Upcell Alliance proudly hosted the inaugural Upcell North America event on October 24th, 2025, at the University of Nevada, Reno. This landmark in-person gathering brought together the leaders, innovators, and decision-makers shaping the future of battery manufacturing across North America.
Set in one of the country’s most dynamic regions for clean energy and advanced manufacturing, the event highlighted the opportunities and challenges of scaling up battery production, fostering innovation and industrialization.
Highlights
On October 24th, a full roster of presentations were featured:
– Abby Varas, Noth America Advisory Manager at OCO Global, provided a comprehensive market-overview of the battery
– Company presentations of Charles Ross & Son Company and strategic presentations were introduced by Forge Nano, Saft, and 24M on industrialization, manufacturing leadership and innovation.
– Dr. Denis Phares, CEO of Dragonfly Energy, explored how non-flammable chemistries and dry-electrode processes are redefining U.S. battery manufacturing.
– Giacomo Del Panta, Chief Customer Officer at Comau and President of ‘Together’ officially introduced ‘Together’ the open consortium built to accelerate the global deployment of battery gigafactories. ‘Together’ unites a network of industrial partners across the battery value chain, from cell manufacturing to pack assembly, process equipment optimization and recycling, to deliver complete and adaptable turnkey solutions to battery manufacturers around the world.
– John Kem, President of American Battery Factory, provided insights into next-generation U.S.-based LFP cell manufacturing.
– Pascual Esperón, Application Engineer Manager at Fisair discussed application-engineering solutions for lithium batteries.
– A high-level panel on “International Collaboration Through Consortium Building” featuring experts from Upcell, Comau, Jacobs, Honeywell, and Blue Solutions.
Finally, attendees enjoyed a site visit to the cell to pack Dragonfly Energy facility followed by a networking BBQ, allowing for hands-on insights and informal dialogue.
Why this matters and next steps
The battery-manufacturing sector is at a pivotal juncture in North America: scaling up production, driving down cost, securing supply chains, and competing globally.
The Upcell event highlights the importance of industrialization, cross-sector collaboration, and global partnerships. Attendees left with:
• A clearer view of market trends and project-trajectories;
• New connections across industrial, academic and government stakeholders;
• A reinvigorated sense of the urgency and opportunity in battery value-chains.
As Upcell enters its next phase of activity in North America, the insights, network links and partnerships initiated during this event will be leveraged for consortium-building, project launches and regional manufacturing initiatives. We encourage attendees to stay connected through our LinkedIn community and to engage with upcoming Upcell working-groups and collaborations.
A big thank you to all presenters, sponsors and participants for making this launch a success, we look forward to building on this momentum, together!
Media contact
Secretary General
nina.carretero@upcell.org
