Take Charge Podcast

Discover how Fourth Power is reimagining energy storage, by storing the sun in a box and beating natural gas at its own game.​ Hear Christina Belsito, VP Corporate Affairs, reveal the secrets behind breakthrough thermal battery tech, startup team magic, and scaling clean energy for the future. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in energy innovation, climate tech, or the future of...

We’re absolutely thrilled about our latest episode of the Take Charge podcast featuring Rick (Eric) Luebbe, CEO and Co-Founder of Group14 Technologies. Our new host, Blaze Gardner , had the incredible opportunity to dive into Rick's journey, from the birth of Group14—born out of a bold belief in silicon's potential for batteries—to how the company is transforming energy storage today. What excites...

It’s GO TIME for Energy Storage! With stress on the grid continuing to increase, there are predictions that demand will double by 2050 in the USA. As a result, we’re seeing a lot of movement in the energy storage market! This is why we were keen to welcome a true veteran in the field, Christopher Johnson, who clears up some misconceptions, answers our community questions and give us a real insight...

Welcome to the decoding of the Battery Talent Census delivered by our partners at the Volta Foundation! Our guests today, Wendy Papakostandini and Andrew Weng have done something that’s never been done before by collecting critical data, which is invaluable for both employers and employees in the battery field! Wendy’s full time position is the Principal of Talent at Anzu Partners, whilst Andrew w...

Will we ever see batteries that are 100% made in North American? With tariffs and the ever increasing geopolitical tension, comes the increasing pressure to create a robust, domestic supply chain to do so. Battery Materials is naturally a huge element to achieving this, which is why I was proud to welcome NOVONIX to Take Charge, with both their Anode (Harrison Kreafle) and Cathode Mark McArthur) T...

Over the past year-18 months, it’s fair to say that investment in the battery space has been dynamic to say the least. With the US battery industry facing headwinds due to recent tariffs and more geopolitical issues, we were keen to welcome Foothill Ventures to the podcast, who are arguably the most active seed-round investor in the US battery industry. Eric Rosenblum joins me, who is a true thoug...

Half a century of Take Charge episodes, with Penelope Jones, the Founder and CEO of Byterat taking charge for our 50th! We'd like to give Paul Sinclair a special shout out, who is the CCO of Byterat and the EVP of Development at the Volta Foundation, as he’s been a true supporter of Take Charge since day one. He kindly connected us with Penelope to talk all things battery data, analytics and AI. W...

It’s March 2020, the world is shook in so many ways, one of those was the working dynamic, with many businesses and employees turning to remote working for the very first time. It quickly became the norm and widely accepted, but fast forward to the present day, and there seems to be a shift back to office. In this episode, we cover this trend, clearing up a lot of myths and facts and talking about...

Women make up 16% of the battery industry… with even fewer in leadership roles. This isn’t something we're particularly proud of. So, to address this and showcase that the battery space is a viable and incredible option for women… Our community lead, Lauren Allanson, hosted a webinar for #InternationalWomensDay: During this ep, you'll discover: 👉 Key barriers preventing gender diversity and how t...

Today, we’re talking about electrolytes... but not the type that hydrates Jamie for his marathon training. Instead, we’re talking about an electrolyte solution in the batteries of our future! David Mackinac, the Co-Founder & CEO of Anthro Energy joins us to clear up many electrolyte myths and facts. He also talks us through their story, their future and their unique drop-in solid electrolyte s...

Developing your own battery cell is hard, it’s not easy! A phrase commonly used for sure, and one that today’s guest highlights. Omkar Nadgauda joins me, who is the Chief Operations Officer of EnPower Inc, which interestingly has the largest cell manufacturing capacity of any US-based startup! Jamie helped Omkar join EnPower Inc last year, so it was a real pleasure to welcome him onto Take Charge!...

Get best practices for battery fire prevention & suppression from 3 battery fire experts: - Patrick Durham, Captain & Training Officer | StacheD Training - Wayne Aho, Sr. Product Manager | Seimens - Brian Morin, CEO | Soteria Technologies In this 45-minute session, you’ll: - Get the latest data on the rise or fall of battery fires and what the future holds for this growing issue. - Hear ke...

Doesn’t everyone deserve a 2nd chance? In this case, we’re talking about EV batteries having a 2nd life through BESS applications. We're proud to welcome Sumreen Rattan in this episode, who is a Co-Founder and the Chief Operations Officer of Moment Energy. It’s fair to say that Moment Energy are the talk of the town right now, or perhaps the company of the Moment in this space, after their recent...

