Draft:ION Storage Systems

• Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest policy, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. Mmhmm2039 (talk) 14:05, 15 November 2025 (UTC)

---

Ion Storage Systems, Inc. (stylized ION Storage Systems or ION) is an American battery technology company that develops solid-state lithium-metal batteries. The company is based in Beltsville, Maryland, and is a spin-out of research conducted at the University of Maryland’s Maryland Energy Innovation Institute. Its technology has been described in The Wall Street Journal as a potential contender in the race to commercialize solid-state batteries for consumer electronics and electric vehicles.

ION’s architecture uses a three-dimensional ceramic solid electrolyte intended to provide higher energy density, faster charging and improved safety compared with conventional lithium-ion batteries that employ flammable liquid electrolytes.

History

Ion Storage Systems traces its origins to research on solid oxide and solid-state electrolytes led by materials scientist Eric Wachsman at the University of Maryland. The company was founded in the mid-2010s as a university spin-off to commercialize a 3D ceramic electrolyte architecture for lithium-metal batteries.

An early federal research grant of approximately US$574,000 supported the laboratory work that led to the company’s formation. In February 2022, The Wall Street Journal profiled ION Storage Systems in an article on U.S. efforts to catch up with Asian battery manufacturers, highlighting the company as a next-generation battery firm emerging from a University of Maryland chemistry lab.

In 2022 the company announced a US$30 million Series A funding round led by investors including Clear Creek Investments, VoLo Earth Ventures and Alsop Louie Partners, building on earlier seed financing. The same year, The Wall Street Journal reported that ION had contracts to develop batteries for the U.S. Army and was collaborating on battery development with Lockheed Martin, while also holding discussions with several automakers about electric-vehicle applications.

In 2023 and 2024, ION Storage Systems received multiple awards from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E). The company participated in the EVs4ALL program via a US$4.8 million grant shared with the University of Maryland, and in 2024 it was awarded a US$20 million SCALEUP grant to support domestic manufacturing and commercialization of its solid-state lithium-metal batteries.

In June 2024, ION Storage Systems commissioned a solid-state battery manufacturing facility in Beltsville, described by local and trade press as one of the largest solid-state battery production lines in the United States. A trade report estimated the initial facility capacity at around 1 MWh per year, with plans to scale to 10 MWh and ultimately hundreds of megawatt-hours.

On June 20, 2025, The Wall Street Journal published a follow-up feature by columnist Christopher Mims titled "A Battery That Lasts 50% Longer Is Finally in Production", focusing on ION’s move from laboratory-scale prototypes to production at its Maryland factory. The article highlighted the company’s effort to bring solid-state cells into consumer electronics and noted backing from the U.S. Department of Energy.

In August 2025, ION Storage Systems announced the launch of Cornerstone cells, described as the first commercial generation of its solid-state battery technology, with multilayer cells shipped as samples to leading consumer electronics manufacturers.

Technology

ION Storage Systems develops solid-state lithium-metal batteries that use a ceramic solid electrolyte instead of the organic liquid electrolytes employed in conventional lithium-ion cells. The company’s design is based on a three-dimensional ceramic scaffold that separates cathode and anode regions and simultaneously acts as the ion-conducting electrolyte. The architecture combines dense and porous ceramic regions to manage lithium transport while mechanically constraining electrode expansion.

Unlike many other solid-state concepts that require high external pressure to maintain interfacial contact, ION’s batteries are designed to operate without external compression, which is intended to simplify integration into standard cell formats and modules. The company has reported cells achieving more than 1,000 charge–discharge cycles while maintaining over 80 % of initial capacity in formats relevant to commercial applications.

According to company statements and independent coverage, ION’s cells are anode-less at the start of life: metallic lithium is plated onto the current collector during initial charging, which is intended to reduce manufacturing complexity and improve safety compared with traditional lithium-metal designs that ship with a thick lithium foil anode.

ION’s technology has been reported to deliver approximately 50 % longer runtime than comparable lithium-ion batteries in certain test configurations, alongside faster charging and reduced risk of thermal runaway.

Facilities and production

Ion Storage Systems operates a manufacturing facility in Beltsville, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. The plant has been described as one of the first solid-state battery factories in the state and among the larger solid-state pilot lines in the United States. Reports indicate that the initial pilot line targeted production on the order of 1 MWh per year, with expansion plans to reach 10 MWh and eventually hundreds of megawatt-hours of annual capacity by the late 2020s.

The Beltsville facility has been used to produce cells for defense, industrial and consumer electronics customers. Early production units were supplied to the U.S. Department of Defense and to unnamed electronics manufacturers for testing and qualification.

Products

ION Storage Systems’ first publicly named product platform is Cornerstone, a multilayer solid-state cell family intended for compact, high-power devices such as smartphones, laptops and wearables. The company began sampling Cornerstone cells to consumer electronics manufacturers in 2025, positioning the platform as a commercial-grade solid-state battery that does not require mechanical compression for integration.

Company statements and industry coverage indicate that ION also targets applications in electric vehicles, grid storage, aerospace and defense, though large-format automotive cells remained in development as of 2025.

Funding and partnerships

In addition to venture capital financing, ION Storage Systems has received multiple grants and awards from U.S. federal agencies, especially ARPA-E, to advance its technology and scale manufacturing. The company has reported partnerships with established industrial firms including Saint-Gobain, a major supplier of ceramics and glass, and KLA Corporation, which provides inspection and metrology tools, to support process development and commercialization.

The company has also collaborated with defense contractors and U.S. government agencies on specialized energy-storage applications. As of the early 2020s, Ion held contracts with the U.S. Army and was conducting development work with Lockheed Martin on solid-state battery systems.

Reception

ION Storage Systems has received coverage in mainstream and technology media as one of several startups working to commercialize solid-state batteries. The 2022 Wall Street Journal profile framed the company as part of U.S. efforts to "leapfrog" foreign rivals in battery technology, while also noting the challenges and competitive landscape in the sector. A 2025 column in the same newspaper described Ion’s Maryland plant as moving “from lab to factory” and characterized the firm as a notable contender to bring solid-state cells into consumer devices.

Specialist outlets focusing on energy storage and electric vehicles have highlighted ION’s compression-free architecture, cycle-life results and factory-scale demonstrations as significant milestones for the field, while also pointing out that broader commercial adoption will depend on cost, yield and integration into high-volume products.

See also

• Solid-state battery
• Lithium metal battery
• Electric vehicle battery