British battery pack start-up Ionetic has named former Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer as its new chairman, in a move to help accelerate the growth of the company.
Founded in January 2022, Ionetic designed and develops EV battery packs, with a focus on providing them to both large manufacturers and niche vehicle makers that produce fewer than 10,000 vehicles per year. The firm is currently working to sign up clients and planning a “giga-scale” manufacturing plant in the UK.
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Palmer ran Aston Martin from 2014 until 2020, spearheading the firm’s first SUV, the DBX, and the mid-engined Valkyrie hypercar. Before that he spent much of his career at Nissan, rising to the role of Chief Planning Officer and playing a key role in the development and launch of the Leaf and e-NV200 electric vehicles.
Palmer has also served as CEO and chairman of Anglo-Indian electric bus company Switch, and chairman of Slovakian manufacturer InoBat.
Ionetic says that Palmer will use his industry experience to help support the company’s growth as it works towards “multi-GWh battery pack production capacity”.
Palmer said: ““I have witnessed first-hand the need for more cost-effective battery pack solutions that can still meet the performance criteria of automotive OEMs, especially in lower volume. Ionetic is doing just this, and I have great belief that its offering will significantly reduce the challenge and headaches of electrification for OEMs.”
Ionetic co-founder James Eaton added: “Ionetic was founded to support vehicle manufacturers in making the shift to electrification, bringing innovation to the industry to make that transition easier and faster. Andy has demonstrated that same commitment to intelligent innovation throughout his career.”
Ionetic claims that it is developing battery modules with an energy density of around 226Wh per kg, compared to around 160Wh/kg for most packs currently on the market. It also claims that it can reduce the cost of reaching production readiness from around £40 million to as low as £4 million.
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