is complex and is inextricably linked to the dynamics of the battery technology sector as a whole. In this episode I'm delighted to be joined by Dr Beatrice Browning , Battery Recycling Technology Lead at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence to discuss how the battery recycling market is developing and how the economics of recycling is changing.   Speaker Notes: Dr Beatrice Browning | Battery Recycling Technology Lead at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-beatrice-browning-20940b78/   Benchmark Mineral Intelligence https://www.linkedin.com/company/benchmark-mineral-intelligence/   Host Ken Davies | Managing Director | GSE Media Ltd https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendavies/ [email protected]    Sponsorship   The Battery Technology Podcast is sponsored by Battery Tech Europe | FIRA de Barcelona | September 2026 | Showcasing European based innovation in battery technology. European innovation in battery sector is creating a globally competitive battery industry by research and development into advanced battery chemistries, world-class manufacturing capabilities, downstream battery management systems and development of recycling technology. Thereby, fostering a sustainable and competitive value chain across all end use applications. Spain is an emerging powerhouse in battery technology development across all applications and the decision to locate the event in Barcelona is a strategic one, with the vision of providing access to a new audience of buyers and specifiers. This will be the first large scale battery technology event in Spain, providing access to a completely new buying audience, with an emphasis on emerging growth markets. For more details:   https://batterytechexpoeurope.com/ or contact me at [email protected]

We continue our deep dive into the prospects for Europe in developing a globally competitive position with the global battery market. In this episode I'm delighted to be joined by Philipp Wunderlich, Battery Technology Lead at Accenture to discuss the competitive issues facing the European battery ecosystem.   Speaker Notes: Philipp Wunderlich, Battery Technology Lead, Accenture  https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipp-wunderlich/   Host Ken Davies | Managing Director | GSE Media Ltd https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendavies/ [email protected]    Sponsorship   The Battery Technology Podcast is sponsored by Battery Tech Europe | FIRA de Barcelona | September 2026   The battery technology sector in Southern Europe is growing rapidly, in energy storage technology, mobility and emerging applications.   Spain is the 2nd largest automotive manufacturing economy in Europe and has recently announced a huge investment to accelerate the development of the supply chain in Battery Energy Storage Systems. It’s a very exciting time for growth in the battery related supply chain in the Southern European region.   With few major battery technology events in the region, the event will provide a large and additive audience to the current events for the European EV and BESS supply chain. It will be a major addition to the roster of battery industry events.   https://batterytechexpoeurope.com/   or contact me at [email protected]   Announcing the Drone Battery Tech Expo | February 2026 | Lille, France   Drone Battery Tech Expo which will take place at Lille Grand Palais, France on Thursday, 5th February 2026, exploring the latest developments in next generation battery technology for specific use within UAV, eVTOL, UUV and USV Innovation.   In collaboration with the highly successful Battery Tech Expo France and the Battery Technology Podcast, the Drone Battery Tech Expo is a must-attend conference and trade event for professionals seeking insights into the future of battery power solutions tailored to the design of next generation of unmanned vehicles.   Visitor tickets are complimentary and grant access to both the Drone Battery Tech Expo and Battery Tech Expo France.   https://www.dronebatterytechexpo.com/ [email protected]    

Is there a road map for developing a successful battery industry and what lessons can we learn from the last 20 years that policy makers can learn from? What are the lessons for other local economies looking to nurture their domestic battery supply chains? In this episode I'm delighted to be joined by Christopher Chico, Editor of The Battery Chronicle to discuss the key issues in developing a competitive battery sector.   Speaker Notes: Christopher Chico | Editor | The Battery Chronicle https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-chico-97a859111/   The Battery Chronicle https://christopherchico.substack.com/   Host Ken Davies | Managing Director | GSE Media Ltd https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendavies/ [email protected]    Sponsorship   The Battery Technology Podcast is sponsored by Battery Tech Europe | FIRA de Barcelona | September 2026   The battery technology sector in Southern Europe is growing rapidly, both in energy storage technology and EV mobility.   Spain is the 2nd largest automotive manufacturing economy in Europe and has recently announced a huge investment to accelerate the development of the supply chain in Battery Energy Storage Systems. It’s a very exciting time for growth in the battery related supply chain in the Southern European region.   With few major battery technology events in the region, the event will provide a large and additive audience to the current events for the European EV and BESS supply chain. It will be a major addition to the roster of battery industry events.   https://batterytechexpoeurope.com/   or contact me at [email protected]    

