Battery Matters

Episódios

• Episode #1 Q2 - The race is on | Guest Sebastian Wolf 09.06.2026 57min

  The battery industry just had one of its most turbulent and telling quarters in years. Lithium prices nearly doubled. The EU fired its biggest policy shot yet at Chinese dominance. Solid-state batteries moved from lab to pilot line. And yet — in the US — some of the most promising battery startups quietly shut their doors. So what does it actually take to win in this industry right now? To launch Battery Matters, we sit down with someone who has lived that question from the inside. Sebastian Wolf spent years as COO at PowerCo, the Volkswagen Group's battery company — one of Europe's most ambitious gigafactory programmes. Now, he has founded WLF Energy, his own venture built around a clear conviction: that scaling batteries in the West is still possible — but only if you do it smarter. Together Lauren Allanson of the Volta Foundation and Christoph Lienemann of Battery-News.com unpack the three defining stories of Q1 2026, look ahead at what the next three months hold for the battery sector, and ask Sebastian the questions that matter most for anyone building, funding, or betting on batteries right now.