Industry Veteran Tobias Hüppe Joins Skeleton to Enhance Manufacturing

Skeleton Technologies has announced the addition of former Northvolt Senior Director of Manufacturing Tobias Hüppe. With his extensive experience in the battery industry, he will be steering Skeleton’s manufacturing expansion as the new Chief Operations Officer (COO).  

Tobias Hüppe comes to Skeleton Technologies with a rich background in scaling battery manufacturing and establishing gigafactories, notably as a core team member and leading manufacturing executive at Northvolt. His career also spans significant roles in the automotive industry with Faurecia, Webasto, and Edscha. Starting as a Lean Manufacturing Coordinator, he advanced through various positions including Production Control & Logistics Manager, culminating in a role as Plant Manager.

“I am very excited to join the Skeleton Technologies’ team to accelerate domestic production of energy storage that is also innovative, has unique selling points on a global level and reduces Europe’s dependencies on critical raw materials sourced from elsewhere,” said Hüppe.  “Skeleton’s progress in their patented raw material, high-performing cells and industry-specific modules is impressive. I look forward to leveraging my experience to advance the manufacturing of these ground-breaking technologies.”

Skeleton’s former COO Dr Linus Froböse steps into the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) role to use his extensive R&D background to fast-track technology and product development. He will also take the key role in expanding the production of Curved Graphene, Skeleton’s proprietary carbon material that allows the company's products to reach unprecedented levels of performance while not relying on toxic metals. 

“The battery industry is actively seeking sustainable substitutes for critical raw materials like nickel and cobalt to ensure Europe’s security of supply. Curved Graphene enhances electrode performance using locally sourced materials which are widely accessible and abundant in Europe. Our focus now is on expanding production to broaden the material’s availability and harness its potential,” Dr. Froböse explained. Curved Graphene is developed and produced in Skeleton Materials’ facility in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany.

In October, Skeleton announced a €108M EUR financing round with top investors including Siemens and Marubeni to expand manufacturing capacity and accelerate the development of next-generation products.

Skeleton is currently ramping up manufacturing of its supercapacitors’ product line with a new factory near Leipzig in collaboration with Siemens. The world’s largest supercapacitor factory will increase the company’s production capacity by up to 40 times. Automated and digitalized mass production is scheduled to start by the end of 2024. The company is also developing its novel SuperBattery technology, slated for future mass production.