Who we are

Jack Johnson

Jack Johnson is a seasoned expert of the Li ion battery industry, and a champion of Li ion technology education within the industry and the community. Johnson spent 16 years working on advanced materials and energy storage technology with Johnson Controls. In 2009, he was asked to lead development of the world’s first large-format, high-volume Li ion battery production facility in Holland, MI.

In 2014, he left Johnson Controls to pursue entrepreneurial endeavors and solve some of the industry’s most pressing challenges. Johnson co-founded Volta Power Systems in 2014 to produce advanced energy systems for the RV, Marine and Specialized Vehicle markets and co-founded Jolt Energy Storage Technologies to focus on improved lithium ion cell safety and operational control.   Johnson holds two bachelors degrees: one in Mechanical Engineering and the other in Automotive Technology & Science.

Tom Guarr

Tom Guarr is a Ph.D. chemist who is passionate about finding practical solutions to real-world technical problems. He earned his doctorate in Chemistry at the University of Rochester and performed postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology.

As a faculty member at the University of Kentucky, he explored a wide variety of topics, ranging from novel conductive polymers to fullerene chemistry. After joining Gentex Corporation in 1994, Tom worked to design organic materials that were sufficiently robust to meet the demanding requirements of automotive and aerospace applications. This chemistry now forms the basis for tens of millions of self-dimming rearview mirrors sold each year as well as the electrochromic windows that are standard equipment on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

In 2012, Tom joined Michigan State University as Director of the Organic Energy Storage Laboratory at the MSU Bioeconomy Institute in Holland, Michigan. He co-founded Jolt in order to use molecular design principles to create organic compounds that will revolutionize the field of electrical energy storage.

He has co-authored numerous scientific publications in several fields and currently holds over 65 US patents.