Factorial, the start-up, said the listing would provide money that would help it bring new solid-state batteries to market as soon as 2027.
Factorial Energy, which is developing advanced batteries for Mercedes-Benz and other carmakers that can store more energy than devices in use now do, said Thursday that it planned to list shares on the stock exchange next year.
The transaction would value Factorial at $1.1 billion and initially provide $100 million in capital the company can use to make batteries. The batteries could be in cars as soon as 2027, Siyu Huang, the company’s chief executive, said in an interview Thursday.
“This is an inflection point in the company’s commercialization,” she said. The shares will begin trading around the middle of 2026, Factorial said.
The company is developing solid-state batteries that do not require the flammable electrolyte found in most electric vehicles today and that weigh significantly less. Such batteries can charge faster and can help electric cars travel as far on a full charge as conventional vehicles running on gasoline. But there are significant challenges in producing the batteries in large numbers.
Factorial will merge with Cartesian Growth Corporation III, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. Merging with such companies avoids some of the regulatory scrutiny and cost of a conventional initial public offering.
SPACs are shell corporations that list on a stock exchange, with the goal of buying a private business and taking it public. Once popular, these firms have become less common after a number of spectacular failures.
This year Mercedes-Benz installed a Factorial battery in a test car that could travel almost 750 miles on a charge. It was apparently the first successful test of solid-state technology in a production vehicle, at least outside of China.
Next year, Factorial plans to install its batteries in test vehicles made by Stellantis, another partner. Stellantis owns Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Fiat and Peugeot. The batteries will probably be available first in high-performance and luxury vehicles like the Dodge Charger Daytona, Ms. Huang said, before moving to more affordable, mass market cars.
Factorial is also working with Hyundai and its sister company, Kia.
Two of Factorial’s main competitors, QuantumScape and Solid Power, listed shares with the help of SPACs several years ago. Their stocks are trading at prices well below their highs after solid-state technology proved difficult to mass produce.
Ms. Huang said she was not discouraged by a slowdown in sales of electric vehicles in the United States, and plans by companies like Ford Motor to shift some of their investments from electric vehicles to hybrid and gasoline models.
U.S. consumers have been hesitant to buy electric vehicles because “the existing battery is not big enough and it’s not light enough, it’s not efficient enough,” Ms. Huang said. “There needs to be a next generation to address the issues that our U.S. consumers are facing.”
Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. advised Factorial on the deal.
