Keeping Up with Climate Tech vol. 12

Within the Nordic waters where ferries bustle between islands and towns, Magnus Ericsson saw an opportunity. A Swedish Navy veteran who once oversaw submarine construction, Ericsson knew batteries had powered underwater vessels for decades. Why not bring that same electrification to civilian boats?

He first experimented with leisure boats, but quickly realized smaller vessels had too many complications. So instead, he turned to ferries where he came across another issue: the battery systems available on the market weren’t designed for the sea. Most were repurposed from EVs and were neither robust nor marine-safe. He wanted something built for fast charging, high safety, and relentless daily cycling.

That’s where Echandia was born. 

Echandia, coming from the Basque language phrase “etxe handia” (“big house”), seeks to build infrastructure for the green transition. Leveraging lithium titanate oxide (LTO) chemistry, the company built one of the world’s fastest fully electric ferries before deciding to pivot to supplying battery systems for marine use — from commuter ferries and tugboats to roll-on roll-off passenger vessels. 

CEO Törbjorn Ygnwe Back shared more about Echandia’s mission and offerings with the Harvard Undergraduate Technology Review.

Safety as Key

Back says Echandia’s first principle is always safety.

“Our systems are robust and shock-protected,” he said. “The battery management system is custom-built for fast-charging, long lifetime, and stable performance for 10-20 years.”

LTO is superior to Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) or Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries, which degrade with time and operational cycles. LTO, according to Echandia’s website, can handle “30,000 cycles or more” at high depth-of-discharge, and promises decades of usable life.

“After 10 or 15 years, you can still have 90% usable energy,” Back said. “In NMC and LFP chemistries, between the anode and the cathode, you’re building dendrites over time. You don’t build that in the LTO technologies, so you don’t have any risk for short circuits.”

The batteries also have greater thermal stability, so they can resist overheating and fire risk.

Reliability also rests on production. Japanese industrial giant Toshiba, Echandia’s partner, has been producing LTO cells since 2008, with millions of units and a strong quality record. 

“One thing is having good chemistry at the base of our batteries; the other is ensuring production quality,” Torbjörn noted.

Balancing the Tradeoffs

But building world-class maritime batteries isn’t just about chemistry. The common critique of LTO is that it is heavy or expensive, but Echandia pushes back: by requiring less oversizing (i.e. lower buffer margins), their systems can be smaller and lighter in practice compared to alternatives. 

“Product development is always about balancing tradeoffs,” Torbjörn explained. “It’s easy to make something lightweight but fragile, or slim but poorly ventilated. And while anyone can build an excellent system if cost is no object, Echandia must remain price-competitive.”

The company has also had to tackle scaling challenges: moving from small rack systems to large-scale maritime installations introduces far more complexity in electronics and software. 

“What works in a few rack strings may fail in a multi-megawatt system powering a ferry fleet, and it requires a lot of tweaks,” Back said.

Because marine applications often expose systems to vibration, moisture, temperature swings, and stringent safety demands, Echandia must overengineer components: cooling paths, shock protection, multi-layer safety, and fallback modes. Their battery management system (BMS) plays a central role: not just managing charge/discharge, but ensuring redundancy, fault detection, and long-term performance.

Global Compliance & Supply Chain Strategy

The company has recently pushed aggressively into the U.S. market. In July 2024, Echandia opened its first U.S. facility in Marysville, Washington, a 20,000-square-foot plant aimed at domestic assembly and local supply chain compliance. That move is part of a larger momentum: in 2025, Echandia raised 220 million Swedish Krona (around $23 million USD) in a financing round, followed by an additional injection bringing the total to 325 million in Swedish Krona (around $34 million USD) — its largest round of funding yet. This capital will support scaling, U.S. expansion, and R&D. 

The core product on offer remains the same, since vessel operating profiles are similar worldwide. The one thing that changes is certification requirements.

“Some customers want certificates from Lloyd’s or UL instead of DNV, for example,” Back said. “We’ve had to comply with local regulations like Build America/Buy America, or FTA funding requirements, which has meant setting up local supply chains and manufacturing.”

Setting up a supply chain in the US was relatively simple for Echandia, as its strategy has been to import core modules and perform final assembly domestically. 

“Because we still source modules from Japan, it was fairly straightforward to set up this supply chain,” Back said. The process began about a year ago, and now, in September, we’re doing our first production run. The key is not rushing; otherwise mistakes happen.”

Infrastructure & Market Barriers

Even with a perfect battery, ports and terminals must support the charging infrastructure. 

“Port charging is one challenge,” Back conceded. “There is dockside charging in some places. And in San Francisco, they use floating charging stations that rapidly charge the vessel when it docks.”

But arguably a bigger barrier is perception. Many decision-makers assume batteries degrade like phone or car batteries. 

“We need to educate people on the long lifetime of the technology we have,” Back said. “Our batteries can last 10–15 years with high usable capacity, but many decision-makers don’t really realize that you can have a battery system that will give you the same energy on that time horizon.”

Also, procurement cycles in maritime — long lead times, risk aversion, regulation, and capex constraints — slow adoption.

Leadership

Bäck was appointed CEO in 2024 as the company sought to scale globally.

“In the early startup stage, Magnus was the innovator, CEO, and very hands-on,” Back said. “Now, with large-scale production, warehouses, and a global sales team, leadership is about building strong teams, setting clear responsibilities and targets, and aligning everyone around a shared vision.”

In 2024, under Back, the company quadrupled revenue, and it expects to triple again in 2025, driven by international orders for ferries and roll-on/roll-off passenger vehicle conversions.

Ericsson still plays an active role, focusing on new technology and product enhancements, while Back describes his focus as more on scaling operations.

The Path Forward

From that global perch, Echandia is watching multiple forces converge. 

“Regulation sets the pace in many sectors,” Torbjörn said, pointing to Europe’s strict emissions rules and the International Maritime Organization’s global standards.

India, Back said, is a market the company is excited to increase its presence in because of how committed the Modi government appears to being a green maritime nation.

“Singapore is another one, which is very soon going to have a carbon-neutral harbor,” he added.

By contrast, the U.S. administration has been less aligned with the IMO, leaving questions about whether regulation there will accelerate or slow progress.

Policy tailwinds aren’t just abstract. In 2024, Echandia secured its largest contract to date: supplying battery systems for the conversion of two roll-on roll-off passenger ferries, a project explicitly tied to EU climate and maritime funding frameworks. 

In India, the company partnered with Siemens to deliver systems for what will become the world’s largest fleet of electric ferries in Kochi, consisting of 78 vessels in total. 

And in the U.S., Echandia is part of San Francisco’s REEF (Rapid Electric Emission Free) Ferry program, with deliveries planned for 2026.

Technology advances are also reshaping the economic considerations behind LTO adoption. 

“Cell and battery tech is evolving quickly thanks to EV demand,” Back said. “There is now higher energy density and lower costs. In maritime, we are seeing up to 60-70% cost reduction in the past three or four years.”

Echandia says its LTO technology is key in contributing to these cost reductions. 

“On deep-sea vessels we can show five to ten percent fuel savings, which delivers payback in one to two years,” Torbjörn said. “That sort of economic case often drives adoption faster than regulation, and we’re really eager to see how adoption speeds up soon.”