Sila, a next-generation battery materials company, has announced the availability of its high-performance nano-composite silicon (NCS) anode material, Titan Silicon. Titan Silicon delivers a 20% energy density boost over the industry’s best performing cells and will achieve a 40% increase in future releases, according to the company.
These gains are attainable without sacrificing cycle life or safety, by containing swell to levels comparable to graphite—6% at end of life. Titan Silicon anode is 100% compatible with cylindrical, pouch, and prismatic cells to accommodate any OEM, any gigafactory, and any product design.
According to a consumer survey recently commissioned by Sila, nearly 90% of respondents who own or intend to purchase an EV view high-performance battery technology as more valuable than other tech enhancements or luxury features, including autonomous driving capabilities.
Graphite anodes and simple silicon compounds (Si, SiO, SiO2) for lithium-ion batteries have reached their energy limit, stifling EV performance, Sila says. For automakers who want longer range, Titan Silicon can deliver a 20% increase in range today, which could be up to 100 extra miles for some EVs, with a development runway to double those gains in future releases. Titan Silicon can also improve battery charging time, charging a battery from 10% to 80% in just 20 minutes—even if your charge time is currently as long as 60 minutes.
Future releases will reduce that time to approximately 10 minutes. With Titan Silicon, automakers can benefit from up to a 15% reduction in battery weight and 20% increase in space, enabling higher vehicle efficiency and the addition of innovative designs and features.
The formula used to engineer Titan Silicon is used today in the WHOOP 4.0 fitness tracker. Since then, Sila has optimized its high-performance nano-composite silicon for mass production, which is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2024 in Sila’s facility in Moses Lake, Washington.
The company also hit a major scaling milestone, completing the development of new equipment for its Moses Lake facility, making the timing right to announce worldwide availability of its NCS solutions under the Titan Silicon brand. Sila plans to manufacture enough material to power one million EVs in the next five years.
Last Spring, Mercedes-Benz, the company’s first automotive customer, announced that it had selected Sila’s NCS for its luxury electric fleet, starting with the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, due out by mid-decade.
Among other features and benefits of Titan Silicon are:
- Sila offers the choice of full or partial graphite replacement based on an automaker’s or cell manufacturer’s performance goals and product roadmaps.
- Titan Silicon generates 50-75% less CO2 per kWh than graphite during production.
- Today more ethan 90% of graphite is mined and/or processed in China. Sila offers an alternative anode material source for automakers that want to meet requirements for Inflation Reduction Act tax credits.