LionVolt’s lithium-metal cells pass UN certification and initial product now shipping to evaluation customers

5 minutes | 26 May 2026

Today, Lionvolt announced that its cells have passed UN 38.3 transport certification and are now shipping to cell-evaluation customers from its facility.

LionVolt’s lithium-metal cells have passed UN 38.3 transport certification, the regulatory bar every battery must clear before deployment. 

The company’s initial product offering is now shipping from Thurso, Scotland to customers, ahead of full commercial availability later in 2026. 

The milestone gives Europe a sovereign source of high-energy lithium-metal cells, available now for sample and evaluation. 

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Eindhoven, Netherlands, May 26, 2026 — LionVolt, the European battery technology company developing next-generation lithium-metal cells based on its proprietary 3D anode technology, today announced that its cells have passed UN 38.3 transport certification and are now shipping to cell-evaluation customers from its facility. The shipments mark the start of LionVolt’s initial product offering placed with selected customers, ahead of general commercial availability planned for later in 2026. 

Conventional lithium-ion has hit a hard performance ceiling. Every gram of battery weight is a gram taken from payload. Every kilowatt-hour saved is more time on mission. At the same time high energy-density cells are placed on export control lists, exposing every Western drone, aviation, and defence programme that depends on foreign supply. 

LionVolt closes both gaps. The company’s proprietary 3D anode architecture delivers over 50 to 100% more energy density than conventional lithium-ion, with a faster charge capability and a supply chain LionVolt controls end-to-end. Performance figures include in excess of 400 Wh/kg energy density and competitive discharge rate; numbers that conventional lithium-ion cannot reach. 

A step change in performance and secure supply chain sovereignty  

For drone, UAV, and aviation manufacturers working with LionVolt’s cell evaluation program, the immediate benefits are:

More flight time, more payload, faster turnaround without changing airframe design. 

A certified cell that can be transported, integrated, and tested under standard procurement and logistics processes. 

A European-controlled supply chain that meets defence procurement requirements and is insulated from foreign export-control risk. 


Kevin Brundish, CEO of LionVolt says:

“This is the moment LionVolt becomes a supplier. UN certification clears the regulatory path, and the first cells leaving Thurso put real product into customers’ hands. We’re treating this as our initial product offering — built for evaluation programmes with the customers who will define what comes next. For Europe, it means there is now a certified, high-performance cell with a European supply chain — built here, controlled here, shipping today.”


 

Founder and CTO Sandeep Unnikrishnan continues:

“We set out to break the energy-density ceiling of conventional lithium-ion and delivery high rate capability. These UN 38.3 certified high energy density Lithium metal cells off our production line that can be discharged within 10 minutes prove exactly that. We are glad that our next-gen architecture, the engineered materials, the cell design, and the manufacturing process yield consistent quality at production scale, and can enable energy densities of beyond 400 Wh/kg. After years of work from the team in Eindhoven and Thurso, I could not be prouder of what we are putting into customers’ hands.”

About LionVolt
proprietary 3D anode architecture delivers over 50 to 100% more energy density than conventional lithium-ion, with fast charging and high power delivery. Currently applied in lithium-ion cells, the architecture is designed to scale across sodium-ion and solid-state chemistries. LionVolt initially targets the drone and UAV market, where energy density and supply chain independence are critical. With over 50 employees across the High Tech Campus and Brainport Industries Campus in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and its manufacturing facility in Thurso, Scotland, LionVolt is scaling from pilot production to commercial supply. 

Request a sample
Drone, UAV, and aviation manufacturers can request evaluation cells from LionVolt’s initial product offering at www.lionvolt.com. Full commercial availability follows in Q4 2026.

 

Press contact: Merlijn Linschooten – press@lionvolt.com