An Australian battery materials start-up is accelerating into production to drive more energy-efficient electric vehicles.
The United States is bankrolling manufacturing as part of its clean energy push, including commercially ready technology it can lure into its domestic supply chain from close allies.
"Doing what we're doing is not easy, but there's no better time to be doing this," Sicona Battery Technologies CEO and co-founder Christiaan Jordaan told AAP.
The US Inflation Reduction Act provides generous tax breaks to like-minded manufacturers who want to operate there.
"Even the purchase of electric vehicles is incentivised and gets a credit if a certain percentage of materials is procured from free trade countries, which includes Australia," he said.
But the production tax credits take it a step further, and Australian innovators are starting to cash in.
Private investors are backing Sicona's new plant in the south-east of the US. It will supply automakers with battery materials that, because they're locally produced, qualify for special tax treatment.
"Our customers have incentives for a pure material supply from local manufacturers that are not linked to countries of concern like China," Mr Jordaan said.
Sicona's business ideas have been incubated at an accelerator program at the University of Wollongong, which has a tradition of ringing a big brass bell in the corridor when there's good news to share.
Mr Jordaan rang the bell earlier this month when the company raised $22 million to set up in the United States.
Sicona's core product is silicon-based technology that could supercharge the energy storage potential of lithium batteries.
"You can charge the battery faster without safety issues," he explained.
"You can reduce the up-front costs significantly, or you can use the same number of cells and therefore increase the range."
The start-up's backers include Australian venture capital investor Artesian, Indian company Himadri Speciality Chemical, and an electrification fund managed by alternative investment management firm Waratah Capital.
"What I want to see is Australia dial up its ambition and willingness to take risks," the entrepreneur said.
"We're absolutely the lucky country but let's not get too comfortable. The world's getting a fair bit warmer."
He said it's been very hard to get Australian investors, and Artesian deserves kudos for backing the start-up "from the get-go".
But he says they had no trouble attracting passionate battery scientists and chemical engineers.
"We're finding some really passionate brilliant scientists within our university systems. It's brilliant," Mr Jordaan said.
Still, Australia should do more onshore and could very easily implement a tax credit scheme similar to the US, he said.
"We've got the skills, we've got the technical ability, we've got land, cheap electricity," he said.
He said capital was still flowing from the traditional wealth of iron ore, coal and gas.
"We should use that towards the future and become a superpower in energy storage and the whole supply chain ... not just shipping rocks offshore."
