TAE’s second subsidiary is now commercializing breakthroughs in energy storage, electric mobility, fast charging, and grid efficiency for business-to-business applications

• TAE Power Solutions is creating advanced technologies that are designed to deliver faster charging, stronger performance, farther range, and longer battery life for e-mobility and stationary applications
• Renewables industry leader Kedar Munipella named CEO of TAE Power Solutions
• TAE Power Solutions acquired two UK companies, Sprint Power and Eltrium
• Partnership with Marelli: Tier 1 automotive component supplier provides crucial insight into TAE Power Solutions’ future product line
• TAE Power Solutions is co-developing battery systems in a consortium with BMW and others

TAE Technologies, the world’s largest private fusion energy company, today announces the formation of a new subsidiary, TAE Power Solutions.

Spun out from TAE Technologies, TAE Power Solutions intends to deliver a first-of-its-kind technology to fundamentally improve the reliability, efficiency, longevity, and affordability of electric-powered products, from vehicles to renewable energy storage. The proprietary technology platform is derived from fusion research, and is a foundational step toward mass onboarding of electric vehicles and deployment of intermittent renewable energy as dispatchable power.

The company launches with a world-class team of industry leaders, including Kedar Munipella, who has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Munipella joins TAE Power Solutions from Applied Materials, a Fortune 200 company where he spent 16 years, most recently as Vice President and General Manager of a business unit dedicated to energy and environmental solutions.

In addition, TAE Power Solutions has made two strategic acquisitions in the UK to fortify its entry into new markets: Sprint Power, one of the largest transport electrification specialists in Europe, focusing on electrical systems integration and high voltage driveline, and Eltrium, a design and manufacturing company specializing in the production of energy storage systems, power distribution, and electronic assemblies.

Through these acquisitions, TAE Power Solutions gains an early foothold in existing projects, including APC18 CELERITAS, a program for advanced battery systems with BMW and other project partners.

The combined workforce of over 250 professionals, headquartered in California, brings deep domain expertise and long-standing OEM relationships, positioning TAE Power Solutions to become a market leader in emerging power management technologies.

“Spinning off TAE’s power management division is an extraordinary opportunity to bring the bold innovations of fusion-derived technology into new applications with profound impact,” said Kedar Munipella, CEO of TAE Power Solutions. “We expect our significant improvements to electric vehicle battery life, performance, and cost, along with the ability to convert wind and solar into on-demand sources of energy, will transform the future of electrification, creating opportunities for unprecedented efficiencies in e-mobility and energy storage.”

New Ecosystem for Energy

The path to Power Solutions began with TAE solving a power problem for fusion. The local grid near the company’s headquarters in Southern California provides 2 MW of power, while its fifth-generation fusion research reactor, Norman, operates at up to 750 MW. To support the company’s groundbreaking scientific research, TAE needed an extremely scalable energy storage and power delivery system – one that could be deployed in the future to support integration of commercial fusion power.

With no existing technology available in the market, TAE developed a modular energy and power delivery solution that can incrementally scale and discharge with highly flexible, efficient, and accurate bi-directional power on a sub-millisecond time scale.

To leverage these unique capabilities beyond fusion, TAE Power Solutions developed proprietary intelligent AC power (ACi) and Converter Battery Module (CBM) technology that features fully integrated energy storage and power electronics to unlock greater efficiency and performance from modern power systems.

Partnerships Pushing Ahead

TAE Power Solutions is now developing partnerships for rapid commercialization in both the e-mobility and stationary markets to extend range, efficiency, performance, and faster charging of electric vehicles, as well as for deployment in residential, commercial, industrial, and utility-scale electrical grid applications for superior affordability and lifetime value.

For the past several years, TAE has been working with Marelli, one of the world’s largest Tier 1 automotive components suppliers, to validate the unique value proposition of TAE Power Solutions technologies.

“As a global technology leader in the automotive industry, it’s a priority for Marelli to continue driving innovation forward, and with TAE Power Solutions we found an ideal partner in this perspective,” said Joachim Fetzer, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer of Marelli. “Our work with TAE Power Solutions over the years has focused on strongly improving the three crucial factors for broad EV adoption: increased vehicle range, faster charging, and better overall vehicle value. With the final aim to make EVs perform better, drive farther, last longer, and be more affordable, this collaboration enables Marelli to be in the role of co-creating with its customers the vehicles of the future.”

