Sacramento-based Sparks unveils new lithium battery system
THE TERRIER BORDER COLLIE MIX AND GET SOME HUGS. WELL, IN 2024, THE FIRST LITHIUM BATTERY MAKER IN THE U.S. OPENED FACILITY IN SACRAMENTO. AND NOW, ABOUT TWO YEARS LATER, SPARKS IS CREATING MORE JOBS AND UNVEILING A NEW POWER BANK. AND JOINING US IS THE CEO AND FOUNDER OF SPARKS ON ULTRA. THANKS FOR BEING HERE, SANJEEV. WE APPRECIATE IT. MY PLEASURE. LISA. SO THIS IS THE ONLY LITHIUM BATTERY FACILITY IN NORTH AMERICA, CORRECT? FOR THIS KIND OF LITHIUM BATTERY. THIS IS THE ONLY ONE THAT PRODUCES FROM MAKING THE MATERIALS TO MAKING THE CELLS AND THE COMPLETE BATTERY SYSTEM. SO ALL THE OTHER LITHIUM BATTERIES LIKE THIS ARE MADE IN CHINA OR OUTSIDE OF THE U.S. THAT’S RIGHT. AND SO WHY DID YOU PICK SACRAMENTO IN THIS REGION TO TO BUILD YOUR FACILITY? WELL, THIS IS MY SECOND VENTURE HERE IN SACRAMENTO, MY FIRST STARTUP WAS ACTUALLY OUT OF MCCLELLAN AND HAVE A LOT OF TIES TO SACRAMENTO, TO SMUD. AND I THINK BOTH SACRAMENTO AND SMUD HAVE A LOT TO OFFER IN TERMS OF WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO WITH MANUFACTURING. SO FROM YOUR RIBBON CUTTING IN OCTOBER 2024 TO NOW, YOU’RE CREATING MORE JOBS AND YOU UNVEILED A NEW POWER BANK TODAY. TELL US ABOUT THAT. YEAH. SO IT’S BEEN A, I WOULD SAY, A JOURNEY FULL OF EXECUTION AND EXECUTION AND EXECUTION AND GETTING THE RIGHT PEOPLE ON BOARD. SO THE FIRST SIX MONTHS, AS YOU RIGHTLY POINTED OUT, THE OCTOBER OF 24 WAS WHEN WE DID THE RIBBON CUTTING. SO FIRST SIX MONTHS WAS SETTING UP THE EQUIPMENT AND ALL OF THAT. AND THEN WE BASICALLY STARTED PRODUCING THE MATERIAL. THEN STARTED MAKING THE BATTERY CELLS, AND NOW WE’RE MAKING THE COMPLETE BATTERY PACK, WHICH IS WHAT WE ANNOUNCED TODAY. IT’S CALLED THE SPARK SCORE. AND THIS SATISFIES A LOT OF MARKETS. I’M SURE YOU WILL HAVE THAT QUESTION, BUT IT GOES ALL THE WAY FROM DATA CENTERS TO WHAT THEY CALL VIRTUAL POWER PLANT. YOU CAN HAVE ONE OF THESE IN YOUR HOME, IN YOUR GARAGE. SO INSTEAD OF USING A GENERATOR, I COULD BUY A POWER BANK LIKE THIS. EXACTLY. OKAY, SO LET’S SAY I LIVE IN THE FOOTHILLS. LET’S SAY I LIVE IN SOMERSET OR DIAMOND SPRINGS, AND NORMALLY I WOULD HAVE A GENERATOR, BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I CAN BUY. SO IF THERE’S A POWER OUTAGE OR A WILDFIRE, SOMETHING LIKE THAT, I DON’T HAVE ELECTRICITY. I COULD RELY ON THIS AND THERE’S NOT POLLUTION. YEAH. GIVE ME YOUR ADDRESS. I’LL GET ONE. I DON’T LIVE IN THAT AREA, BUT YES, I’M JUST THINKING MY DAD LIVES UP THERE AND HE LIVES OFF OF A GENERATOR. AND SO THIS IS A REAL QUESTION. AND YOU KNOW, WHEN HE HAD TO EVACUATE IN THE CALDOR FIRE, AS A LOT OF PEOPLE DID, THIS WAS A BIG ISSUE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU CAN’T GO SOMEWHERE AND GET MORE GASOLINE. SO, LISA, WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH THE RURAL ELECTRIC CO-OPS. AND I THINK YOU JUST POINTED OUT A VERY CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF WHERE THIS WOULD MAKE SENSE. GENERATORS ARE NOISY, DIRTY, A LOT OF POLLUTION. REPLACE THIS WITH A US MADE BATTERY PACK. QUIET LASTS FOR 15 TO 20 YEARS. IT CAN BE IN YOUR GARAGE. IT CAN BE IN YOUR BOILER ROOM AND OFF YOU GO. SO YES, MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. SO THAT’S HOW YOU KNOW IT CAN WORK FOR INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLDS. BUT YOU MENTIONED THE DATA CENTERS. AND IF PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHAT THE DATA CENTERS ARE, THESE ARE THE CENTERS THAT COMPANIES, AI COMPANIES RELY ON. GOOGLE RELIES ON AMAZON TO POWER THEM, RIGHT? YES. SO, YOU KNOW. WITH THE GROWTH OR THE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH FOR AI, WE NEED A LOT OF BACKUP OF DATA. WE NEED PLACES WHERE