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“When Tesla announced its Gigafactory, I just thought to myself, here is a situation where finally we’ll have some lithium-ion battery manufacturing in North America on a huge scale, and I can help with this,” said Dahn, who has been studying the rechargeable batteries since 1978 and describes himself as having “a long history of doing useful things.”

Dahn knew Kurt Kelty, Tesla’s director of battery technology, from the conference circuit and called him up.

“I said, ‘What about it? Are you guys interested in sponsoring our group?’”

Kelty invited Dahn to Tesla’s headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., last summer where he met with co-founder and chief technology officer J.B. Straubel. Straubel was intrigued enough to fly up to Halifax in the fall to see Dahn’s lab, and from there it was an easy sell.

“We worked through the spring to get the agreement sorted out, and there you are,” Dahn said, adding that his students are “thrilled.”

The agreement marks the first time Tesla has collaborated with a Canadian university. It will take effect in June 2016, when Dahn’s existing Industrial Research Chair in Materials for Advanced Batteries comes to an end.

One of the challenges for renewable energy proponents has been finding efficient ways to store excess electricity for cloudy or calm days. Lithium-ion batteries offer that capability but there is currently a tradeoff between storage capacity and battery lifespan.