Michael Liu, Director of Research and Insights at the Volta Foundation, tells Mewburn Ellis about the key trends of 2026, how New York is growing into an unexpected pocket of battery innovation, and why the industry needs to speak with a unified voice.
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The launch of the Volta Foundation annual Battery Report is a big moment in the battery world. The report is a staggering work: more than 700 pages packed with dense industry information and commentary.
It's a one-stop guide to every technology, company, supply chain, plant opening, and development in the battery sector, all analysed with forensic precision.
“We are always blown away by the reception to the report,” says Michael Liu, current Director of Research and Insights at the Volta Foundation, and lead author of the report in 2025. “This year we had 150 different participants, including contributors, the management, and advisors. Creating it is a six-month project. We include voices from across the value chain, and the report is a symbolic representation of everything we want to accomplish.”
The appeal of the report is to distil information and intelligence about the battery sector into a single document. Liu's involvement means he has a near omniscient overview of the global battery world.
So what trends is he excited for in 2026? Liu is so spoiled for choice he takes a long moment to think about the outstanding technologies.
“First, the elephant in the room is the growing dominance of lithium iron phosphate,” he says. “In the battery industry, it's not the most gripping tech. It's not the best performing, or the most exotic. But it's the workhorse.”
Lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, is low cost, long life, and whilst it has lower energy density than many rival materials, its properties hit a commercial sweet spot. “There is an insight from Daniel Steingart at Columbia University which references Wright's Law, that the technology which wins adoption is not the highest performing one, it's one that can scale at low cost. We saw that in solar with polysilicon. LFP is able to be made cheaply at scale, so I expect it to continue to grow in 2026.”
Michael Liu, Director of Research and Insights at the Volta Foundation
The statistics are startling: market share of LFP in electric vehicles grew from 38% in 2022 to nearly 50% in 2024. In Europe LFP powered merely 10% of new EVs in 2024, but 75% in China, which led the innovation. Automaker BYD's entire line-up is powered by LFP, as is the Tesla Model 3 SR and some models of the Ford Mustang Mach-E.
Liu's second trend is the rise of sodium ion chemistry. “It doesn't use lithium, so has an advantage for supply chains,” says Liu. “Battery makers want to use abundant materials. Sodium ion comes with technical challenges, but there is a lot of research. As flagged in the Volta Battery Report, last year there were 8,000 patents filed around sodium ion technology. A quarter were by CATL, the biggest manufacturer of sodium ion batteries. There's not a lot of market share yet for sodium ion, but the amount of interest from other players suggests this will change.”
And the third trend is the silicon carbon batteries. Liu says, “Whilst it's important to be cost conscious, there are times when high performance is needed. This is where silicon carbon is a great choice. As smartphones get smaller and smaller, the battery is reduced in size so needs to be high performing. And when automakers want a premium model with 600km range, silicon carbon makes sense.”
One application is worth noting: silicon carbon for electric aircraft vertical take-off or eVTOL. For example, Archer Aviation is launching a four-seater aircraft with vertical take off capability, powered by Group14's silicon carbon batteries. Drones are a key market too. “I should mention And Battery Aero based in Palo Alto,” says Liu. “They are making batteries for the aviation industry, and are well positioned to supply eVTOL and drones.”
The idea of nipping over short distances in an eVTOL personal vehicle may seem futuristic, but advances in batteries, combined with a boom in affiliated drone technologies, could take the concept into the mainstream.
The New York scene
Liu is also sensitive to the geographic shifts in the battery industry. He recently moved from San Francisco to New York – suggesting he sees a bright future in East Coast tech.
“New York may seem like an odd place for batteries,” he admits. “I will admit the real estate is pricey for manufacturing. The ecosystem is not as strong as the Bay Area. But, there are unique opportunities here.”
The combination of capital, universities, and population density mean New York is a fertile environment for startups. “The city has the strictest fire codes,” says Liu. “So, consumer tech is pressure tested here. You get quick market feedback.”
He points to a startup created by a friend of his as an example of what New York can produce. “Every Electric supplies powerbanks to households, which get plugged in between the wall outlet and their air conditioning systems. This gives Con Edison, the local utility, more agency over consumer power consumption. In the afternoon, when everyone returns home and turns their AC on, the powerbank takes the strain off the grid.” The business model is creative – the powerbanks are supplied and fitted for free, with Con Edison benefiting from reduced strain on infrastructure during peak hours to reduce the risk of blackouts.
