U.S. lithium-ion cell maker EnPower and UK anode developer Echion Technologies have signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop and manufacture advanced battery cells for the North American industrial robotics market, the companies said August 11. The deal establishes EnPower as a North American manufacturing partner for Echion's XNO niobium-based active material, with cells purpose-built for automated guided vehicles, industrial robots including humanoid systems, and AI data-center power buffering.
XNO Meets EnPower's Indianapolis Line
Echion's XNO chemistry is designed to charge in minutes, deliver symmetric high-rate charge and discharge over tens of thousands of cycles, operate across a wide temperature range and avoid the lithium plating that limits fast charging in conventional cells. EnPower plans to run the material at its Indianapolis facility, pairing XNO with the company's integrated ceramic separator technology for better heat dissipation, thermal stability and cell-level safety as robots operate at higher power in close proximity to people.
Positioning For A Bifurcated Robotics Supply Chain
The MoU lands as Washington moves to secure the robotics supply chain. In late July 2026 the Federal Communications Commission added foreign-made humanoid, quadruped and other mobile robots, along with connected power inverters, to its Covered List of equipment deemed to pose an unacceptable national-security risk, a step widely described as targeting China. That action followed earlier federal measures against Chinese-made drones and restrictions on Chinese-manufactured batteries under the National Defense Authorization Act, coverage of which appears in TRM's FCC Covered List story.
"EnPower is building up battery manufacturing to unleash American autonomy," Adrian Yao, EnPower Founder and CEO, said in the announcement, framing the company as "right-sized to manufacture high-performance batteries purpose-built to serve these emerging critical technologies." Jean de la Verpillière, Echion Co-founder and CEO, said the U.S. market's shift to domestic production makes a North American XNO manufacturing base "a decisive advantage."
From Robots To AI Data-Center Load Buffering
Industrial robots live and die by uptime, and every minute AGVs, autonomous mobile robots and emerging humanoids spend on charging is lost productivity. The partners say the initial industrial-robotics focus will extend to heavy industrial vehicles, industrial hybrids and high-power storage for AI data-center load buffering, with specific programs formalized under separate agreements as they mature. The move mirrors broader U.S. industrial-battery deals covered by TRM, from Cummins' largest-ever BESS deal for a U.S. AI data center to CATL's direct LFP push.
Reporting based on coverage from PRNewswire, RoboticsTomorrow and North American Clean Energy.