Ex-Tesla engineer joins Australia battery startup Vaulta

Brisbane-based startup Vaulta is looking to improve a lesser considered aspect of battery manufacturing – casing – and has taken on four new team members including ex-Tesla engineer Alan Zorkot, who worked for the EV maker as a senior project engineer until mid-2019.

Following the raise of $320,000 in capital from incubators and seed investors including ACAC Innovation, Brisbane Angels and Artesian, Zorkot’s hiring is integral in the development of Vault’s plan to start trials of what it calls “world-first battery casing technology”.

“Some of the world’s biggest players have joined the battery cell market in recent years,” said Vaulta founder and industrial designer Dominic Spooner in a note by email.

“But the design and manufacturing of the associated casing has been overlooked. As a result, it hasn’t kept up with the fast-moving battery technology,” he says.

According to Spooner, assembling EV battery casing is currently a time-consuming process as the technology is made up of 20 different parts.

Although Tesla is working on a new “tabless” battery technology that is intended to simplify the technology, CEO and co-found Elon Musk has said it will take many battery manufacturers to produce the amount of energy storage needed to tackle climate change. He estimates that the world needs to be producing 20-25 terawatts of energy storage a year.

Spooner says that by condensing functions of the casing into one module made by using a proprietary graphene composite, Vaulta can implement a number of improvements in battery casing manufacturing.

According to Spooner, Vaulta’s technology “eliminates cell tab welding and enhances the passive cooling of battery cell terminals, which we predict will allow for better reuse,” he said.

He says that this process would also enable old cells to be put to use more easily in less demanding applications: “This means these batteries could have a second life in smaller electric vehicles like scooters and skateboards.”

The trials of Vaulta’s new casing technology, which the company says will reduce the number of parts needed by 75%, will be conducted in collaboration with energy storage company RedEarth, although more companies are welcomed to take part in the trials.

According to the company’s website, its process will also reduce battery weight and size by at least 10%, as well as reduce production times and hence reduce costs by as much as a half.

Additionally, it claims its battery casing will improve thermal performance, and also improve safety in assembly and use.

Investor ACAC Innovation CEO Bryce Greig describes Spooner’s idea as genius: “He has identified a gap in a growing market and gone for it – but he has also done his research and appointed the right people who complement his skillset.”