The Travails of Three Battery Startups Reflect the Industry’s Woes

In May, a worker at the San Leandro, Calif., laboratory of next-generation battery developer Cuberg accidentally spilled alcohol solvent on a pile of scrap lithium metal. A fire broke out, reaching the ceiling, and now-molten lithium burned a 5-inch crater in the floor. Overhead sprinklers sent a spray of water over the interior of the facility, triggering secondary fires in other lithium stores.