Producing a safer, more reliable battery — in Henderson

By J. Patrick Coolican

Monday, Feb. 22, 2010 | 2 a.m.

Some smart engineers led by a Ph.D. get together to design the next generation of batteries, which will transform everything from wheelchairs to cars to the electric grid. And, they’re doing it in Henderson.

Yeah, go ahead and read that again.

You haven’t heard of it yet, but soon enough it could be the breakthrough company Nevadans have been begging for.

It is K2 Energy, and at the moment it’s a welcome salve from all the bad news of the Nevada economy.

K2 started in 2006 with four employees; it now has 32 and expects $5 million in revenue this year.

CEO Johnnie Stoker calls the company “a bunch of engineering nerds and accountants.” He had been in the valley working for Valence Technology, another next-generation battery maker that has a research-and-development center here.

If K2 prospers, it could help Southern Nevada become a next-gen battery cluster. Economists say clusters are important for a regional economy because success breeds further success. Once a few companies settle in one place — such as computer innovators in Silicon Valley — others follow because it’s where the talent, investors and government and foundation money call home.

And, if only through sheer luck, it’s apparently not inconceivable that this could happen here.

For the purposes of electric cars, lead acid batteries, like the ones in conventional cars, are too big and heavy while not being powerful enough. And, as you might guess from the name, they’re not environmentally friendly.

K2 develops a lithium iron phosphate battery that is longer lasting, lighter and safer. Stoker says the company is close to winning big contracts to provide batteries for scooters and wheelchairs and the like, which would mean hundreds of thousands of units per year.

Another potential use: Larger units that would store energy to help stabilize the electrical grid, which is becoming more important as Nevada relies more on renewable energy and the irregularities of sun and wind power.

Right now, K2 has formed a partnership to manufacture its units in Finland, but as Stoker says, “At some point, we’re building a factory here.”

One big advantage for Nevada: K2’s manufacturing process requires zero water.

The company has a few hurdles, particularly in the realm of government affairs. Stoker says he feels shut out of the government-subsidy world, which tends to be dominated by larger companies. Compliance with safety regulations is expensive and unfair because the company’s batteries do not have the risk of “explosive events” — engineer talk for explosions — that other batteries do and so should be judged differently, he says.

“We’re not good at this politics stuff,” Stoker says sheepishly.

But they’re learning, apparently.

They had Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., in for a tour last week and lobbied her on their issues.

Her staff took notes.

“We just want to make batteries,” Stoker says.