Ilika PLC (AIM:IKA, OTCQX:ILIKF) chief executive Graeme Purdy talked with Proactive about shipping the company's first batch of prototype Goliath batteries to a tier-one automotive customer, marking a significant milestone for the company.
Purdy discussed how Ilika has followed through on its published roadmap, achieving the D4 development milestone announced at the end of 2023. This has resulted in the delivery of validated prototype P1 cells, which have now been sent to a customer for external testing. This process allows customers to connect the batteries to their own test equipment, providing valuable feedback and broadening Ilika's knowledge base.
Proactive: You've shipped your first batch of prototype Goliath batteries to a tier-one automotive customer. A big milestone for the company.
Graeme Purdy: Yes, exciting times, being able to demonstrate that we followed up on the roadmap that we've had published now for a couple of years. We've delivered on our goal of turning that D4 development milestone that we announced at the tail end of 2023 into a series of validated prototype P1 cells, which is the nomenclature that we use for designating this particular design phase.
Just last month we actually started a customer-sponsored in-house test program, where we took some of that batch of P1 cells and we started testing them under customer supervision. But now, one of our other customers has said they'd like the physical batteries, to be able to connect them to their test equipment.
Proactive: And I presume that external validation is important Graeme?
Graeme Purdy: Absolutely. Customers take different views as to what's the best environment to test these cells in. They've also got their own test protocols. But we have a baseline, you know, benchmark testing protocols that we verify these cells against. And now it's great to be able to share some of the physical products with customers for them to be able to do their own thing with them and then give us that feedback about what they find because it broadens the database, it broadens our knowledge of how this product is performing.
Proactive: Can you tell us a little bit more about the P1 prototype, particularly as you move towards your P2 prototype?
Graeme Purdy: The P1 prototype is a relatively small battery. It's a pouch cell. It's got a capacity of about two amp hours and a voltage of about four volts. You know, these are all familiar parameters to the customers that we're interacting with. It's not actually our minimum viable product.
So we wouldn't try and license this product for integration into a full module or pack. That's what the minimum viable product or P2 prototype is all about. But it's an important milestone on the journey towards that product, which we expect to have ready in the course of the calendar year 2025.
Proactive: You mentioned other customers. Are you engaging with other OEMs and ultimately its automotive customers at the moment Graeme?
Graeme Purdy: We've got a portfolio of about 14 materials transfer agreements with customers. Some of them are engaging at this P1 stage and others are waiting for further development so that they can assess what is the best point for them to start taking prototypes themselves. But over the next 12 months, we expect to work through that list of engagements.
Proactive: So what can we expect next from Ilika Graeme?
Graeme Purdy: Well, we can expect some more information about the feedback that we're getting from customers. We can expect some more D-points, and confirmations. So as our batteries get bigger, and the performance gets iterated and improved, over the next few months, with a view towards pushing towards P2 and then, actually the commercial engagement that goes hand in hand with that technology roadmap.