Type One Energy Raises $200 Million as Battery Startups Advance Storage Projects

In batteries, WeLion New Energy is developing semi-solid-state cells that use a part-liquid, part-solid electrolyte, according to MIT Technology Review. The Beijing-based company, founded in 2016, released a battery pack with Nio in 2023 with an energy density of 360 watt-hours per kilogram, enough for more than 1,000 kilometers of range, but only about 200 packs were manufactured because of high production costs. WeLion says Nio still uses them. A subsidiary has built batteries for cargo ships and ferries. In 2025, WeLion engineers made a semi-solid-state battery that reached 824 Wh/kg in testing, more than three times a standard lithium-ion battery, but the company declined to provide more details and said the prototype is far from commercialization. Key details such as charge-discharge cycles and capacity degradation remain unclear. WeLion plans a drone battery with 410 Wh/kg by the end of this year, a first all-solid-state car battery in 2027 at 400 Wh/kg, and two inland cargo ships powered by its batteries are expected to launch in October 2026 in Huzhou, each with a pack carrying nearly 4,000 kilowatt-hours for up to 250 kilometers. It has 11 GWh of annual capacity across four Chinese production bases and is building two more plants with a combined 18 GWh.

Moment Energy, a Vancouver-based company founded in 2019, repurposes used electric vehicle batteries into grid-connected storage systems housed in 20- or 40-foot steel containers, MIT Technology Review reported. The company’s four founders met while studying mechatronics engineering and later worked at companies including Tesla and Apple. After tornadoes hit Ottawa in 2018, they began disassembling Nissan Leaf batteries in a British Columbia garage. Moment has deployed 11 systems, first for off-grid homes and more recently for grid-connected hospitals, airports, and commercial and industrial facilities. It sources used batteries from about 20 car companies, including Nissan and Mercedes-Benz, screens cells with AI models, and recycles unsuitable cells. Moment says its systems cost under $90 per kilowatt-hour, while average energy-storage battery costs reached $70 per kilowatt-hour in early 2026. It claims to be the only second-life battery company to receive key UL certifications. The company will soon be able to classify its repurposed batteries as domestic products in Canada and the US, where it is building its next plant.

Form Energy, based in Somerville, Massachusetts, is building iron-air batteries designed to store energy for 100 hours using a process it calls reversible rusting, according to MIT Technology Review. The company, founded in 2017, began producing batteries at its West Virginia factory for a 150 megawatt-hour system with Minnesota electricity provider Great River Energy, set to come online in 2027. It also signed a project with Xcel Energy in which wind and solar power backed by 30 gigawatt-hours of Form batteries will power a new Google data center, with phases expected between 2028 and 2031. Form declined to share current costs but aims for $20 per kilowatt-hour. Its existing production capacity is 2 gigawatt-hours per year, a fraction of the 80 gigawatt-hours promised through commercial agreements. The batteries require an acre for every two to three megawatts, meaning the Google installation would take at least 75 football fields. New financing announced in August brings total money raised, plus state and federal grants, to more than $2 billion.

Energy Dome, a Milan-based company founded in 2020, uses compressed carbon dioxide in large grid batteries that can deliver power for up to 24 hours, MIT Technology Review reported. Its first commercial plant opened in Sardinia, Italy, in 2025 with 200 megawatt-hours of capacity, enough to power about 18,000 Italian homes for 10 hours. The system compresses carbon dioxide into liquid using excess renewable power, stores heat in a proprietary thermal material, and later releases the gas through a turbine. Energy Dome says its technology is roughly 10% to 15% cheaper than lithium-ion batteries for an eight-hour system and better for longer durations, though its roundtrip efficiency is about 70%, compared with roughly 90% for lithium-ion. The company has about 30 gigawatt-hours of projects in development and signed a deal with Google in June 2026 to build a 200 MWh plant in Ireland, expected online in 2028. It also offers a version paired with natural gas turbines, which improves efficiency but produces greenhouse gas emissions.