Battery materials specialist Sila has begun to build out its first automotive-scale production facility in Moses Lake, Washington State. This phase of construction is in line with the planned 2025 start of its “Titan Silicon” anode production. Although no details of the production capacity were given, the company assures that it will be sufficient to supply several automotive customers, one of them being Mercedes-Benz.
20 percent higher energy density
According to the company, its Titan Silicon anode enables a 20% higher energy density than the industry’s highest-performing graphite cells. Last year, Sila was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains to receive $100 million in funding to accelerate the expansion of its Moses Lake plant. Over the next five years, Sila plans to hire between 100 and 500 full-time employees and expand the plant’s capacity to supply one million electric vehicles with anode materials.