Mana Battery hires industry veteran Morgenstern

BROOMFIELD — Mana Battery Inc., a Broomfield-based battery-technology company, has hired industry veteran Frederik Morgenstern as vice president of cell engineering.

Morgenstern brings more than 15 years of experience taking battery technology from the laboratory to production, most recently serving as senior technology and innovation lead for batteries at BMW North America.

Since 2022, he has run BMW’s North American battery partnership portfolio from Mountain View, California, including more than 30 active projects with startups and national labs.

Morgenstern holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Cambridge and a master’s in physics from LMU Munich.

“Frederik has done what few people in this industry have: taken a new cell from a blank page to a global automaker’s production line,” Mana Battery CEO Tyler Evans said in a written statement.

Evans said Morgenstern’s experience with original equipment manufacturers and cell suppliers will help the company accelerate commercialization of its technology.

“Over the past decade, the U.S. has poured talent and capital into battery innovation. But a great idea alone won’t beat China,” Morgenstern said in a written statement. “You have to deliver it at a cost that matches the biggest players. Mana is on the verge of doing that. Its sodium-ion cells outperform LFP on energy density, cold-weather performance and charging speed, at a projected price below today’s cost leader. That mix of innovation and cost leadership is why I joined.”

Mana Battery spun out of the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023. The company develops high-energy sodium-ion batteries on a proprietary electrolyte platform and proprietary anode-free cell architecture. Targeted industries include defense, grid energy storage, data center and electric vehicle applications.

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