Battery Show & EV Tech Digital Days Announce Initial Speaker Lineup

Organizers have announced some of speakers for this year's virtual event which will highlight the latest in battery and electric vehicle technology.

October 1, 2020

Brett Pope, Director of Electric Vehicles, Volvo Trucks North America will be one of the speakers at the event. Pictured is the battery package of the Volvo VNR Electric which will be discussed during his presentation.

S. Jensen

The Battery Show & EV Tech Digital Days, an all-new virtual event connecting the global advanced battery and EV/HEV tech community, announces the initial keynote spearkers, as well as an additional lineup of industry experts who will present during the online conference and exhibition scheduled to take place from November 10-12.

Organized by Informa Markets – Engineering, the producers of The Battery Show North America and the large-scale online event, will feature keynote presentations from Ford Motor Company and Volvo Trucks North America and a keynote debate panel from Northvolt Zwei, CATL, and Freyr, moderated by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, accompanied by educational sessions and workshops headlined by CATL, Daimler Trucks, GM, Mercedes Benz R&D North America, NAATBatt International, Panasonic, and more. The first-of-its-kind digital event will drive the rapidly advancing electric and hybrid vehicle and global advanced battery markets which are, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com, together poised to grow by more than $44 billion during 2020-2024.

The robust virtual event will keep the community connected until in-person event resumes September 14-16, 2021 in Novi, MI. Featuring a conference program thoughtfully curated by a panel of 20 seasoned experts, bringing attendees eight tracks of technical training in advanced battery design and manufacturing, thermal management, and recycling, in addition to workshops, ample networking opportunities, live product demos, and more—all delivered through a state-of-the-art virtual platform and available on-demand for seven weeks after the event concludes.

“This business is among the fastest growing sectors in the world. To announce that globally-known and respected brands are headlining The Battery Show Digital Days is phenomenal, especially at a time when major OEMs are transitioning into fully electric lineups – GM, Nissan, Volkswagen, and more – many of which are speaking at the conference,” says Jenny McCall, Event Director, The Battery Show & EV Tech Digital Days. “The incredible lineup of experts geared to address today’s unique challenges and opportunities is inspiring and there’s much more to come.”

Confirmed Keynotes include:

Day 1 Presentation: Electrifying Iconic Vehicles – Ford

Speaker: Mark Kaufman, Global Director of Electrification, Ford Motor Company

Kaufman will discuss the fast-moving state of electrification and Ford’s future of electrifying its most iconic nameplates.

Day 2 Presentation: Volvo Trucks North America on the Road to Electromobility

Speaker: Brett Pope, Director of Electric Vehicles, Volvo North America at Volvo Trucks North America

Volvo Trucks North America will present the latest in Volvo Truck North America’s road to electromobility including the most recent advances with their VNR Electric truck model and the Volvo LIGHTS project.

Day 3 Leaders Debate: Battery Production in Europe, moderated by James Frith, Senior Energy Storage Analyst, Bloomberg New Energy Finance

10 Minutes: Expanding the Blueprint for Green Battery Manufacturing presented by Fredrik Hedlund, CEO, Northvolt Zwei
10 Minutes: Expanding Battery Manufacturing in Europe to Accelerate the Electrification of the Automotive Industry presented by Matthias Zentgraf, President, European Business, CATL
10 Minutes: Establishing and Planning Growth for Battery Manufacturing in Europe presented by Tom Einar Jensen, CEO, Freyr
15 Minute Plenary Leaders Debate: Addressing the Challenges and Opportunities of Establishing Lithium-Ion Battery Production for Electromobility in Central Europe; the Rise of the Giga Factory

The debate panel will address how the EU/member states can support a domestic industry and what role OEMs should take; how much of the supply chain can be localized; what the most important factors are that influence a plant’s location: land cost, labor cost, access to skilled labor, electricity grid emissions, proximity to vehicle plants; and whether plants can be cost competitive with China/Asia.

A snapshot of the conference agenda

Track 1: Advanced Battery Materials

Leaders' Roundtable—Recycling & the Circular Battery Supply Chain

Jim Greenberger, Executive Director, NAATBatt International
John Kincaide, Founder & CEO, WeRecycleBatteries.com
Kunal Phalpher, Chief Commercial Officer, Li-Cycle
Samm Gillard, Technology Development Manager - Battery R&D, U.S. Department of Energy

High Throughput Investigation of Cathode Blending for EV Application

Dee Strand, Chief Scientific Officer, Wildcat Discovery Technologies

Track 2: Advanced Battery Technologies Industry Outlook

Panel—Is Solid State Battery Technology the Future of the Industry?

Steven J. Visco, Ph.D., CEO, Polyplus Battery Company
Venkat Anandan, Group Leader – Advanced Battery Technology, Ford Motor Company
Bill C. Panagos, CEO and IP Business & Technology Attorney, Panagos Kennedy PLLC
Anaba Anani, Ph.D., Chief Battery Scientist, BrightVolt

Panel—The Li-ion Market: Where's the Technology Going

Alex Holland, Analyst, IDTechEx
Celina Mikolajczak, Vice President, Battery Technology, Panasonic Energy of North America
Naoki Matsumura, Lead Engineer, Intel Corporation
Michael Sanders, Senior Advisor, Avicenne Energy US

Track 3: Battery Design & Manufacturing

Technology Lightning Talk—Connecting Materials to Solutions in Battery Safety Using Rapid Turn Screening Tools

Brandon Bartling, Advanced Product Development Specialist, 3M
Jeffery Hwang, Senior Test Engineer, 3M
Mark Fairbanks, Sr. Test Engineering Specialist, 3M

Technology Lightning Talk—Battery Module Assembly Materials for Design, Performance and Safety Considerations

Greg Becker, Technical Service and Development Scientist, Dow, Inc.

Track 4: Charging & Infrastructure Advancements

Fast Charge of Lithium-ion Batteries Using Integrated Battery Thermal Management (iBTM)

Said Al-Hallaj, CEO, AllCell Technologies LLC

Panel—Utility Companies and Charging Infrastructure Development

Maureen Marshall, PMP, Regional Director, CALSTART
Jason Appelbaum, CEO, Evercharge
April Bolduc, President, S Curve Strategies
Sean Gouda, Manager, Electrification Business Development, DTE Energy

Track 5: E/HV Technologies Industry Outlook

Panel—Innovation & the Fast Growing EV Battery Market

Paul Stith, Director, Strategy & Innovation - Transformative Technologies, Black & Veatch
Brett Smith, Director, Technology, Career for Automotive Research
Leslie Kilgore, Vice President of Engineering & Technology, Daimler Trucks North America

Business Lightning Talk—Commercial Adoption of Model-Based Battery Management Systems