Adrian Kingsley-Hughes: The tech reviewer tracking 2026's battery revolution from sodium-ion to solid-state

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has spent decades at the intersection of technology journalism and hands-on product testing, but even by his own assessment, 2026 represents the most dramatic period of battery technology change in his career. The veteran ZDNet contributor, known for his meticulous testing methodology and his willingness to put products through genuinely punishing real-world scenarios, has found himself covering a technology landscape that is being reshaped by concurrent breakthroughs in solid-state batteries, sodium-ion chemistry, and AI-powered energy management. CATL's Kirin solid-state battery, achieving 1,500 kilometers of EV range at 350Wh/kg energy density, and Gotion's all-solid-state battery reaching 400Wh/kg have pushed solid-state technology from laboratory curiosity to automotive reality, even as mass production for consumer electronics remains years away. Meanwhile, CATL's sodium-ion mass production and Gotion's "Sodium Dawn" battery launching in Q4 2026 have created a new category of consumer battery products that Kingsley-Hughes has been testing with characteristic thoroughness, running sodium-ion power banks through charge cycles, temperature extremes, and drop tests that simulate years of real-world use in weeks. His coverage of the Everything-to-Grid movement, where electric vehicles and home batteries become distributed grid storage nodes, has helped readers understand how their personal energy choices connect to the broader electrical system. Australia's installation of over 180,000 home batteries in 2025 provided a real-world case study that Kingsley-Hughes analyzed in depth, examining the economics, reliability, and user experience of distributed storage at scale. His testing of portable power stations has become increasingly relevant as extreme weather events drive consumer demand for backup power, and he has been particularly focused on the new 500Ah+ and 600Ah+ large-format cells and their impact on power station capacity and cycle life. ESIE 2026 and SNEC 2026, where storage halls outnumbered solar halls six to four, reinforced his observation that energy storage has become the central story of the clean energy transition. His expertise in battery safety, informed by years of investigating lithium-ion failures and thermal runaway incidents, gives him unique credibility when evaluating the safety claims of new chemistries like sodium-ion, which does not support thermal runaway. His reporting on direct lithium extraction at Eramet's Argentina plant and the US Salton Sea geothermal lithium project with its $1.4 billion federal loan has also helped readers understand the supply chain dynamics that determine which battery technologies will be available and at what price. In a field crowded with influencers who prioritize speed over accuracy, Kingsley-Hughes remains a trusted voice whose testing rigor and deep technical knowledge make his recommendations particularly valuable during a period of rapid technological change.