Materials discovery has been the propellant of many of the big leaps forward in the battery space. So the field of material engineering and how material design can be accelerated is right at the centre of solving many of the problems that battery material designers are wrestling with.   To explore the advances being made in this field, I'm delighted to be joined by Jason Sebastian, Executive VP of QuesTek Innovations, the Chicago based materials software and consultancy business; to discuss the work they are doing to reveal the next generation of materials candidates for use in the battery technology space.   Speaker Notes: Jason Sebastian | Executive VP | QuesTek Innovations https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-sebastian-32130b19/   QuesTek Innovations https://www.linkedin.com/company/questek-innovations-llc/ https://questek.com/   Host Ken Davies | Managing Director | GSE Media Ltd https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendavies/ [email protected]    Sponsorship   The Battery Technology Podcast is sponsored by Battery Tech Europe | FIRA de Barcelona | September 2026   The event provides a strategically important battery and energy storage networking opportunity for Southern Europe, and comprise of a 2-day trade show and conference providing high level sector insights from industry leaders across the full supply chains of research, materials, services and manufacturing across 4 major themes:   EV/Mobility Battery Energy Storage Systems and Grid Infrastructure EV Charging Infrastructure Battery Recycling and Circularity   We are allowing selected strategic businesses to register an expression of interest. This allows them to indicate their choice of exhibition space with no commercial commitment.  This simply allows us to provide them with an option on a specific plot.

When things go wrong in battery manufacturing, it's often about production yield, quality performance and manufacturing control. The rapid detection of defects is pivotal to achieving high quality performance. And this matters not only in manufacturing bit also in future product safety and reliability in use. To explore the advances being made in this field,  I'm delighted to be joined by Dr Peter Attia, Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer of Glimpse, the Boston based technology business to discuss the work they are doing to reveal the presence of latent battery defects during manufacturing   Speaker Notes: Dr Peter Attia | Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer | Glimpse https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-m-attia/   Glimpse https://www.linkedin.com/company/glimpse-battery/ https://glimp.se/company   Host Ken Davies | Managing Director | GSE Media Ltd https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendavies/ [email protected]    Sponsorship   The Battery Technology Podcast is sponsored by Battery Tech Europe | FIRA de Barcelona | September 2026   The event provides a strategically important battery and energy storage networking opportunity for Southern Europe, and comprise of a 2-day trade show and conference providing high level sector insights from industry leaders across the full supply chains of research, materials, services and manufacturing across 4 major themes:   EV/Mobility Battery Energy Storage Systems and Grid Infrastructure EV Charging Infrastructure Battery Recycling and Circularity   We are allowing selected strategic businesses to register an expression of interest. This allows them to indicate their choice of exhibition space with no commercial commitment.  This simply allows us to provide them with an option on a specific plot.   With stand sizes ranging from 4m² to 48m², we have the space to suit every budget and every marketing strategy.   With over 120 speakers, 150 exhibitors and a series of networking events. It will be the major combined battery and storage event in Southern Europe. We expect over 3000 people to attend.   For more details, please contact: [email protected]     Advertising and Sponsorship   For companies looking to reach a global audience of battery professionals, the Battery Technology Podcast is the perfect place to promote your products and services in a thought-provoking way.   For sponsorship and advertising opportunities and to reach our rapidly growing audience, please contact:   [email protected]