Fastmarkets is pleased to announce that Kurt Kelty, Vice President of Battery, Propulsion, and Sustainability at General Motors, will join Battery & Energy Storage 2026 in Las Vegas this June.

Kurt will take part in the fireside chat, The OEM View: Technology, Performance & the Future of ESS Batteries, taking place on Thursday, June 25, on the Battery and Energy Storage Stage.

As energy storage moves from pilot projects to large-scale infrastructure, OEM perspectives are becoming increasingly important. Cost, chemistry, availability, safety, warranty structures and long-term performance guarantees are now central to how developers, utilities, financiers and technology providers evaluate battery supply.

This session will explore how OEMs are approaching the next phase of ESS battery development, from cost compression and production constraints to evolving chemistry choices across LFP, sodium-ion, LNMO and NMC. It will also examine how manufacturers are thinking about safety engineering, UL and NFPA standards, degradation guarantees, merchant risk and the changing expectations placed on battery suppliers.

With experience across battery technology, propulsion and sustainability, Kurt Kelty brings a critical perspective on how major automotive and battery supply chain players are adapting to a market where batteries are no longer defined by vehicles alone.

His session will form part of the Battery & Energy Storage 2026 program, which brings together battery manufacturers, BESS integrators, utilities, developers, investors, policymakers and technology providers to address the commercial, technical and regulatory realities of deploying energy storage at scale.

Co-located with Fastmarkets Global Lithium, Battery & Critical Materials, Battery & Energy Storage 2026 connects downstream deployment with the upstream materials, manufacturing and finance communities shaping the future of battery demand.

2026 Programme

All industry speakers

The full week in Las Vegas

Three events. One supply chain. One week.

Battery & Energy Storage 2026 runs co-located June 23 to 25 and is included in your main event ticket. Defense & Aerospace Strategic Materials 2026 runs June 23 alongside the main programme. All events share the same venue, exhibition floor and evening receptions.

 

Flagship event

June 22 to 25, 2026

Four days covering the full battery raw materials and critical minerals supply chain. Lithium market outlook, DLE commercialisation, graphite and anode policy, rare earths, project finance, and the growing role of energy storage as a demand driver. All in one room.

✓  Includes Battery & Energy Storage 2026

Register

 

Co-located

June 23 to 25, 2026

A dedicated programme for grid-scale energy storage buyers, developers and financiers. Sessions cover project bankability, grid integration, AI and data center power demand, chemistry selection, and US policy, with the upstream supply chain exhibiting on the same floor all week.

✓  Included in main ticket

Find out more

 

One-day stream

June 23, 2026

A focused one-day programme on the critical and strategic materials underpinning defense and aerospace supply chains. Rare earths, supply chain security, mineral sovereignty and the materials driving next-generation defense programs.

➝  Standalone or add-on

Coming soon...