Battery intelligence platform Voltaiq expands advisory board

California-headquartered Voltaiq, a leading supplier for Enterprise Battery Intelligence (EBI) software has announced additions to its advisory board representing industry leaders from automotive, consumer electronics and battery cell manufacturers. The company says this group of thought leaders from around the world brings together expertise to solve global challenges in understanding and optimising battery behaviour in real-world application settings.

Tal Shoklapper, co-founder and CEO, Voltaiq said: “We are honoured to have such a distinguished group of individuals with diverse backgrounds and accomplishments to help guide Voltaiq. The ‘electrify everything’ revolution is here and there’s no better way to understand the nuances of the full battery ecosystem than to bring together experts, spanning key industries we serve.”

Voltaiq says it is the only enterprise software platform that brings cross-functional teams and battery data together to provide insights and a holistic understanding of batteries in order to accelerate electrification innovations and minimise risk along the way.

Ralph Szygenda, newly appointed Voltaiq Advisory Board member said: “Thinking back to the way computing has infiltrated our lives, the same is going to hold true for electrification. Soon everything we touch will be powered by batteries. Battery development and manufacturing is a multibillion-dollar industry—build them efficiently, the rewards will be grand. Build them incorrectly, and it is going to cost companies a phenomenal amount of money. By bringing together a group of battery experts as advisors, the Voltaiq platform will continue to help companies navigate the complexities of battery production, reduce risk in the process, and foresee possible battery issues, allowing companies to launch products faster and avoid costly recalls.”

The new members of the Voltaiq Advisory Board include:

Carl-Peter Forster, who brings extensive board and management experience from the world’s biggest automotive companies to the Voltaiq Advisory Board. Forster served as General Motors Automotive Strategy Board (ASB) member, CEO and President of General Motors Europe, and as CEO of Tata Motors where he was responsible for Jaguar Land Rover and held various senior management positions at BMW. His last position at BMW was head of Global Manufacturing. He has also held board positions at Volvo Cars, Geely Automotive Holdings, LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company), CEVT and Rolls-Royce. At present, he is the Chairman of the Shareholder Committee at Hella and Chairman of Chemring, a NED at IMI as well as Babcock and serves on the boards of the automotive related small cap/startup companies LeddarTech, Envisics, ClearMotion, Gordon Murray Design, Kinexon and The Mobility House.

Robert Galyen, Chairman of Galyen Energy, has over 40 years of experience in the battery technology and business space. Over more than 20 years at General Motors, he helped to develop the GM Impact electric car concept, and was the former President of Global Cells and Battery Pack Systems at Magna International and Chief Technology Officer at the world’s largest battery manufacturer, Contemporary Amperex Technology Company (CATL). In addition to his board role at Voltaiq, he also serves as Chairman of Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Battery Standards Committee and NAATBatt International as CTO and Chairman Emeritus.

Peter Haeussermann, General Manager of Mitsubishi Electric, brings more than 40 years of expertise in automotive technology development to Voltaiq including 38 years at automotive company Daimler. Haeussermann has also served as an advisor to various OEMs and component suppliers in the automotive business. In addition to his role at Mitsubishi, he is also the Senior Expert at Hanselmann & Compagnie.

Chris Perry, Chief Innovation Officer at Weber Shandwick has served as the communication agency’s lead for the General Motors for over twenty years—and has worked with global brands including PepsiCo, IBM, Novartis and Verizon to modernize marketing and PR functions. He also serves on a number of boards, including First Draft News, a leading non-profit research centre that protects communities from harmful disinformation campaigns.

Richard Spitzer, Founder and Managing Partner at Escavel Capital, a venture capital and private equity investor with deep knowledge of the automotive space. Prior to his role at Escavel, Spitzer served as Global Managing Partner for Automotive Accenture and Senior Partner at A.T. Kearney Automotive.

Dr. V Sumantran, Chairman at strategic advisory firm Celeris Technologies, has over 35 years of global automotive experience specifically spanning the Americas, Europe and India. Sumantran’s background includes serving on the Board of Directors of Tata Motors where he was chief executive of the Car Division. Sumantran was also Vice Chairman of Indian commercial vehicle company Ashok Leyland, Special Advisor to the Leadership of the Renault-Nissan Alliance and is currently on the advisory board for multiple Fortune 500 companies.

Ralph Szygenda, Chairman & CEO, RJS Solutions, is a private investor, consultant, and advisor to corporations, governments, and universities around the world, with more than 50 years of information technology leadership. Szygenda spent two decades at Texas Instruments, where he designed computer systems for defense systems before assuming the role of Chief Information Officer. He also held the role as Group Vice President and Chief Information Officer at General Motors and served on business and advisory boards for UST Global, iRise, Compuware, Covisint, Handleman, Sodalia, Elastic Outreach, NSA, Department of Defense, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Texas, American University, and Missouri School of Science and Technology.

Martin Thall, President of Auto Tech Partners, brings more than 30 years of computing technology expertise in the automotive, telecommunications, and IT industries. In addition to serving as the Executive Vice President of Electronics at Visteon, Thall also held leadership roles at Microsoft including Vice President and General Manager of Automotive and Embedded Operating Systems. Upon his departure from Microsoft, he founded and served as CEO of Vehicle ICT Corporation, consulting with automakers, suppliers and technology companies, and later served as Vice President at Verizon Communications, responsible for telematics service strategy, acquisitions, and integration.

Rick Wagoner, Director at ChargePoint, Excelitas Technologies, Graham Holdings, and Invesco, where he serves as Chairman, had a 32-year career at General Motors where he held senior leadership positions including Chairman and CEO for almost a decade, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and head of worldwide purchasing. He currently serves as an advisor to Jefferies and Riverwood Holdings, and is an investor in and advisor to a number of startups and early stage companies in the auto space.

Kevin Whalen, President of Rohrich Automotive Group, brings more than 40 years of automotive retail experience to the board. Whalen was a founding member of Fortune 500 company Group One Automotive and Ascent Automotive. He also served on the Product Advisory Committee for Toyota and as the Chairman of the National Dealer Council for Lexus.

The new Advisory Board members will join the existing advisors including Dan Steingart, Stanley-Thompson Associate Professor of Chemical Metallurgy at Columbia University and Co-Director of Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center; Luke Wilhelm, former Head of Vehicle Engineering at Uber Elevate; David Park, Vice President of Marketing at PDF Solutions; and Jay Whitacre, Trustee Professor Carnegie Mellon University and Director of the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation.