business backgrounder | manufacturing
Gene Berdichevsky , co-founder and CEO of Sila Nanotechnologies , stands in the company ’ s Moses Lake plant . At full capacity , the factory will employ up to 500 people and power more than one million EVs a year .
Silicon , the company ’ s nano-composite anode powder , and supply it to customers including Mercedes-Benz and Panasonic .
Alex Fitzsimmons , head of government affairs for Sila , said the company ’ s silicon-based technology has advantages over the graphite traditionally found in lithium-ion batteries .
It boosts the energy density of EV batteries by more than 20 % and enables fast charging in under 10 minutes . At full capacity , the Moses Lake factory will power more than one million EVs a year .
“ To enable widespread adoption of EVs , we need better batteries that can deliver more range and a faster charging time at a lower cost ,” he told Washington Business .
Sila was awarded a $ 100 million grant from the U . S . Department of Energy , supporting the build of the plant , as part of $ 2.8 billion awarded to increase domestic battery production around the country .
After a nationwide search , Sila selected Moses Lake because of clean , affordable hydropower and a strong workforce and education system , said Chris Dougher , Sila ’ s VP of Operations .
An important supplier is also right across the street . Sila purchases silane – silicon gas – from REC Silicon , which restarted production in Moses Lake after being shut down for several years . In contrast , more than 90 % of graphite comes from China , making it vulnerable to supply chain snarls .
Sila hopes to begin commercial production in mid-2025 , Dougher said , starting with 100 employees and scaling up to 500 at full capacity .
“ We can ’ t express how excited we are to have the partnerships and relationships that we ’ ve already built in such a short time . This helps us plan for the future . We ’ re not just going to Moses Lake to build something and then moving on . Our scaling and investment plans are centered around Moses Lake for the next 10 years .”
— Chris Dougher , VP of Operations for Sila Nanotechnologies spring 2024 41