Ann: Presentation to International Battery Seminar, page-153

There is plenty of action in the battery energy density race , if they can't beat the battery competition they buy them ! interesting news about Slia's paten/technoldedgy being similar to 2 others? see bottom line .

Tesla confirmed that it quietly acquired Colorado-based battery startup SiILion, Inc., in a new patent for a silicon-based battery anode. Over the last few years, Tesla has been rumored to have acquired SiILion, Inc., a battery technology startup based out of Colorado.5 Nov 2021

Nexeon is developing two anode materials. NSP-1 features a powdered silicon compound with particles ranging in size from a few to about 10 µm. Its use is limited to about 10% loading by weight in a graphite anode to avoid expansion problems. Compared with graphite, it promises to increase anode capacity by about 30%, leading to a corresponding increase in battery cell energy density of up to 15%.

Wacker Chemie, which holds an option to take a minority stake in Nexeon, is commercializing its own silicon anode material in lithium-ion button batteries that will debut later this year. The big German silicon producer estimates that its technology could enhance the energy density of such a battery by about 20%.

Sila, Nexeon, and Wacker have yet to put a product on the market. In contrast, the Stanford University spin-off Amprius, formed in 2008, is already selling its silicon-graphite compounds commercially in a mix of around 10% silicon and 90% graphite, according to Lux Research’s Holzinger. The company didn’t respond to C&EN’s requests for an interview.

A potential issue for Sila is that the firm’s technology appears to be similar to that of Amprius, Lux’s Holzinger says. Sila’s “patents describe a core shell morphology that is very similar to that of Amprius. This could be a problem for Sila given that Amprius also filed in the US but filed its patent first,” she says.