TAE Power Solutions – Continued Growth, Groundbreaking Leadership

TAE Power Solutions is the second subsidiary created by TAE Technologies from innovations developed for fusion research. The first was TAE Life Sciences, which leverages TAE’s proprietary accelerator technology for clinical investigation of a promising, previously inaccessible cancer treatment.

TAE is addressing the manufacturing and supply challenges inherent in building any new technology ecosystem in part by commercializing spinoff technologies derived from the beams and power management components in the fusion device.

“They are the perfect alignment of talent, technology, and market resources to serve our growing power needs and realize TAE’s goal of creating a complete, clean energy ecosystem,” said Michl Binderbauer, CEO of TAE Technologies. “With Kedar’s strategic and operational vision, along with our new expanded workforce, TAE Power Solutions is becoming a one-stop shop to deliver a revolutionary approach to power distribution, electrified transportation, and renewable energy storage for our growing carbon-free energy needs.”

The launch is the latest in a list of significant milestones for TAE Technologies. In 2022, the company announced it had exceeded its fusion reactor performance goals and had closed a $250 million financing round from investors Google, Chevron, and Sumitomo Corporation, among others, bringing its total raised to date to $1.2 billion.

About TAE Power Solutions

TAE Power Solutions (pronounced T-A-E) is a proprietary technology platform that is accelerating the transition to an electrified world with a first-of-its-kind energy storage and power delivery system. This technology unlocks a complete clean energy ecosystem, including more affordable and efficient storage; ultrafast charging capabilities; electric vehicle powertrains; peak shaving; buffering; and second life of batteries.

Is now adapting the same technology invented to power TAE’s fusion energy program for business-to-business solutions for your car, home, or business.

About TAE Technologies

TAE Technologies (pronounced T-A-E) was founded in 1998 to develop commercial fusion power with the cleanest environmental profile. The company’s pioneering work represents the fastest, most practical, and economically competitive solution to bring abundant clean energy to the grid. With over 1,800 patents filed globally and over 1,100 granted, $1.2 billion in private capital raised, five generations of National Laboratory-scale devices built and two more in development, and an experienced team of over 500 employees, TAE is now on the cusp of delivering this transformational energy source capable of sustaining the planet for thousands of years.

The company’s revolutionary technologies have produced a robust portfolio of commercial innovations in large adjacent markets such as power management, energy storage, electric mobility, fast charging, life sciences, and more. TAE is based in California, and maintains international offices in the UK and Switzerland. Multidisciplinary and mission-driven by nature, TAE is leveraging proprietary science and engineering to create a bright future.

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The University of Queensland (UQ) has launched a world-first international trial to see if the spare battery capacity in electric vehicles (EV) could be used to support the uptake of renewable energy, support the grid, and even potentially power homes in the future.

In a project co-funded by the iMOVE Cooperative Research and an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship, UQ has partnered with analytics platform Teslascope to recruit Tesla owners internationally to take part in the study which will closely look at driving and charging behaviour across the globe.

Dr Jake Whitehead, E-Mobility Research Fellow at UQ, said while EVs are increasingly coming to market with more than 400km driving range, most are only driven less than 50km a day.

“This provides a unique opportunity to leverage this spare energy capacity to absorb renewable energy generated in the middle of the day and overnight, and potentially even export energy to power homes and support the grid in the future using vehicle-to-grid (V2G) chargers,” Dr Whitehead said.

Dr Whitehead said with increasing numbers of electric vehicles globally, many questions are being asked around how this EV technology cannot only deliver the necessary emissions reductions in transport to reach net zero emissions by 2050, but also how they can provide other energy services.

“We have a unique opportunity through this project to better understand EV driving and charging behaviour in different markets, and what are the opportunities to use EVs to provide energy services and generate extra income for owners in the future,” he said.

iMOVE managing director Ian Christensen said transport accounted for about 24% of direct carbon dioxide emissions from fuel combustion globally, with demand for transport expected to grow significantly in the coming decades.

“Electrification of transport has been identified as one of the major pathways for reducing emissions – and by leveraging EV battery spare capacity and using smart charging technology, excess solar could be absorbed by vehicles parked during the day, and potentially discharged to support the grid during the evening using vehicle-to-grid (V2G) infrastructure,” Mr Christensen said.