Welcome to 2025, the year when Donald Trump takes over the US… again! What does that mean for the US Battery & Clean Technology market? Today, Jamie welcomes Sham Ramnarain, who is the Founder & CEO of BlackTeal Energy. They’re a business who’ve moved quickly in recent months, taking the administration change into consideration, soon to close their seed round and have established a new ent...

What are Flow Batteries?… Well, the technology has been around for a while, but it’s fair to say it’s never really taken off. Perhaps until now… XL Batteries’ Founder & CEO, Tom Sisto, joins us to educate us on all things Flow Batteries, sharing his story and how their version can be game changing for grid energy storage. We think you’ll find this conversation flowed quite nicely, we hope you...

Myth or Fact, Sodium-ion batteries are cheaper than lithium-ion batteries? What do you think? In today’s episode we clarify several claims or myths around sodium-ion batteries, and to do so, we have a real expert in the field to help. Darren Tan, the CEO of UNIGRID Battery joins me for our last episode of 2024! We cover topics around technology, manufacturing and commercial adoption, taking a deep...

What fate faces today’s EV Batteries at the end of their life? Jamie is joined by Dr Christian Marston, the Co-Founder & COO of Altilium, as we discuss the importance and complexities of battery recycling and decarbonising our supply chains. There’s talk of new batteries eventually being made from old ones and the demand on mining raw materials to be heavily reduced, if not removed in a couple...

Ten… Nine… The clock is ticking for our time on planet earth! Jamie is joined by Ten-Nine Technology’s Founder & CEO, Paige Johnson. To secure our future, it’s so important that the battery industry thrives across the world to achieve electrification. To do so, creating an environment where teams can thrive and innovate to build better batteries is imperative. This is something Paige is very p...

Solid-state batteries made with silicon, as opposed to lithium metal… It’s a rare case, which is why we're excited to be joined by Blue Current, who’ve been gathering momentum with this chemistry over many years. Susan Stone, the new CEO of Blue Current joins our host Jamie, as well as Kevin Wujcik, the long-standing CTO, to talk about their journey so far and why this is our chemistry of the futu...

Live from Battery Show North America, we get strategic! Jamie speaks to 3 incredible leaders, about building important partnerships in the batter industry; Vick Singh – SVP of Technology – Dragonfly Energy Dean Miller - Senior Scientist – TESCAN USA Inc. Wesley De Boever – Product Sales Leader - TESCAN USA Inc. Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your insight! For more info about the Take...

Our second recording from the Battery Show US 2024 covers DEI and leadership in the battery industry. Jamie speaks to three incredible female leaders, who all share their own experiences and advice for other women in the space: Barbara Hughes – VP of Energy Storage, Forge Nano Ashley Schaefer – Head of Cell Engineering, Ten-Nine Technologies Celina Mikolajczak – Chief Battery Technical Officer, Ly...

Live from Detroit! Jamie records this ep in the Volta Foundation lounge at The US Battery Show, discussing the future of battery manufacturing with 3 incredible leaders: Johnnie Stoker, CEO – Ultion Technologies Paul Lichty, CEO – Forge Nano & Forge Battery Jay Bellows, President – KORE Power Thank you so much for your insight guys, we loved this chat! Take Charge is a community & podcast...

Welcome to another Powered by Volta episode. Do you know where your lithium is? This episode could provide a big relief for many battery scientists, as we talk about Laser Ablation Laser Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry and how it can revolutionize material characterization. Hear from Jeff Williams, the Founder & CEO of Exum Instruments as we take a deep dive into what this solution...

Welcome to another Powered by Volta Episode of Take Charge! Who said the conversation on dry rooms had to be dry? Keith Hoge joins us today, who is the Director of Bry-Air’s Battery Business. Keith talks us through how dry rooms work and how they will evolve to meet next-gen requirements. We also discuss how the supply of domestic equipment is a major challenge and will continue to be as the batte...

Hello everyone! We have a very exciting announcement to make... This the first of many ‘Powered By Volta’ Take Charge episodes. Yen and I share more in this podcast about what that actually means. Can you believe it’s been 5 years since the establishment of The Volta Foundation? There’s no one better to talk us through this journey than the founder himself, Yen Yeh. We talk about highlights, chall...