a new generation of electric vehicle ev batteries that hold more energy achieve longer driving range and charge more quickly should begin reaching customers by middecade powered by new siliconbased electrodes that are slated to go into production next year in central washington state two startup companies group14 technologies and sila nanotechnologies are focused on new applications for silicon an abundant element that is being developed as a supplement or replacement for graphite in battery anodes sevenyearold group14 said on tuesday that it has begun constructing a commercialgrade facility in moses lake for its scc55 siliconcarbon powder when the plant opens in 2024 it will have initial capacity to produce enough anode material for up to 200000 evs with plans to triple capacity to meet stillgrowing demand group14s first automotive customer is porsche one of several corporate investors along with tdks amperex technology limited atl basf and sk inc the company so far has raised 650 million group14s jointventure plant in korea with battery maker sk is scheduled to open this year according to rick luebbe ceo and cofounder twelveyearold sila nano plans to begin production of its titan silicon nanocomposite anode material next year at a facility in moses lake according to gene berdichevsky ceo and cofounder mercedesbenz is scheduled to be the first automotive customer in 2025 starting with its eqg electric suv sila has raised more than 900 million with mercedes atl and siemens among its corporate investors strong demand for siliconrich anodes means were under pressure to go faster and bigger luebbe said even with the plants in korea and washington coming online we have more demand than we can support still itll take more than 10 years for silicon to replace graphite as the main ingredient in anodes berdichevsky saidfacebooktwitterlinkedinend of article1312987991288109