IONS by Peak Energy
Technological Pragmatism - A Conversation with Adrian Yao of EnPower & STEER
In this session of IONS, Cam is joined by Dr. Adrian Yao, founder of Lithium-ion cell development company EnPower and STEER, Stanford's center for energy feasibility research. Cam and Adrian have both been in the battery space for years, and their experience across chemistries, academia, and industry informs a conversation that ranges from material development to project economics and the approach needed to commercialize batteries in the west: technological pragmatism. For the first time, Cam and Adrian discuss STEER's 2025 study of sodium-ion cell cost-down curves and break down STEER's initial pessimism on sodium-ion cell economics against the movement of CATL, Peak, and GM into project deployments built on an underdog chemistry. Cam and Adrian find that the industry's perspective has expanded, growing from a granular focus on low-cost materials and R&D to real assessments of system-level viability. Cam and Adrian describe this as a "parallel journey" tracked over the last two years by academia and industry, driven by real-world concerns as energy storage projects take the grid by storm. Learn more about EnPower's American-built batteries Read Dr. Yao’s thesis on energy storage development Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/peakenergytech
