Eqonic Aims to Be Energy Storage’s ARM Holdings

The world of battery technology has become a veritable gold rush, a landscape littered with grand pronouncements and the often-unfulfilled promise of a “game-changing” innovation.

For years, solid-state batteries have been perpetually “five years away,” while countless startups have emerged with bold claims, only to fade into the background.

It’s a climate that breeds skepticism, where every new contender is naturally viewed with a jaundiced eye.

Yet, from this crowded field, a UK-based startup named Eqonic is stepping forward, not just with a new battery, but with an audacious vision: to become the ARM Holdings of energy storage.

This isn’t just another incremental improvement; it’s a fundamental re-think, according to Eqonic’s CEO, Jas Kandola.

His journey into the heart of battery innovation is, in itself, unconventional.

A former corporate finance executive at Barclays, Kandola cut his teeth managing business change and building a financial services startup before recognizing the undeniable momentum of the decarbonization movement.

His pivot was deliberate, a search for the areas most ripe for disruption within sustainability.

Materials and energy, he concluded, were the critical bottlenecks, leading him directly to batteries.

But the battery industry is no nascent market.

It’s a colossus dominated by Asian giants like CATL, BYD, LG, Panasonic, and SK On.

How could a relatively small UK startup hope to make a dent without being crushed?

Eqonic’s answer wasn’t to compete head-on, but to innovate at a foundational level, addressing the deep-seated problems that plague current battery technology.

Kandola speaks with a clarity that belies the complexity of the science, outlining three major pain points they sought to resolve from the outset: the environmental devastation of rare earth mining, the perilous lack of supply chain diversification (heavily reliant on a single geographical location), and the notoriously difficult end-of-life recycling of lithium batteries.

Safety, too, was paramount.

Their approach was radical: rule out the obvious.

“We realized very quickly that the first thing you must rule out is what you can’t do,” Kandola explains.

Lithium was out.

Sodium, despite its promise, was also deemed to have scientific limitations.

Instead, Eqonic embarked on an intensive search for alternative materials, collaborating with leading academics, focusing on substances that could be ethically sourced from Western countries or through advanced recycling.

The goal was a battery-grade composite that was inherently safe and didn’t rely on environmentally destructive mining practices.

While the specific materials remain a closely guarded secret due to ongoing patent applications (though iron is not among them), Kandola is unequivocally bullish about the results.

What Eqonic claims to have achieved at the lab level sounds almost too good to be true.

Their battery, according to Kandola, boasts characteristics that are “absolutely phenomenal.”

The most compelling claim is a staggering cost reduction: their material cost for a one-liter pouch is projected at roughly 30% of current sodium battery materials, and a mere fraction of LFP and NMC.

This translates, they say, to an end product that could be 60-70% lower in cost than LFP cells at the manufactured level, aiming for below £50 per kilowatt hour.

If realized, such a cost reduction would not merely impact the industry; it would utterly transform it, making electric vehicles and grid storage far more accessible and competitive.

Performance, too, is said to be on par.

Eqonic’s technology currently matches the energy density of sodium and LFP, with projections to exceed LFP and approach NMC levels by 2027.

They’ve developed two distinct versions: a long-life variant for storage, and a high energy density version for automotive applications, with the flexibility to create other bespoke variants.

Endurance figures are impressive, with over 600 deep cycles and thousands of shallow cycles, targeting 5,000-6,000 cycles for automotive and 10,000 for domestic use – significantly outperforming LFP in many scenarios.

Perhaps most critically, Eqonic addresses the thorny issues of safety and recyclability.

Unlike many current chemistries, their batteries are intrinsically safe; they do not explode or catch fire when exposed to air or water.

Kandola describes lab demonstrations where batteries were cut, nailed, and their electrolyte handled in open air without incident.

Dendrite control, a common issue in battery degradation and safety, is also reportedly not a concern for fire risk.

Furthermore, REACH-compliant recyclability has been engineered into the design from day one, allowing materials to be extracted and reused, a vital consideration as the first wave of EV batteries reaches end-of-life.

The strategic brilliance, and perhaps the key to Eqonic’s potential success, lies in its business model.

Recognizing the immense capital expenditure and inherent risks of building gigafactories, Eqonic plans to eschew manufacturing.

Instead, they aim to license their technology, providing proven blueprints to partners who can integrate it into their existing production lines.

“We want to be the technology that’s inside rather than the people that are making and supplying the batteries,” Kandola asserts, explicitly drawing a parallel to ARM, the British semiconductor design company whose intellectual property powers 99% of smartphones.

This approach minimizes risk and leverages the global manufacturing ecosystem, learning from the cautionary tales of Britishvolt and Northvolt.

To bolster this ambitious plan, Eqonic has assembled an impressive board, including industry heavyweights like Craig Wilson, former CEO of Williams Advanced Engineering, and Stuart Dyble, with his extensive background at Red Bull Racing and Jaguar Land Rover.

The focus, Kandola emphasizes, remains firmly in the UK, leveraging the nation’s “phenomenal skill set in science and engineering.”

The next 12 months will be crucial.

Eqonic is rapidly upscaling its lab-level success to market readiness, with discussions accelerating with various corporations.

Kandola hopes to demonstrate their automotive technology in a car within that timeframe, possibly sooner.

The ultimate prize is not just a better battery, but a fundamentally different one – safer, cheaper, more sustainable, and less reliant on geopolitically sensitive supply chains.

If Eqonic can deliver on its bold claims, it won’t just buck the trend of battery hype; it could truly redefine the future of energy storage, much like ARM redefined computing.

The world is watching, with a mixture of hope and that ever-present skepticism, to see if this British innovation can indeed become a global powerhouse.