Something is up with the Trump administration and silicon. Last week the big buzz was around a new Department of Commerce incentive program to ratchet up the domestic supply of polysilicon, the key ingredient in solar panels. Of equal if not more significance, last week the Department of Defense also weighed in with a $1.4 billion conditional loan to the US startup Sila, aimed at expanding the company’s initial focus on silicon EV batteries to accommodate the growing demand for drones, autonomous vehicles and other defense applications. Silicon And The EV Batteries Of The Future With China currently dominating the supply of processed graphite on the global market, the hunt is on for alternative battery materials that can be produced domestically. Synthetic graphite is one workaround. Silicon is another, and it promises a bigger payoff. When applied to the anode of EV batteries, silicon can deliver faster charging times, longer range, and lighter weight than the traditional lithium-ion formula, which deploys a graphite anode (see more silicon battery background here). The Defense Department has been notoriously cautious about investing in electric vehicles, but EV batteries are another matter. The agency’s interest in next-generation energy storage technology predates US President Donald Trump’s second term in office, and the rise of drone warfare, ground robots and autonomous vehicles has sparked a fresh round of activity. The latest development in that space involves the US startup Sila, which was co-founded in 2011 by former Tesla battery specialist Gene Berdichevsky, who holds the post of CEO. Earlier iterations of the Sila team also included former Tesla “battery guru” Kurt Kelty, who later moved over to General Motors in 2024. Sila has developed a proprietary silicon-carbon powder that can be used by battery manufacturers on a drop-in basis to replace part or all of the graphite in the anode. As applied to EV batteries, Sila claims that its “Titan Silicon” powder increases range by up to 20% in the same size pack, while enabling fast charging in the range of 10 minutes. $1.4 Billion For More Silicon Batteries Sila launched with an initial focus on EV batteries, but the Defense Department has deep pockets and an urgent need higher-performing batteries for military applications. The Defense Department evidently anticipates that Sila can deliver the goods, because it has just staked a $1.4 billion loan on the company. The loan is conditional on Sila checking all the legal and technical boxes before the transaction is complete. Assuming all goes according to plan, Sila has earmarked the award for expanding its existing Moses Lake campus. Part of the funds will go to increasing the output of Titan Silicon, with the rest covering the build-out of a lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing operation. Don’t get too excited about the implications for electric cars just yet. Sila announced the loan commitment on August 7 without mentioning EV batteries, at least not in so many words. Instead, the company emphasizes that the new battery cell fcility is aimed at “specialty applications with rigorous performance requirements,” with examples including industrial, agricultural, and military drones. Still, Sila does mention other use cases including ground vehicles. “High-performance, U.S.-produced battery cells are vital for strategic industries, including aerospace, drones, eVTOLs, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and AI data centers,” Sila states. Follow The Money If that reference to autonomous vehicles rings a bell, you may be thinking of the US Army, which has started to investigate the potential for crewless EVs to drop off supplies in danger zones, thereby reducing if not eliminating the risk of logistics-related casualties. The new program includes the California EV startup Harbinger, which produces stripped-down chassis for customized electric trucks. The Army will reportedly take advantage of Harbinger’s extended range platform, in which an onboard gas tank is deployed to recharge the batteries as needed. In the meantime, private sector investors have also chipped in to push Sila into high gear over a long series of funding rounds, with Series G closing in 2024 to the tune of $375 million. In June, Sila raised another $300 million in support of its expansion plans. The plant sits on 160 acres, providing room for its startup capacity of 2 gigawatt-hours, with enough left over to accommodate up to 250 gigawatts once fully built out over a five-year period. “Atreides Management and Sutter Hill Ventures led the round. Other participants included 8VC, Bessemer Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, and other new and existing investors,” Sila notes. Your Tax Dollars At Work…On EV Batteries Not to be left out of the mix, the US Department of Energy has also supported Sila’s efforts, tapping the company for $10 million in R&D funding in 2021 from its ARPA-E branch. “This proposed project will significantly (1) reduce Si anode costs; (2) improve efficiency and reduce waste in production; (3) reduce engineering and cost risks; and (4) reduce EV battery costs and accelerate the move to clean transportation and renewable energy,” ARPA-E explained. Apparently the Energy Department liked what it saw. In 2022 it came back with another $100 million in funding carved out of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, earmarked to help push Sila’s battery formula into mass production through ARPA-E’s “SCALEUP” program. By 2022, Sila also had its ISO 9001 certification in hand, a necessary prerequisite for doing business with the global auto industry as well as other electronics stakeholders. In a press release announcing the certification, Sila affirmed its commitment to the auto industry, noting that initial plans for the Moses Lake facility called for enough anode material to supply 500,000 EVs along with 500 million smart phones, too. As another indication that Sila expects EV stakeholders to line up at its door, when operations at Moses Lake commenced in 2025, Sila billed it as the first “automotive-scale silicon anode plant” in the US. That remains to bee seen. As of this writing Sila is still in the supply chain engagement step while fending off threats from alleged overseas patent infringers. “Sila actively works with a range of leading cell manufacturers and OEMs across the globe to continue bringing its technology to market,” the company affirmed in June. “These collaborations include ongoing technical engagements, qualification programs, and royalty frameworks that can support partners as they transition from evaluation to scaled adoption,” Sila adds. Image: EV batteries were the initial focus of attention for the US startup Sila, which is now switching gears to concentrate its silicon-carbon anode material on military and industrial applications, too (cropped, courtesy of Sila).
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