Sila says its silicon-carbon anodes could give EVs 20% more range without larger battery packs.
The startup raised $300 million to expand U.S. production at its Moses Lake factory.
Sila plans to supply Mercedes and Panasonic as it targets an annual output of up to 250 GWh.
Electric vehicles could gain 20% more range without needing a bigger battery pack, according to U.S.-based battery materials startup Sila. The company says that instead of replacing the widespread lithium-ion battery altogether, it wants to improve one of its most important components: the anode.
Sila says its Titan Silicon silicon-carbon anode material, which it spent the last 15 years developing, could deliver the stated range gains over a normal graphite anode of the kind most lithium-ion batteries already use. It touts increases of between 20% and 40% in the battery’s energy density, and it also says this solution enables faster charging, but without saying how much faster.
