AGENDA

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Registration & Mixer

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM PT

Welcome Remarks & The Next Chapter of Energy Innovation: Launching STEER Open Cell

Adrian Yao, Founder & Team Lead, STEER

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM PT

Battery Report 2025 Deep Dive

Michael Liu, Director, Research & Insights and Lead Author, 2025 Battery Report, Volta Foundation

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM PT

Battery Social Networking Reception

Stanford University's Redwood City Campus Cardinal Hall.

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM PT

Registration & Breakfast

Stanford University Redwood City Campus Cardinal Hall

Breakfast will feature curated tables for roundtable-like discussions

9:00 AM PT

Opening Remarks

Yen T. Yeh, Volta Foundation

9:15 AM - 10:00 AM PT

Fireside Chat

Kurt Kelty, Vice President Battery, Propulsion and Sustainability, General Motors

10:00 AM - 10:30 AM PT

Networking Break

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM PT

Critical Links to Build Resilient Materials Supply Chain

Panelists include:

• Christophe Mille, Co-Founder & Executive Technical Advisor, Verkor
• Dr. Halle Cheeseman, Program Director, ARPA-E

Additional panelists will be updated throughout January 2025.

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM PT

Bridging the Gap in Battery Deployment for EVs

Panelists include:

• Celina Mikolajczak, Industry Advisor
• Kyle Gordon, Principal, Roland Berger

Additional panelists will be updated throughout January 2025.

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM PT

Networking Lunch

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM PT

How Do We Efficiently Deliver Reliable Grid Storage?

Panelists include:

• Landon Mossburg, CEO, Peak Energy

Additional panelists will be updated throughout January 2025.

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM PT

Realities, Needs, and Requirements for Data Centers

Panelists include:

• Carlos Rojas, Datacenter Modeling Architect, NVIDIA

Additional panelists will be updated throughout January 2025.

3:30 PM - 4 PM PT

Networking Break

4:30 PM PT - 5:30 PM PT

Opportunities in Addressing Defense Battery Shortages

Speaker to be announced in late 2025.

5:30 PM PT

Closing Remarks

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM PT

Breakfast

Stanford University Redwood City Campus Cardinal Hall

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM PT

Battery Materials Qualification Working Group

Common Language for Materials Qualification 

This working group will convene Volta 2026 attendees and industry SMEs on creating aligned specifications and data expectations that reduce friction between innovators, suppliers, and integrators.

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM PT

Battery Industry Cell Benchmarking Working Group

Open Cell: Converging on Cell Benchmarking Pipelines

This working group will focus on establishing transparent, structured comparison pipelines that inform investment decisions, product roadmaps, and qualification strategies.

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM PT

Battery Workforce Readiness & Development Working Group

Pre-Requisites for a Battery-Capable Workforce 

This working group will focus on coordinating universities, vocational schools, training centers, and employers to create reliable pipelines for technicians, engineers, and operators.

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM PT

Batteries for AI & Digital Infrastructure Working Group

Designing Storage for AI & Digital Infrastructure

This working group will center itself on aligning battery technologies, control strategies, and business models with rapidly growing compute and cooling demands.

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM PT

Lunch

Stanford University Redwood City Campus Cardinal Hall

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM PT

Battery Form Factor Standardization Working Group

Rethinking Form Factors for Scale 

This working group will convene Volta 2026 attendees and industry SMEs on assessing where standardization accelerates innovation, lowers cost, and simplifies integration across different verticals.

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM PT

ESS Safety & Response Working Group

Closing the Loop on ESS Incidents 

This working group will focus consolidating cross-sector experiences to define actionable design rules, safety guidelines, response protocols, and continuous improvement mechanisms.

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM PT

Battery Industry Policy Coordination Working Group

Unifying the Battery Industry's Policy Voice 

This working group will bring together voices in the industry with a purpose of developing mechanisms for coordination so diverse stakeholders can respond coherently to evolving policy opportunities and risks.