These New Silicon Powder Batteries Promise 10-Minute EV Charging

California-based Sila Nanotechnologies has entered into a strategic partnership with Panasonic to supply the latter with an innovative battery material, Titan Silicon, designed to enhance the performance of electric vehicles (EVs). Titan Silicon is described as a “new class of high-performance” nano-composite silicon anode specifically tailored for lithium-ion batteries.

Panasonic, a major global player in EV battery production and one of Tesla’s key suppliers, is expected to benefit significantly from Sila’s Titan Silicon, which aligns with its goal of providing high energy-density batteries to achieve exceptional performance in electric vehicles.

The Titan Silicon anode powder is composed of nano-structured silicon particles on the micrometer scale, serving as a substitute for graphite commonly used in traditional lithium-ion batteries. This innovative material is anticipated to store around ten times more energy than graphite, potentially enabling uninterrupted 500-mile travel and reducing recharge times to only 10 minutes. This advancement addresses key concerns associated with electric vehicles, such as range anxiety and extended charging times.

Gene Berdichevsky, co-founder and CEO of Sila, expressed excitement about the partnership, emphasizing Sila’s commitment to optimizing Titan Silicon to help Panasonic push the boundaries for battery performance. Sila’s anode materials will be produced at the company’s Moses Lake, Washington facility.

“Panasonic is the world’s leading battery technology company, aggressively pushing the boundaries for performance, and we look forward to optimizing Titan Silicon to help achieve these momentous goals.”

“This partnership represents a significant milestone for Sila, our customers, and the industry at large, and will be key to accelerating consumer EV adoption,” added Berdichevsky in the press release.

Panasonic, with the objective of increasing its worldwide automobile battery production capacity to 200 GWh by fiscal year 2030/2031, sees this collaboration as a significant step toward achieving this ambitious goal.

Shoichiro Watanabe, Executive Vice President of Panasonic Energy, highlighted the potential to address concerns related to range anxiety and charging time by integrating Sila’s groundbreaking battery material with Panasonic’s advanced cell manufacturing capabilities.

“By integrating Sila’s groundbreaking battery material with our advanced cell manufacturing capabilities, we believe that we can address the concerns such as range anxiety and charging time and contribute to accelerating the adoption of EVs,” said Watanabe.

Notably, the availability of U.S.-made silicon powder through Sila’s Titan Silicon is expected to reduce reliance on Chinese battery materials. Sila and Panasonic’s combined efforts are positioned to reshape the EV technological landscape, offering a future where electric vehicles redefine ease, efficiency, and sustainability.

Titan Silicon, touted as the “first market-proven” replacement for graphite anodes, currently delivers a 20 percent increase in range, with ongoing research having the potential to double these improvements.