Energy Tech Startups

Dr. Evan M. Erickson is the CEO of TexPower, a company commercializing cobalt-free lithium-ion battery technology that is higher in energy than other technologies without sacrifices to safety, cycle life, or compatibility with existing technologies. Evan has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, working first in fuel cells, then transitioning to lithium-ion battery technology in a postdoc at Bar-Ilan University in Israel & later at the University of Texas at Austin, working for Prof. Arumugam Manthiram. Prof. Manthiram is world-renowned in the battery space, even giving the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry lecture for the invention of lithium-ion batteries for his long-time colleague Prof. John Goodenough.

Show Notes

Dr. Evan M. Erickson is the CEO of TexPower, a company commercializing cobalt-free lithium-ion battery technology that is higher in energy than other technologies without sacrifices to safety, cycle life, or compatibility with existing technologies. Evan has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, working first in fuel cells, then transitioning to lithium-ion battery technology in a postdoc at Bar-Ilan University in Israel & later at the University of Texas at Austin, working for Prof. Arumugam Manthiram. Prof. Manthiram is world-renowned in the battery space, even giving the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry lecture for the invention of lithium-ion batteries for his long-time colleague Prof. John Goodenough. 

Evan Explores:
  • Why having cobalt-free batteries (and cathodes) is hard and important - 0:45
  • How SBIR grant funding programs enabled TexPower to spin out of UT - 2:21
  • Why there are only a few places in the world that can develop significant innovation in Cathode Materials - 7:45
  • How the founders of TexPower managed technical, market, and funding risk to launch the company - 9:19
  • How technical mastery allows for tuning the cathode materials to optimize for safety and performance - 11:48
  • Why starting a business while raising a 3-year is hard, but doable with the right partners - 18:03
  • How the University of Houston’s Techbridge helped TexPower accelerate its chemistry development - 21:06
  • How the IRA will affect battery technology deployment in the US - 24:18
  • The challenges facing public transit electrification - 30:30
  • How winter freeze Uri in 2021 threw a wrench into Evan’s best grant writing plans - 35:48
  • Why innovators just go for it - 41:48
Website: https://texpowerev.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-erickson/

What is Energy Tech Startups?

They say everything's bigger in Texas, including climate change. That's why Houston is leading the energy transition. Here in H-Town, the fourth largest city in the United States, entrepreneurs from across Texas and around the world are gathering to work with titans of industry to build the technology that will reduce emissions and power a low carbon future.

We sit down with those change makers and wildcatters who are solving the toughest energy challenges with trillions of dollars on the line. We dig into how Houston will bring technology to market on a massive scale. Join us as we talk with the leaders of the energy capital of the world as they show us how the energy transition gets done.

Hosts: Nada Ahmed and Jason Ethier