ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a commitment to ensure America retains global leadership in the world’s transition to the new energy storage era, Sila, a next-generation battery materials company, today announced the purchase of a facility with more than 600,000 square feet of space located in Moses Lake, WA to be used to manufacture Sila’s breakthrough lithium-ion anode materials at automotive volumes and quality. Powered with hydropower, the facility is located on 160-acres of land close to rail lines for convenient and efficient shipping.
Sila is making an initial investment to deliver annual silicon-based anode production sufficient to power 10 GWh of cells when used as a full graphite replacement, or up to 50 GWh of cells when used as a partial replacement. This is enough material to power batteries in up to 100,000-500,000 premium electric vehicles and 500 million mobile phones annually. Production lines at the facility will start-up in the second half of 2024, with full start of production underway in the first half of 2025. The Moses Lake site has the potential for further expansion and investment by 15X to reach production volumes to power 150GWh of cells when used as a full graphite replacement or 750 GWh as a partial replacement - enough to power 2 to 10 million electric vehicles per year.
“The U.S. has always excelled at innovation. Now we must also excel at manufacturing that innovation. Sila is delivering proven next-generation anode materials today. Our new Washington state plant builds on that momentum offering the manufacturing capacity to meet the needs of our auto partners on their way to a fully electric future. We’ve been working towards automotive quality standards and scale since our start to ensure longer range, faster charge times, and lower battery cost. With this scale-up, we have a pivotal piece to realize the full potential of next-generation materials at the volumes required to make a global impact,” said Gene Berdichevsky, Co-founder, and CEO of Sila.
“Our energy independence and economic prosperity are tied to our ability to develop and manufacture new clean energy technologies here on American soil. I’m proud that Washington state has been a leader on this issue and even prouder that innovative companies like Sila come here to advance these clean energy solutions. Washington is excited that Sila is investing here and we welcome the transformative impact that building clean energy can have on our world and our state,” said Washington Governor Jay Inslee.
Sila works to enhance all aspects of battery performance, produce quality-controlled silicon anode materials at scale, and support implementation to ensure customers achieve their goals and safety requirements for shipping products. After ten years of research and development and 55,000 iterations, the Sila team was the first to industrialize and make commercially available a next generation lithium-ion chemistry with dramatically higher energy density. Sila materials today power WHOOP 4.0, the world’s most advanced fitness tracker. The same materials technology from Sila will be produced at the Moses Lake facility to power electric vehicles, mobile phones and other consumer electronics.
ABOUT SILA
Founded in 2011, Sila is a next generation battery materials company accelerating energy transformation for a more sustainable future. Sila is industrializing breakthrough science— utilizing their advanced silicon anode materials— to catalyze a new energy storage era that propels radical product innovation and alleviates the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. Through deep technical ambition, persistence, and purpose, the Sila team is delivering innovative technology to market today, moving us one step closer to the electrification of everything. Major investors include 8VC, Bessemer Venture Partners, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Coatue, Mercedes-Benz, In-Q-Tel, Matrix Partners, Sutter Hill Ventures, and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.
