OneD Battery Sciences Expands Management Team, With Experts Joining from Infineon & Nixon Peabody to Support EV Customer Growth

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Mar 09, 2023, 13:00 ET

Jan-Marc Luchies, PhD, and Ron Lopez, JD, will help OneD move into the next phase of pilot production and advance licensing of the SINANODE technology to industry partners

PALO ALTO, Calif., March 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OneD Battery Sciences ("OneD"), the leader in silicon-based automotive battery technology, today announces the addition of two proven industry and sector experts. Jan-Marc Luchies, PhD, joins OneD from Infineon as COO, and Ron Lopez, JD, joins the company's senior management team as General Counsel & CLO (Chief Licensing Officer). Lopez was previously a partner at Nixon Peabody, an international law firm, and served as OneD's external counsel since 2014.

OneD Takes Next Steps Towards Pilot Production

Dr. Jan-Marc Luchies will initially focus on global pilot production. It is an essential step to qualifying the SINANODE technology with OEMs before they enter mass production of silicon-based batteries. Currently, work is underway on two pilot plants where silicon graphite processing will take place on a larger scale. One is at the SINANODE North America location in Moses Lake, WA, and a second plant will fall under the jurisdiction of SINANODE Europe GmbH in Munich, Germany, overseen by Dr. Luchies. The two wholly owned OneD subsidiaries are dedicated to the annual production of up to one hundred tons of SINANODE materials intended for the building of thousands of EV battery packs for production qualification.

"In recent years, particularly in 2022, we have seen firsthand how important streamlined manufacturing and a localized supply chain are for OEMs to reduce EV manufacturing costs and risks. SINANODE offers both, providing electric vehicle manufacturers with a process that enriches graphite anodes with nano-silicon to make better, more affordable electric vehicles a reality," explained Luchies. "I am excited to join the OneD team to take SINANODE production to the next level, both in the U.S. and abroad, and to support our OEM partners in their efforts to bring long range and fast charging EVs to everyone. Based on my experience in the solar cell industry, it's clear that scaling SINANODE processing to support the production of millions of EVs utilizing CVD machines is very similar to the very large-scale processing already used in the solar cell industry, which is feasible at a very competitive cost."

Licensing SINANODE Technology for Large-Scale Production

OneD offers EV-scale production of SINANODE composite anode materials through the licensing of industrial partners supporting EV supply chains. The licensing programs include technology transfers and ongoing support based on agreed road maps and customizations, following a model that has been highly successful in the semiconductor arena. To further advance OneD's licensing model, Ron Lopez will oversee negotiations with industry partners who want to secure production at licensed SINANODE production facilities, each enabling the high-volume output and scale required to annually process many tens of thousands of tons of EV-grade graphite from multiple qualified suppliers on multiple continents.

"Against the backdrop of increasing innovation and funding for EV battery technologies, the development and protection of intellectual property can be the difference between commercial success and failure," said Lopez. "I have worked with OneD for ten years as outside counsel and have directly witnessed the technological improvements and the growth of issued patents in the IP portfolio. As an engineer and lawyer, I understand the SINANODE technology and how the OneD business model can speed up and de-risk EV adoption. We are not looking to enter mass production ourselves. Instead, we aim to license production processes to established industry partners so they can accelerate mass adoption of electric vehicles while reducing costs and risks."

OneD Continues Expansion of Silicon Valley R&D and Production Team

OneD Battery Sciences is expanding its headquarters campus. Co-founder & CTO Yimin Zhu, PhD, recently doubled the research and development team and expanded the technical equipment and laboratory footprint by adding a new, larger building in Palo Alto. This was required to support the SINANODE cell designs with multiple EV OEMs, a response to increased industry demand for development partnerships. The SINANODE pilot production facility in Palo Alto will also be scaled up to optimize the processing of EV-grade graphite from multiple suppliers who have off-take agreements with Tier 1 EV cell manufacturers.

About OneD Battery Sciences:

OneD Battery Sciences is the developer of the SINANODE technology platform, the breakthrough technology that successfully manufactures nano-silicon to increase the energy density & lower the cost of anode electrodes in EV batteries. Thus, SINANODE enables more affordable, longer range & faster charging EVs. In 2013, OneD Battery Sciences acquired Nanosys' silicon nanowire technologies (SINANODE) and its Palo Alto R&D activities. Thanks to 15 years of continuous innovations under Dr. Zhu's leadership, OneD can now leverage its extensive portfolio of over 220 issued patents worldwide, helping its battery supply chain partners achieve unrivaled freedom of action. In September 2022, GM Ventures publicly announced an investment in OneD's series C financing, along with Volta Energy, a venture capital firm with deep expertise in material sciences and battery technologies.

SOURCE OneD Battery Sciences