Sila announces a new battery material factory to support production of up to 500,000 electric vehicles

Sila Nanotechnologies announced that they will invest a few hundreds of millions of dollars into a new battery material factory in Washington state to support the production of up to 500,000 electric vehicles.

The company described the project in Moses Lake in a new press release today:

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 Nanotechnologies was co-founded by now CEO Gene Berdichevsky.

Berdichevsky was an early battery technology lead at Tesla for the original Roadster. He has since dedicated his career to working on next-generation battery technology.

At Sila, the focus is on a silicon-based anode that enables impressive energy density. The company’s battery is already powering the popular WHOOP 4.0 fitness tracker, but they are now looking to move into the auto industry with this new factory.