Building a better battery.
Batteries have come a long way since the disposables that needed replacing in our walkmans and cameras. The lithium-ion batteries used in most electronics today are longer-lasting, rechargeable and, with some improvements, are also the key to making electric cars travel farther and to using more solar and wind power. So who is working on making batteries better?
You’ll find Nova Scotia-based Novonix in the middle of the fray. The Canadian firm doesn’t build batteries, but instead helps make better ones. It does this with a technology that tests the efficiency and lifespan of lithium-ion batteries more precisely, which helps clients like Panasonic and Bosch identify weaknesses in their battery design quicker, and develop the next major breakthrough in battery technology sooner.
With an estimated 6 billion lithium-ion batteries produced annually, there’s major demand for Novonix’s technology.
From research lab to market success.
Novonix’s technology started out as a research project at the renowned “Dahn Lab” at Dalhousie University. It quickly became clear that the publicly-funded research had commercial potential. In 2013, students Chris Burns and David Stevens undertook to realize that potential. They secured investment from Australian-based Novonix Group and a $500,000 contribution from the federal Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA).
The rest, as they say, is history. Novonix went global, and now has a number of tier-one international battery makers as customers.
Pushed to grow.
Governments have an important role to play in helping companies like Novonix make the jump from research lab to market success. Public funding for pure research like the work at Dalhousie’s “Dahn Lab” provides the push to develop new ideas, while grants and loans through initiatives like ACOA’s Business Development Program help firms grow into companies with global reach.
Accelerating clean innovation in Canada means helping companies make the jump from research lab to market success. Governments have a role to play. Find out more through Smart Prosperity's latest work on Accelerating #CleanInnovation in Canada.
Also: See what Novonix is planning next, in this story by the CBC.
