Ilika PLC CEO Graeme Purdy talked with Proactive about a significant milestone for the company as it successfully shipped its 10Ah Goliath battery prototypes on schedule. Purdy noted that the delivery reflects the company's commitment to meeting expectations and keeping to its timelines.
The prototypes will now be evaluated by customers, with Ilika expecting collaborative feedback to further refine its solid-state battery technology. Purdy explained that the next key milestone is the development of a 50Ah cell and that licensing discussions are already underway. He emphasised Ilika’s asset-light model, saying that the company does not intend to build large factories itself but will rely on technology transfer and partners to scale up.
Ilika’s pilot line has achieved a 93% yield, which Purdy described as a “really great validation that we have a robust process that is ready for scale up.” This result exceeds typical expectations at this stage and supports the transition towards commercialisation.
The interview also touched on Ilika’s modelling work with Balance Batteries Ltd, which demonstrated potential cost and performance benefits for EV applications. The company claims a 20% reduction in battery pack costs and a corresponding increase in vehicle range when using its technology.
Proactive: I'm joined by Graeme Purdy, the CEO of Ilika PLC. Graeme, good to speak with you. A significant milestone as the year draws to a close — you've just shipped the 10Ah prototypes on schedule, so a big move for you!
Graeme Purdy: Well, absolutely. At Ilika, we pride ourselves in delivering on time and to expectations. The team is absolutely delighted that we've been able to give our customers an early Christmas present.
Proactive: Maybe stronger batteries than they'll need to power the Christmas tree though, Graeme. So what's the next major step to move Goliath towards commercial production or licensing?
Graeme Purdy: We'll be working closely with those customers to evaluate the performance of the cells. It's interesting — in the industry there are a number of different perspectives on the best duty cycles to test batteries with. Although we have done an extensive testing program already, we will be learning alongside customers, and we expect to get some useful feedback that will help us develop even better batteries.
Our next milestone is the 50Ah cell that we're targeting. We're also opening discussions for tech transfer and further scale-up. That is likely to be done by our partners rather than us. It's really important to emphasise that we have an asset-light business model that relies on licensing our technology, rather than Ilika itself building large factories.
Proactive: The pilot line hit a 93% yield. How close is that to commercial requirements, and what does it mean for scaling?
Graeme Purdy: That's a really great question. If you speak to people in the industry, they'll typically say that at a pilot line scale — where Ilika is — you'd expect about 80% yield for it to be considered credible and ready for further scale-up. By the time you get to production, you want a minimum of about 90%. So the fact that we've got 93% on our pilot line is a really great validation that we have a robust process that is ready for scale-up.
Proactive: How do the weight and cost advantages of your oxide coatings strengthen Ilika’s position against established battery markets?
Graeme Purdy: We're all dying for better batteries. We want longer range in our vehicles; we want EVs to cost less. This is the mission that Ilika is on. Irrespective of the fact that this is a solid-state battery development program, we're actually trying to improve batteries so that we, as consumers, have a better experience using them in EVs and other applications.
When we modelled these batteries together with a specialist consultant, Balance Batteries Ltd, and applied that in an EV scenario, we saw a 20% saving on the cost to the pack and also an increase in vehicle range — so that's really important.
Proactive: What's next, Graeme? What should we be watching out for as the year draws to a close and we head into 2026?
Graeme Purdy: We've also got our second product line, Stereax, which is cooking on all gas rings right now as we head into the festive period. So there may well be some additional news associated with that. And then early in the new year, we'll have a bit of a wrap-up with half-year results. I hope we'll get the opportunity to update you again at that point.