RENO, Nev. (AP) — Lithium-ion batteries are not exotic, complicated or big.
But if Tesla Motors locates a "gigafactory" here, the lipstick-sized batteries could change Reno's whole universe.
An announcement isn't expected for months about which among five states would ultimately land the electric car-maker's battery factory, though Tesla is expected to start breaking ground on two or three spots this summer.
If northern Nevada ultimately wins the factory, the region will need a crash course in "li-ions," (pronounced "lie-ions") as they are known. Reno already has some experts.
Before Tesla was a gleam in Reno's eye, Denis Phareswas planning to make lithium-ion batteries here.
Phares formed Dragonfly Energy in 2012 and was joined soon after by partners Justin Ferranto and Sean Nichols. He's a former USC instructor and current executive MBA student at University of Nevada, Reno. The partners have picked up several business-competition wins and will head to the Cleantech Open finals in October.
Right now, Dragonfly, which pays some of the rent as a middleman for selling China-made batteries online, is aiming for big-money backers to fund research into making lithium-ion batteries faster, cheaper and easier — and here.
"It's the highest energy and power density combined of any energy-storage medium," Phares said. Li-ions are also safer and longer-lasting than conventional batteries. That's why Tesla uses them and wants more.
Dragonfly's west Reno lab is strewn with battery parts, tools and tables. They're developing streamlined methods to build their own lithium-ion batteries in Nevada — not specifically to power electric cars, but for electric power grid applications and as replacement batteries for lead-acid models currently used elsewhere.
Dragonfly has a patent pending for their more efficient battery-making system.
"The goal is to bring manufacturing back home," Phares said.
