Green.org had the opportunity to sit down with Susan Stone, the CEO of Blue Current, to learn how the company is disrupting the battery industry with advancements in safety and performance. Before we get started, let’s get to know Susan a little better.
Susan Stone was recently named CEO at Blue Current, a startup designing high-performing solid-state batteries that safely and sustainably power the EV and consumer tech industries. As an award-winning entrepreneurial leader, she specializes in growing companies with disruptive technologies to commercially scale and transform the industries they serve. Stone was previously CEO of solar technology company Ubiquitous Energy. Prior to her executive leadership in climate tech, she was the founder and CEO of Sierra Wasatch Capital, an early stage venture capital firm. Stone managed early stage investing for Riverhorse Investments, Inc., worked at JPMorgan in New York, as well as Houlihan Lokey in Los Angeles. Stone is a former investment banker in mergers & acquisitions. She holds an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Yale University.
Blue Current is driving a revolution in the battery industry with its safe, energy dense, solid-state battery. Free of flammable liquids and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), Blue Current’s batteries significantly reduce risks to human and environmental health while providing a high-performing alternative to lithium and other battery types. By utilizing 10 times more earth-abundant materials like silicon in its composition than other anodes, Blue Current offers a cost-effective, highly scalable solution tapped by leading companies globally, propelling the electric vehicle, consumer tech and other energy-reliant industries to their next stage. Blue Current’s team works out of its state-of-the-art, production-ready facility in Hayward, CA. To learn more about Blue Current, Inc., visit https://bluecurrent.com/.
Susan, thanks for being here. Could you tell us about your background and how you’re looking to now advance the company mission as CEO?
Susan: I’ve had a winding journey to my current role here as CEO at Blue Current, and I’ve been lucky enough to sit in most of the seats around the startup table along the way.
I started my career as an investment banker, where I learned the foundations of corporate finance and dealmaking. One of the most valuable lessons I took from that time was the importance of prioritizing client service. As a startup CEO, I have so many clients, including our team, customers, partners, investors and our board of directors. My time as a banker taught me to anticipate the questions and potential issues that my clients often encounter and to reorient our technologies and business models around those pain points.
From there I transitioned to investing in startups as a venture capital investor, where I started to focus on climate tech. In that role, I had the privilege of learning from entrepreneurs and startup leaders in real-time. I observed a variety of leadership styles and organizational structures, which helped shape my own approach for leadership and decision-making. In 2019, I took on an operating role as CEO at one of the companies I had invested in, Ubiquitous Energy, a materials science company in solar. As a first time CEO, I discovered how much I love working to commercialize new technology, working with our development and business teams, our industry partners, and our other stakeholders to make a real impact on energy transition and climate change.
I joined Blue Current for numerous reasons, primarily to continue making a meaningful impact. I was immediately drawn to the company’s mission and breakthrough technology, as well as its stealthy, deliberate approach to refining our battery technology prior to scaling. Additionally, I was impressed by the team and investors I met, particularly their collaborative approach.
As CEO at Blue Current, I am excited to lead the organization into our next phase – the commercialization and scaling of our inherently safe silicon solid-state battery technology.
Blue Current’s approach is unique in the battery market, could you share how this technology will disrupt the industry?
Susan: Blue Current’s approach is unique in the battery industry because we’ve been following a north star of developing a safe and high-performance battery. That development goal has led us to a fully dry silicon solid-state battery design that already meets or exceeds the performance of existing batteries while gaining a big leap forward in safety.
Our silicon solid-state battery design allows us to deliver high energy density for increased vehicle range or equipment runtime, long cycle life for durability, and fast charge capabilities. And we’re able to do that using silicon, an earth abundant, non-toxic material, without the use of dangerous PFAS materials.
For applications in transportation, like EVs, our batteries will offer vehicle makers performance gains while also reducing the firewalling and other thermal management systems that account for a substantial portion of the costs, weight, and space of battery packs. Our lighter battery packs will also be simpler and safer.
Could you share more about Blue Current’s focus on sustainability, health and safety?
Susan: Blue Current’s mission is to develop a safe battery using earth-abundant materials, and the company has been working towards that goal for over 10 years. As the global economy shifts toward electrification, increasing energy density in batteries is a critical path to success. What that means is packing more and more energy into a small package, increasing the risk of a thermal event or other sudden release of that energy.
Today’s lithium-ion batteries contain a flammable liquid electrolyte, which can ignite during a sudden energy release event like a vehicle accident, leading to battery fires that appear more and more frequently in the news. These fires cause major and minor disruptions and can lead to injury or even loss of life. Recent data finds that battery failures are the number one cause of fires in both New York and San Francisco, resulting in over 350 injuries and fatalities since 2019.
Our approach at Blue Current is to solve for safety from the start with chemistry, selecting materials that are inherently safe like silicon, and eliminating the need for a flammable liquid electrolyte. Additionally, we have eliminated the use of PFAS chemicals, an internationally banned class of chemicals, which persist in other battery chemistries. We’re proud that our team has been able to accomplish this without performance trade-offs.
Could you describe some of your company’s 2025 goals?
Susan: 2025 is set to be an exciting year for Blue Current!
Over the next twelve months, we’ll be commissioning our pilot production line at our facility in Hayward, CA, capable of producing 2Ah pouch cells for customer testing and qualification. We will continue to advance our R&D efforts, delivering even better performance.
We’ll also be working closely with our existing customers and partners to commercialize our batteries together. In parallel, we aim to expand our roster of partners, including additional automakers and supply chain partners as well as customers in adjacent applications like robotics, power tools, and off-road vehicles.
How do you envision your industry looking in the next 10 years if the need for battery energy storage systems grows in the way that your company mission intends for it to scale?
Susan: Industry projections show the rechargeable battery market experiencing massive growth over the next 10 years, driven in large part by global electrification. That increase in energy storage deployed tells me that safe, high-performance batteries will be imperative to serve the market. I expect that we’ll see more and more segmentation within the energy storage industry as different cell designs and chemistries are optimized for individual use cases. Some use cases, like grid storage, are less impacted by space requirements, while others will require increased energy density in small packages and/or the ability to fast charge.
Overall, I anticipate that inherent safety will become even more of a critical factor as our usage of batteries increases.
What is one piece of advice you would give to companies to help them join the journey to create a more sustainable planet through their businesses?
Susan: I have one piece of advice that can be applied in a couple of different ways.
For companies that have a specific sustainability mission, focus on the word sustainable with an open aperture. To truly make an impact, we have to build sustainable businesses that can thrive in the long term by providing real value to customers with attractive economics.
For companies that have other missions that want to accomplish their goals while also creating a more sustainable planet, focus on solutions that have a positive economic impact on your own business, either by reducing costs and efficiency or by providing additional value to your customers. Too often, we read about companies that abandon sustainability efforts because they are too expensive, trendy, or just don’t work.
Viewing sustainability through a wide angle lens means building businesses that are good for employees, shareholders, customers, and the planet. To do that, companies need to be built to last.
Susan, thank you for joining us. We look forward to watching your journey at Blue Current.
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