# Ilika CEO Graeme Purdy on Brompton partnership and Goliath’s e-bike potential

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/ilika-ceo-graeme-purdy-on-brompton-partnership-and-goliath-s-e-bike-potential/4121249781
- Published: 2026-04-22T13:35:54+01:00
- Author: Amilia Stone

**[Ilika plc](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/company/ilika-plc/ika.l) **(
[LON:IKA](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/company/ilika-plc/ika.l)) Chief
Executive Officer Graeme Purdy caught up with DirectorsTalk to discuss the launch
of a joint development programme with Brompton to test Ilika’s Goliath solid-state
battery technology in next-generation foldable e-bike battery packs.

**Q1: Graeme, good to have you back. It seems like news flow just keeps coming.**

**A1:** We’re doing our best. This is an exciting development, and I guess it’s 
a reflection really of the maturity of Ilika’s Goliath technology now that we’ve
got prototypes that actually are of use for quite a large number of real-world applications
that we can all connect with and recognise.

**Q2: E-bikes, they’ve been around for a while now so why aren’t current batteries
good enough?**

**A2:** Well, actually, current lithium-ion batteries are pretty effective but anybody
that’s ridden a bike knows that weight is king and if you can get a higher energy
density battery, then of course the weight of your e-bike is reduced and therefore
you’ve got a greater range and better acceleration. So, there are some very advantages
here.

The other one actually relates to safety. In general, there are restrictions to 
using e-bikes on all sorts of different modes of transport. For instance, you’re
not allowed actually to put your e-bike on board an aircraft and that’s not so much
specifically relating to e-bikes, but actually there is a blanket limit of 160 watt
hours for batteries that you’re allowed to take on aviation.

So, if you can come up with an intrinsically safe battery that can address some 
of the concerns of putting large batteries on board aircraft, then you start to 
open up all sorts of new markets.

**Q3: So, what is it that makes Goliath batteries more suitable for an e-bike?**

**A3:** It’s actually specifically the greater energy density, so watt hours per
kilo, that we can offer. It’s enhanced safety profile versus mechanical abuse.

Some great videos that you can look at actually on YouTube, where we demonstrate
the resilience of the battery when it’s damaged.

Of course, when you ride a bike, you can have a crash and so it’s important that
actually the batteries that are on e-bikes are resilient to that type of abuse.

**Q4: Now, Goliath batteries, they were designed for EVs. Surely, they’re a little
bit too big for an e-bike?**

**A4:** That’s the key thing, actually, is that when you build a battery for an 
EV, you take thousands of individual cells, and you build them into modules, and
ultimately the pack for the vehicle. So, actually, you can use similar building 
blocks to make e-bike battery packs. The 10 amp-hour type that we’ve got available
at the moment is actually quite a good fit with the packs that they put on to the
batteries that they build into e-bikes.

**Q5: Now, as you say, the focus has been on EVs. Is this a distraction from Ilika’s
EV roadmap?**

**A5**: Well, we don’t think so and I think our shareholders are merely interested
in an attractive return on investment. So, some of these near-return intersections
that we’re seeing on our roadmap, I think are really useful for demonstrating the
business case and the commerciality of our product.

**Q6: Your release states that it’s an opportunity to export to China. Isn’t that
a bit like trying to sell snow to Eskimos?**

**A6:** Yes, that’s right. I think the key here is that the product has to be differentiated.
There’s no point in just turning up with a commoditised product that perhaps can
be manufactured less expensively in China. If you have a product that has some unique
properties and meets some of the very stringent e-bike regulations that have in 
China, then actually that gives you a competitive advantage.

We sees that the Chinese market is very open and welcoming vis-à-vis premium products.

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