#277 The Battery That Lost the EV Race but Could Save the Grid | Antonio Baclig (Inlyte Energy)

00:00 – Intro: Recording in-person at 9Zero in San Francisco.02:45 – Antonio’s Background: From Stanford PhD to Flow Batteries.06:00 – The History: What is the "Zebra Battery" and why did it fail in EVs?10:15 – The Chemistry: How Sodium, Iron, and Salt work together.12:30 – The Economics: Why $1/kWh material cost changes everything.17:00 – Safety First: No thermal runaway and safer than Lithium-Ion.22:00 – Manufacturing Strategy: Leveraging existing UK talent and factories.28:00 – The "Bankability" Challenge: Proving a "new" old technology.34:00 – Commercialization: Who buys these batteries? (Utilities vs Developers).41:00 – The Grid Reality: Why "Non-Wires Alternatives" are the immediate market.46:00 – Founder Advice: How to hire A-players for a hardware startup. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit climatecowboys.substack.com/subscribe