THEY HAVE WHAT THEY CALL GPUS ESSENTIALLY JUST COMPUTERS IN THESE DATA CENTERS THAT ARE PROCESSING THIS DATA. AND YOU MENTIONED A FEW NAMES, YOU KNOW, META, GOOGLE AND NVIDIA, AMAZON, ETC. DATA CENTERS ARE GROWING AROUND THE COUNTRY EXPONENTIALLY AT A VERY FAST PACE. WE DO NOT, EVEN THOUGH US IS NUMBER ONE WHEN IT COMES TO GRID, BUT WE DO NOT HAVE THE GRID TO SUPPORT THE ENERGY, THE POWER THAT THESE DATA CENTERS WILL NEED. SOMETHING LIKE THIS COULD BE USED EITHER AT THE DATA CENTER OR, LIKE YOU SAID, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY HAS IT IN THEIR HOME AND DURING OFF PEAK TIME OR DURING EXCESS, WHEN THEY HAVE EXCESS POWER, THEY SELL IT BACK TO THE GRID TO PROVIDE POWER FOR THE DATA CENTERS. AND THAT’S CALLED A VIRTUAL POWER PLANT, BECAUSE THIS CAN BE VIRTUAL AWAY FROM THE DATA CENTER AND PROVIDING THE POWER. PRETTY AMAZING THAT WE’RE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS MADE IN AMERICA AN
Sacramento-based Sparks unveils new lithium battery system
Updated: 1:19 PM PDT May 6, 2026
Sparkz Inc, the first lithium battery maker in the U.S., opened its facility in Sacramento in 2024.Now, nearly two years later, the company is unveiling a new power bank. Sanjiv Malhotra, the CEO and founder of Sparkz, joined KCRA 3 on Wednesday. He said his company is the only one in the country that “produces from making the materials, to making the cells and the complete battery system.” He said he chose the Sacramento region in part because of ties to SMUD. The first six months of the business involved setting up equipment. “And then we basically started producing the material, then started making the battery cells and now we are making the complete battery pack,” he said. The new product, SparksCore22, can work for data centers and home use as an alternative to a generator. He said that with the exponential growth of AI, “we need a lot of backup of data.” Malhotra said the U.S. does not currently have the grid to support the energy that the data centers will need. His product can be used at a data center or if at a home, could be used by a home to send power back to the grid to provide power for a center. “That’s called a virtual power plant because this can be virtual away from the data center and providing the power,” he said. Learn more in the video above.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google.
Sparkz Inc, the first lithium battery maker in the U.S., opened its facility in Sacramento in 2024.
Now, nearly two years later, the company is unveiling a new power bank.
Sanjiv Malhotra, the CEO and founder of Sparkz, joined KCRA 3 on Wednesday.
He said his company is the only one in the country that “produces from making the materials, to making the cells and the complete battery system.”
He said he chose the Sacramento region in part because of ties to SMUD. The first six months of the business involved setting up equipment.
“And then we basically started producing the material, then started making the battery cells and now we are making the complete battery pack,” he said.
The new product, SparksCore22, can work for data centers and home use as an alternative to a generator.
He said that with the exponential growth of AI, “we need a lot of backup of data.”
Malhotra said the U.S. does not currently have the grid to support the energy that the data centers will need.
His product can be used at a data center or if at a home, could be used by a home to send power back to the grid to provide power for a center.
“That’s called a virtual power plant because this can be virtual away from the data center and providing the power,” he said.
Learn more in the video above.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google.