Former Tesla engineer to establish battery materials manufacturing in Moses Lake, Washington
Sila plans to deliver silicon-based anode to power up to 500,000 electric vehicles—and more–per year.
Sila, a next-generation battery materials company specializing in advanced silicon anode materials, aims to provide energy storage as we move closer to the electrification of everything. The company began in 2011 as a Georgia Tech start-up, then in 2014 Sila moved to headquarters in Alameda, California where it began scaling its material. In 2019, after filing its 100th patent, Sila began a partnership with Daimler. Fast forward to today, and Sila announced the purchase of a hydro-powered 600,000 square foot facility in Moses Lake, Washington where the company will manufacture lithium-ion anode materials at automotive volumes and quality.
Sila reports that it is making its initial investment with the intention of delivering enough silicon-based anode annually 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. Or enough material to power batteries in up to 100,000-500,000 premium electric vehicles and 500 million mobile phones annually.
Gene Berdichevsky, co-founder & CEO, is a Tesla veteran. He was the seventh employee at Tesla Motors where he served as Principal Engineer on the Roadster battery, leading the development of the world’s first mass-produced, automotive lithium-ion battery system.
“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 Berdichevsky.