James Akridge

James Akridge, a renowned expert for lithium-ion and a battery industry veteran, brings 40+ years of experience in battery development, manufacturing, and management to EnPower’s Advanced Technology Group.

Mr. Akridge is the former CEO of Valence Technology (2006-2008), a public company traded on NASDAQ (VLNC). Valence manufactured rechargeable cells and battery packs for Segway and other customers. Production was in Suzhou, China, R&D in Las Vegas, NV and headquarters in Austin, TX.

From 1999-2006, Mr. Akridge served as Vice President and Treasurer for Sion Power Corporation in Tucson, AZ, who was developing a rechargeable Lithium metal/Sulfur battery.

Mr. Akridge spent 20 years at ENERGIZER (Eveready Battery Company) in Cleveland, OH, moving from the lab bench to management and finally to Senior Director of Technology by 1996. During his tenure, Mr. Akridge managed the general exploratory research group, researched miniature battery technology, took Ultimate Lithium primary AA and AAA Lithium metal/ pyrite battery development to full production, developed Lithium Ion 18650 for Gainesville, FL production facility and built the manufacturing plant, redesigned Carbon/Zinc cell with the group in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, U.K. and installed a redesign specification globally for Energizer. The last three years of his tenure were spent searching the globe for new battery technology and reporting to the most senior levels of management making recommendations for the development of new products.

Currently, Mr. Akridge is the President of JRA Advisors, LLC, a global consulting company for battery technology and applications.

Mr. Akridge has written scores of publications, several patents and many public scientific presentations from mid 1970’s to current. His last presentation was at LBIS 2019 in Shenzhen, China (www.LBIS.net), where Mr. Akridge presented on Solid State Batteries.

1978 Ph. D. University of California Santa Barbara, CA in Chemistry. Dissertation subject was sodium ion conducting solid electrolyte beta-alumina for application in liquid sodium metal/Sulfur rechargeable batteries.

1976-1977 NATO Exchange of Scientists recipient at Domaine University of Grenoble, France where studies continued on solid state electrolytes for oxygen sensing and battery applications.

1978-1979 University of Colorado Boulder, CO for Post Doctoral research on X-ray crystallography of solid electrolytes; Dr. Seymour