Bat, battery material startup started operating in its convenience at Moses Lake, Washington on Tuesday, a milestone, which can pave the way for long distance, rapid charging EVS. The factory, which will initially be able to create sufficient battery content for 20,000 to 50,000 EV, is the first large -scale silicone anode factory in the west, and the future expansion can meet the demand for 2.5 million vehicles.
Silicon anods promise to improve the energy density of the lithium-ion battery, as up to 50%. This technique, which has been working for the last 14 years, may be the best opportunity for the US to achieve the upper hand in a global race for battery domination, Sila Co-founder and CEO Jean Birdchiveski argues.
“When you invent something new, it is very easy, then producing it where you invent it,” he told Techcrunch.
Sila currently has agreements to supply anode materials to Panasonic and Mercedes. Although the automakers and their suppliers will focus the main focus of the factory, Birdichwsky said that his company is also selling drone manufacturers, satellite companies and consumer electronics companies.
Startup is not the only company working on silicone anode content. Group14, which is also operating in Moses Lake, currently produces its proprietary mixture in a factory developed with SK Innovation in South Korea. Amprius, Frament, a company based in California, is currently producing the price of megawatt-hour of the price of Guwat-hour with its content in the US and the priced of Guwat-hour with partners in China.
Burdichhevsky said, but Sila’s Moses Lake Factory, which has been under construction for almost two years, is actually the first auto scale silicone anode plant in the US. ” The company raised $ 375 million last year to help the project help in finance.
In the state of Washington, Sila found a correct confluence of factors who allowed it to construct the facility, including cheap hydroelectric, abundant land and suppliers near an important raw component.
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“The cost structure of this technique is dedicated to low-cost energy-one of the big inputs-and then some prominent precursors, and we have in Washington,” he said.
The first run of the material in the Moses Lake Factory will be used to show the customers that the material is in line with the goods they have been taking sample for the last few years, which was built in an R&D line in Almeda, California.
“We are very confident on him, but obviously there is evidence in pudding,” said Burdichwsky.
Over the years, he said that the battery made using Sila’s content should be cheaper than the graphite anode material obtained from Western suppliers. (Chinese companies make graphite anode for low, but they also receive liberal state subsidies and are low environmental rules, Burdichchevsky said.)
Silicon anods may also allow automekers to reduce the amount of ingredients used in their battery, including nickel, while maintaining the same level of performance. “Now you have the same performance, as well as you get fast charge, as well as you get domestic supply, and you get it at a low cost,” he said.
If the demand proves strong, Sila plans to expand beyond Moses Lake.
“Western vehicle is not the CEO of the manufacturer who does not believe that within a decade, or perhaps at the border of 15 years, they are going to sell almost all electric vehicles.” Berdichevsky said. “If you play it after 10 years now, you probably have 10 million EVs in the US, so we need many sites.”
Ultimately, the company will also look at Europe and Asia to expand, but Burdichvski, born in Ukraine, is adamant in its commitment to the United States.
“As a country, if you do not make goods, where is your pride coming from?” He said. “I think it is just so important for us that it is to continue doing so as a country and to continue to ecological system so that we can never fall back again.”
