What are the major challenges battery technologies face in the coming 5 to 10 years?

My answer to the question will be pretty simple. We have only one challenge, which is cost. So we can live with the current energy density. We can live with the current performance, but we cannot do is expect to have a massive increase in the electrification of our society with the current costs, we have a product and we need to be able to develop new technologies that are going to bring significantly down the current cost of the product.
We need to be able to develop new technologies that are gonna bring significantly down the current cost of the product. So my forecast and my expectation is that we are capable of getting above 70% market share of electric cars in the year 2030. And for that to happen, we need to be successful in making a much more cost competitive product.

What technological alternative to conventional lithium do you see as the most promising for the future of energy storage?

There is no real alternative... One of the key lessons learned we need to have in all our industries is that we are not making product first. We always need to keep in mind the customer. So where is the customer expectation? And right now, the only way to get anywhere close to this customer expectation is lithium based batteries. So is not because there are other technologies that are existing and available that are going to be accepted by the end customer. So, so far, no key alternative to lithium.

Do you think we will meet the target set by the European Commission to reach zero emissions by 2050?

My expectation is that we´re going to get there much earlier than 2050 for a very simple reason. Industry in general needs a cap, needs a framework. We do have the framework, and now people and companies are never going to stay in between. Either you go or you don´t go, because if you stay in between, you generate additional costs, it´s more complex to manage... Unlikely happening in the car industry now, I mean, everybody understood that we are going to 100% electric and then there´s no more investment in combustion engines... So we are going to get 100% electric and zero carbon much earlier than 2050.

What would you say are the strengths of CIC energiGUNE as a research center?

Well, when I came here first was very striking is is the quality of of the scientist. They have a tremendous amount of expertise; there are people that are extremely motivated and passioned with what they are doing; very international environment, so is a fantastic place for those that want to change the world. And we need to be creative. We need to keep researching new ways of manufacturing technology, new materials, all of this with the objective of of creating more and more competitive products. And what is done here is fundamental to get there.

How would you encourage young people to go for a career in the energy storage sector?

Well in in this specific case, as I said before, we are we are engage as a humanity in a number of key challenges. So we all understand after so many years of people researching, that the we are warming the planet much more than we should. We need to maintain the same way of living, the same quality of life that we had until now as species in the planet. So we need to find a solution for that. And the younger generations, they understood that much better than than mine, for example. So the motivation needs to be.. you need to make a clear impact in how humanity is going to be living the planet in the future. So we need all of this brain power, all of this creativity, all of this energy and motivation of young generations to develop new technologies and find new solutions to limit the footprint of humans in the planet.