# Ilika CEO on advancing solid-state battery innovation with strategic milestones (LON:IKA)

- Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/ilika-ceo-on-advancing-solid-state-battery-innovation-with-strategic-milestones-lonika/4121195458
- Published: 2025-05-07T09:29:00+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 progress
and roadmap for their Goliath solid-state battery prototypes, highlighting confirmation
from OEM and Tier 1 testing partners that these batteries meet specifications.

**Q1: One of your evaluation partners is saying that Goliath batteries are in the
cohort of leading solid-state batteries they’ve tested. Are Goliath batteries the
best solid-state batteries in the world?**

**A1:** Well, that’s a great question, isn’t it? The reality is, I don’t think there’s
any definitive answer to that question because all of the improved batteries that
are being developed around the world have different strengths and weaknesses. It
depends a bit on the application that you’re trying to power with the batteries.

Some batteries are particularly good at storing energy, i.e. they have a high gravimetric
and volumetric energy density. Some are really good at being charged quickly and
discharging that energy, so they have a high-power density. Others are particularly
safe. Really what we’re trying to do is make sure that we have the best combination
of properties for the automotive application.

I think this statement from one of the testing partners is that actually the Ilika
batteries, the Goliath batteries, are up there with some of the leading batteries
in the sector that are using this solid-state approach in order to get better battery
performance.

**Q2: You mentioned there that the batteries are looked at in different ways because
they all have different values. Do OEMs and Tier 1s all use the same standard test
protocol?**

**A2:** It’s quite interesting actually that the test protocols are often proprietary
to the different organisations that use them because they need to be optimised for
the particular application. You imagine if you’ve got an application that really
needs a lot of power from your batteries, maybe you’re making sports cars, then 
you will tend to tweak the testing protocols in order to emphasise that aspect of
testing. However, if you are looking for a particularly long cycle life out of your
batteries, maybe they have a high duty cycle, maybe you’re using them for instance,
in electric taxis in an urban environment, then of course, cycle life is more important
to you.

So, you perhaps be more aggressive in that aspect of testing so as a result, often
the specific test protocols vary from application to application.

**Q3: Why hasn’t an OEM taken a licence already, do you think?**

**A3:** I think what they’re doing is they’re working with us in order to get us
to the point where we have a battery that’s commercially large enough to be able
to be used as a platform for a pack design and a vehicle rollout. The P1 prototypes
that we released last year are two-amp power prototypes so they’re about twice the
size of a mobile phone battery. It’s probably a bit too small for the majority of
commercial applications.

With the 10-amp power P1.5 prototypes that we are targeting for release in the second
half of this year, you’re starting to get into the zone of a commercial platform
and then by the time you’re at P2 or 50-amp power prototypes, that’s the sweet spot
for a lot of power cell applications.

So, I think it’s just a question of maturity and when we get to that point in the
road map that matches commercial expectations, I think we will see a lot more commercial
momentum around our road map.

**Q4: I want to come to that shortly but is it really so difficult to move from 
2-amp power to 10-amp power?**

**A4:** There are different aspects that you need to take into account. Of course,
a 10-amp power battery often has a lot more active area that you’re needing to access
within the battery design. It’s actually physically more complex to assemble a larger
battery but we’re on top of that process.

As we’ve announced, we’ve already made 10-amp power batteries and actually, we’ve
made fantastically rapid progress over the last 12 months as we’ve scaled up the
size of the devices that we’re able to share.

**Q5: You mentioned the road map; what can you tell me about Ilika’s road map timelines
going forward?**

**A5:** The timelines are very clear, actually. So, the first 10-amp power prototypes
will be released in the second half of this year, probably later on in the summer
and that will be a really important milestone for us.

We’re then expecting to reach our 50-amp power, which is our minimum viable product
or MVP milestone by the end of the year so the first shipments will be made then,
and then we’ll continue that into 2026. We’re expecting those prototypes to really
underpin licensing opportunities as partners sample those devices and maybe take
an auction in order to scale up the technology for commercial rollout.

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