“For smart charging infrastructure to deliver these benefits, EV uptake must be significantly increased, and importantly, EV owners must be willing to use their vehicles as ‘batteries-on-wheels’,” he said.

Dr Whitehead said the study aims to initially recruit 500 Tesla owners.

He said the study would use Teslascope’s platform to collect vehicle usage data without any hardware, but by directly pulling data – with owner’s permission – through the vehicle’s API. In exchange for agreeing to participate in study, users will be provided with a free 12-month premium subscription to Teslascope.

Tesla owners can express interest in participating in the trial here: https://teslascope.com/research

For the initial phase of the study, Tesla owners in Australia, the United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Germany and the UK are eligible to apply. As more manufacturers integrate API access into their vehicles, the intention is to expand the program to include other vehicle brands.

All user data will be kept secure and confidential.

“With the support and trust of users we will be able to leverage these learnings to influence government policy – including the rollout of public charging infrastructure. We also aim to use the findings of this research address some of the common misconceptions about how EV owners use their vehicles, and highlight how this technology provides far greater benefits, than risks, to the energy sector,” Dr Whitehead said.

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 Nissan’s pioneering vehicle-to-grid technology has arrived in Australia. With a new major government trial set to showcase the Nissan LEAF’s ability to supply energy needs, and even deliver power back to the grid, thanks to its factory-delivered bi-directional charging capability.

• First vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology to be introduced in Australia through Nissan’s support of Realising Electric Vehicle Services (REVS) 
• Working collaboratively with REVS partners, new trial will allow Australians to see real-life demonstrations and the benefits of V2G technology for the first time
• The first-of-its-kind technology means the Nissan LEAF is more than a vehicle, it’s a mobile energy solution and the only battery electric vehicle with full bi-directional charging capability
• Nissan’s V2G charging technology will be introduced to Australian Nissan LEAF owners this year

V2G technology transforms the Nissan LEAF into a total energy solution, ensuring the batteries don’t just store power for driving, but can also use that energy to run a home or commercial site, or to feed power back to the grid. The Nissan LEAF is the only factory-delivered and warranted V2G-capable electric vehicle on the market today.

And now V2G technology will be introduced to the Australian market through Nissan’s support of the Realising Electric Vehicle Services (REVS) project, which has been supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) as part of its Advancing Renewables Program.

The new trial, a precursor to the customer launch of the LEAF’s V2G technology in Australia this year, will see 51 Nissan LEAF EVs deployed across the ACT. They will form part of the ACT Government fleet, and will provide Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) to the National Electricity Market.

The FCAS system refers to the energy used to keep a power grid operating at its optimum levels at times of fluctuating demand. It’s this injection or reduction of power that prevents instability in the grid that can lead to blackouts. The trial will focus on the Nissan LEAF’s ability to provide energy to the grid to help stabilise the load in peak and off-peak periods.

“As the brand with the only V2G-capable vehicle from factory on the Australian market today, we are exceptionally proud to support this project, and to introduce this technology to Australia,” says Nissan Australia Managing Director, Stephen Lester.

“The Nissan LEAF not only offers an exciting EV driving experience, it goes so much further by integrating into the energy system. Nissan has been a global leader in this space, with several successful trials conducted in overseas markets, realizing it in Australia is an important milestone.”

The trial previews a near future in which Australian homes can essentially be off the grid, transforming electric vehicles from vehicles to mobile energy solutions. For customers with solar panels, the LEAF’s 40kWh battery is able to store solar energy during the day, and then use that energy to supply a home’s power needs at night, unlocking both zero-cost mobility and zero-cost home energy.

Alternatively, customers who use a workplace or public site to charge their vehicles can then use that power to supply their homes. A parked car could even become a revenue-generating asset for its owner by providing support to the energy grid by feeding power back into the grid and providing ancillary services.

“With more people working from home currently, with a Nissan LEAF in the driveway, a household could significantly reduce their power bills by using their vehicle as a battery. And if they have solar panels, they can maximise their use of renewable energy, and still have an exciting zero-emissions car to drive.”

The REVS project brings together a consortium of academic, transport and electricity-system partners to deploy the V2G service, including ActewAGL, the Australian National University (ANU), JET Charge, Evoenergy, SG Fleet and Nissan.

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