NAWA Technologies strengthens management team with appointment of Ulrik Grape as company moves to industrialization phase

Setting new standards for charging speed, frequency and environmental friendliness, Ultra Fast Carbon Batteries can be charged and discharged within seconds. And they can do so over a million cycles without any loss in performance, far in advance of conventional lithium-ion batteries which take minutes, sometimes hours, to fully charge and typically have 5,000 cycle limits.
Based on the principle of the ultracapacitor, a carbon-based energy storage system that doesn’t use a chemical reaction or a precious material such as lithium, NAWA Technologies’ Ultra Fast Carbon Battery features a pioneering use of aligned carbon nanotube electrodes with a unique coating, offering five times higher power density than existing ultracapacitors.

The company has developed its own specialised nano-manufacturing process and has already entered low volume pilot manufacturing. As NAWA Technologies moves from being a development company to pursuit of commercial breakthrough, it has strengthened its management team with experience from the energy storage industry.

Ulrik Grape brings enormous experience to NAWA Technologies. He joins having lead Californian solid-state lithium-ion battery start-up SEEO to great success – developing batteries for the automotive and energy storage markets, SEEO was recently acquired by Bosch – while prior to this Grape was CEO of EnerDel, one of the early leaders in lithium-ion batteries for automotive applications with customers such as Volvo Cars, Think and VanHool. Grape has also lead sales and marketing at Danionics, one of the first companies to successfully introduce lithium-ion polymer batteries in the portable electronics industry with customers including Compaq (acquired by HP), Apple and Sagem. Grape has a strong combination of achieving success with introduction of new technologies to leading OEMs, extensive experience in fund raising, industrializing technology and growing companies to market entry.

NAWA Technologies is a spin-off of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), founded in 2013 by Pascal Boulanger, who moves to COO and Chairman of the Board following Grape’s appointment. Located in Rousset, in the south of France, NAWA Technologies’ vision has been to marry ‘nano’ and ‘clean’ technologies. Because its Ultra Fast Carbon Batteries are carbon-based, they do not suffer the same thermal issues as conventional storage systems.
NAWA Technologies’ high-energy density and high-power batteries are cleaner, safer, more reliable and kinder to the environment than current storage systems.

Today, NAWA Technologies has its own low volume pilot production line and a range of products. Its Ultra Fast Carbon Batteries are perfect for use in the automotive industry (in hybrid cars), logistics (such as factory or warehouse-based vehicles), urban mobility (such as buses or shared cars), power tools, aerospace and electric bicycles. Furthermore, NAWA Technologies’ concepts are ideally suited to regulating tomorrow’s smart electricity grids, which will have an increased reliance on renewable, more variable energy.
Ulrik Grape, CEO of NAWA Technologies, said: “I was attracted to NAWA Technologies by the combination of the potential of the ultracapacitor technology the company has developed with a proprietary manufacturing process that will make the technology highly competitive in the energy storage space. What is so exciting is the positioning of this pioneering new technology, Ultra Fast Carbon Batteries sit between regular ultracapacitors and lithium-ion batteries, offering huge potential.

“The company’s strong team of engineers have driven the technology to a market ready product and I am excited to join this team and drive it to market entry and commercial success. I am very pleased that Pascal will continue to be an important part of the team in his dual role as Chief Operating Officer and Chairman of the Board – his experience and energy is invaluable to the company.”

Pascal Boulanger, COO of NAWA Technologies, added: “As the founder of NAWA Technologies and one of its investors, I am very happy and proud that Ulrik has joined NAWA – I see his decision to write a new chapter in NAWA’s history also as a recognition of the fantastic team we have at NAWA. He will bring exactly what we need – an unrivalled blend of experience in the battery industry, fundraising and industrialization.”

ENDS

Media contact: Sam Hardy Director – Influence Associates Email: samh@influenceassociates.com Tel: +44 207 287 9610