Meet the Battery Startup Taking on China’s Giants

The field of lithium batteries is currently dominated by Chinese companies like BYD and CATL. Not only do they sell the majority of batteries that go into electric vehicles and energy storage projects worldwide, they’re also opening up new factories in your backyard. When companies outside China try to compete, like Europe’s Northvolt, they quickly realize how hard it is.

But there’s still hope for China’s rivals. If another company can crack the next generation of battery technology, it may still be able to take the lead. And the battery industry already has a consensus on what that technology might be: solid-state batteries.

Today, almost all batteries have liquid electrolytes that carry ions between the positive and negative sides. But the liquid can spill, vaporize, and even catch fire. So for decades, scientists have tried to replace it with a solid electrolyte that could make batteries safer,...

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