It is possible to manufacture batteries in the state. “Electrovaya is in Jamestown making lithium-ion cells,” says Liu. “NYSERDA, the energy research and development authority, has a number of programmes to help companies get off the ground faster, and to create shovel ready sites.”
He highlights the contribution made by New York Battery and Energy Storage Consortium, or NY-BEST, and New Energy New York, based in Binghamton University, which runs an accelerator for energy companies, hosts an academy, and finds placements for students in the clean energy sector.
“There are legacy companies here too, with deep knowledge. Kodak is in Rochester. They are experts at roll-to-roll coating, developed from acetate for camera films. There is a lot of relevant know-how in New York.”
Volta Foundation - the power behind the battery industry
The battery industry is notoriously fragmented. There is no global voice. The Volta Foundation is emerging as the closest thing to that unified body. Founded in 2019 over a brunch meeting in San Francisco, it began as regular meetings for battery professionals. The first report came out a year later, and the Foundation ballooned in popularity from then on.
Today the Volta Foundation has more than 75,000 battery professionals and more than 200 member companies. The diversity of members is striking, spanning automotive OEMs, materials suppliers, finance, and research institutions – it's a who's who of the battery world.
“Our focus is split between the US and Europe,” says Liu. “But there are no restrictions on our reach.” The Volta Foundation includes members from around the world, including Japan, India and Taiwan.
A remarkable fact of the Battery Report is that it's free. No paywall, no sign-up. The revenue forgone must be significant.
“The Volta Foundation connects people. And we care about making information known and accessible. There has been a lot of secrecy in our industry, and that has held progress back. Our goal is to make sure everyone has the right information.”
The ethos resonates with the members, who not only fund the Volta Foundation through having their corporation join the Foundation as a member company, but donate expertise however the Volta Foundation requests.
“Contributors who are industry experts work pro bono,” reveals Liu. “I was a volunteer myself for three years. That is where the magic is! We want people to be motivated, and commit to the success of the report.” The prestige of being involved is significant.
As context for the Foundation’s community role, they host a variety of networking events aiming to bring together people working in diverse parts of the industry.
“We hold over 50 events globally,” says Liu. “Virtual and in-person. We care about connection, and want people to connect in their own way. We host our monthly online Battery Forum series, which attracts between 500 and 1,000 people.” Liu is the moderator and MC. There are brunches, executive events, themed conferences such as Women in Batteries, technical workshops. “There is a programme called the Battery Social, which hosts informal get-togethers in places like Brussels and Munich.”
The flagship event is the Volta 2026, held in February 2026 at Stanford University as a subset of the Stanford Battery Summit. The combination made it one of the most consequential events in the battery industry of the year – naturally it was sold out.
Another future aspect of the Volta Foundation is political work. The industry lacks any single overarching body, but there is an opportunity for this to change. “Battery tech is critical for the future of our society,” says Liu, “But there is little concerted effort in terms of industry-representative policy on Capitol Hill. We are very aware of this. A lot of members have their own advocacy, but it is a disorganised method.”
He says the reasons are historic. “The industry has been siloed. Not enough incentive to come together. It is abundantly clear that the industry needs to have a unified voice.”
Liu and his colleagues are the natural choices for any administration worldwide to contact for insights on the battery industry. The Volta Foundation is becoming the de facto industry voice, connecting disparate sectors.
For Liu, the Volta Foundation is on a mission of profound significance. “Batteries are one of the most enabling technologies of our time,” he says. “Philosophically, they unlock when we use energy. The resources we have are finite, and energy will be one of the most important. Our work creates agency over when and how we consume energy. It's why we think our work is so important.”
Chloe Flower, Partner and Patent Attorney, at Mewburn Ellis comments:
"Michael Liu captures both the scale of momentum in the battery sector and the challenges that come with it. As technologies mature and move from research into deployment, the need for coherence across policy, collaboration and intellectual property, becomes increasingly important. The Volta Foundation’s work shows how a more connected ecosystem can accelerate meaningful, real‑world deployment of battery technologies. At Mewburn Ellis, we work with companies at every stage of this journey, helping them use IP not as a barrier, but as a practical tool to support growth, partnerships and long‑term impact in a rapidly evolving ecosystem."
Written by Charles Orton-Jones.
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