Ion Storage Systems (ION), a Maryland-based manufacturer of safe, high-energy density, fast-charging solid-state batteries (SSBs), will collaborate with Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest ceramics, glass and material suppliers and KLA, a leader in semiconductor process and quality control, to accelerate the commercialization of ION’s high-performing, anodeless SSB.

The ARPA-E SCALEUP program will contribute $20 million (earlier post) that will be matched by another $20 million in private funds, bringing the total program size to $40 million.

ION and our world-class partners have reinvented ceramic membrane manufacturing for high throughput, low cost, and low emissions production of our safe, high energy solid-state battery. We are proud to be working hand-in-hand toward gigawatt-hour production and delivery of a market-leading EV battery solution. ARPA-E’s RANGE program initiated the development of this technology in 2013 and we’re honored to be partnering with them again through SCALEUP to expand the impact of our technology and accelerate electrification of a greener energy economy.

—Dr. Gregory Hitz, Co-Founder and CTO of ION

ION was one of four companies to secure funding from SCALEUP in 2024 as part of its $63.5-million program budget. ARPA-E’s SCALEUP funding and corporate partnerships enable ION to manufacture high performing, EV-scale SSB cells in the US with domestically sourced materials while expanding on what is already among the largest SSB manufacturing facilities in the United States.

The project will include sustainability-focused cell design and manufacturing milestones, with planned innovations offering the opportunity for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions on the order of tens of thousands of metric tons of CO₂ per GWh relative to Li-ion.

ION, the only anodeless and compressionless SSB battery to achieve hundreds of cycles, recently opened one of the largest SSB manufacturing facilities in the country and announced a supply agreement with Saint-Gobain in late 2023. In addition to the extensive collaboration with ARPA-E, the company is also working closely with other government agencies on applications related to defense and aerospace.