Sakuu Blog
Sakuu Hosts California Congressman Jimmy Panetta
Silicon Valley innovation, ambitious energy goals, and Sakuu’s role in revolutionizing the power and production landscape
Here at Sakuu, our mission is to equip the manufacturing industry with next-generation technology and drive an evolutionary leap in battery design, production, and capability. So we were excited to show off the fruits of our hard work to our Congressional Representative with a tour of our facilities and a dynamic discussion on industry and innovation.
US Representative Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) recently paid a visit to Sakuu headquarters in San Jose where we talked about a host of business and energy transition issues including electric vehicle (EV) technology and battery development, along with domestic manufacturing and supply chain resilience.
California’s booming future-focused energy sector
The congressman’s district includes the southern slice of Silicon Valley, where Sakuu was founded and maintains its facilities. This area is California’s famed hotbed for world-changing startups, and it’s also the nation’s leader in VC investment for a host of transformative new energy technology businesses (our neighbors in SoCal own the second-place slot).
So it is no wonder that our state also leads the nation in embracing EVs. The Los Angeles Times recently reported that “in the first nine months of 2023, electric vehicles accounted for 21.5% of cars sold in California, a figure that’s more than doubled in the last two years.”
Some of this booming interest and activity is driven by the harsh realities of the world’s changing climate; some by our region’s entrepreneurial culture of innovation; and some by the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022.
However, this is a dynamic arena. 2024 IRA guidance on sourcing requirements for critical minerals and batteries may change the game, making it possible that fewer EVs will qualify for attractive consumer tax credits for example. The pressure is on for domestic EV producers and other energy innovators to focus on localized manufacturing, materials, components, and supply chains.
Sakuu’s role in energy transition innovation
Long before IRA investment and incentives, Sakuu began reenvisioning what was necessary to power the future. For the past seven years, we’ve been developing solutions to transform how critical and complex technology is developed and manufactured at scale anywhere in the world.
And in 2023, we introduced two key solutions that could not be coming to market at a more important time for the U.S. and California energy markets:
- Kavian®, our revolutionary dry-process 3D printing platform for manufacturers. In late 2023, we announced that Kavian is officially available for partners seeking early-access to the world’s first manufacturing solution to print battery electrodes. Early adopters are able to leverage the platform’s equipment, printable materials, electro-chemistry formulations, and process technology to develop the next generation of batteries in a completely dry process.
- Cypress™, our proprietary lithium-metal battery technology. Cypress battery cells are already achieving impressive performance milestones and the chemistry is fully licensable.
Both are available to support energy transition today, rather than in some distant future.
We gave Congressman Panetta the chance to see both the Kavian platform and Cypress cells in action during his tour. Our manufacturing platform has the potential to disrupt 100+ years of battery development processes and our battery chemistry delivers industry-leading safety and performance.
Sakuu and sustainable manufacturing
At Sakuu, our commitment to sustainability goes hand in hand with our innovative approach to battery manufacturing using the Kavian platform and its cutting-edge dry-process printing technology. It is a key building block to a more sustainable future in energy production.
Dry-process battery manufacturing is not only more efficient, but also more environmentally friendly. It eliminates material waste and the need for toxic solvents, and aligns with global efforts to reduce the ecological impact of industry and promote cleaner, greener energy technology.
Moreover, the advantages extend beyond environmental considerations. Printing batteries with dry-process technologies on Kavian solves real-world manufacturing challenges:
- Cuts factory floor space requirements up to 33%
- Reduces utility costs up to 40%
- Improves factory carbon footprints up to 40%
All while enabling precision production at commercial scale with powerful new chemistries and multi-material compositions and innovative designs.
Congressman Panetta, during his visit, seemed impressed by our efforts and recognized the potential for such capabilities in energy transformation. We believe that revolutionizing battery production technology ensures the health of domestic manufacturing. And we know that it opens the door to a whole new future of innovation everywhere.
“Local manufacturing is essential to our nation’s economic growth and self-reliance,” said US Representative Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), who recently visited the Sakuu facility in South San Jose. “In Congress, I’ve worked hard to ensure the federal government is making critical investments in clean energy and domestic manufacturing that create jobs here in California’s 19th Congressional District and help put us on the path toward a sustainable future. It was fantastic to visit Sakuu and see their work to ensure our community is a leader in the country for our transition to clean energy.”
Learn more here.