Sila to set up automotive-scale silicon-based anode materials plant in Washington state
Sila, a next-generation battery materials company, has purchased a facility with more than 600,000 square feet of space located in Moses Lake, WA to be used to manufacture Sila’s 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 US 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."
—Gene Berdichevsky, Co-founder, and CEO of Sila
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.