Sila set up new plant to produce next-gen anode materials
Battery materials company Sila says that the company has purchased a facility with more than 600,000 square feet of space located in Moses Lake, WA to be used to manufacture its lithium-ion anode materials at automotive volumes and quality.
The facility is located on 160-acres of land close to rail lines for convenient and efficient shipping.
Sila says that it 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, the company states in a press release.
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 in the press release.
