Ex-GM exec leading EV battery startup’s pivot to defense industry

An Arizona-based battery startup led by a former General Motors executive is moving from making products for all-electric vehicles to making products for the aerospace and defense industries amid the war in Iran and growing demand for U.S. drones by the Trump administration.

Sion Power expects to commercialize high-energy lithium-metal battery cells for drones and other defense-related products later this year after focusing on the development of all-electric vehicles for much of the past decade, according to CEO Pamela Fletcher.

“We’re targeting to commercialize this technology,” Fletcher told CNBC exclusively. “We had hoped, and thought, that would be in automotive, and I think that possibility still exists, but the faster path, and frankly, a big need, is out there in this defense space.”

The decision is a unique example of how companies that bet on the unrealized adoption of all-electric vehicles are pivoting to different segments. Other companies have moved to the stationary storage and aerospace sectors to utilize unused battery production capacity for EVs.

Automakers in the U.S. have significantly pulled back from pure EVs and taken billions of dollars in write-downs following slower-than-expected adoption of the vehicles and changes by the Trump administration to incentives that supported them.

Sion Power’s planned “Licerion HE” lithium-metal battery cells will support both primary, or single-discharge, and secondary, or rechargeable, battery applications, according to the company.

The battery cells are designed for next-generation drones, autonomous systems and other mission-critical platforms that require maximum energy in the smallest, lightest possible footprint, according to Fletcher.

“Lithium-metal technology, which is what we developed, has high gravimetric energy, which means it’s a lot of energy in a lightweight pack,” said Fletcher, who began leading the company in 2024. “It works really well for things that fly.”

Fletcher said Sion Power’s lithium-metal cells are engineered to deliver energy densities exceeding 500 watt-hour per kilogram, compared with approximately 300-350 Wh/kg for today’s most advanced lithium-ion technology.

Such batteries can power drones or missiles as well as their on-board systems such as cameras, sensors and processors for combat, surveillance and other needs.  

Sion Power has a 110,000-square-foot facility in Tucson, Arizona, with pilot manufacturing capabilities. Fletcher said it’s currently producing Licerion HE cells for defense applications and converting its production cell line from automotive battery cells to defense products, which are smaller.

The company will continue to develop cells for other segments, such as EVs, but its main focus and growth…