Future EV batteries could charge in ten minutes. (Image Credit: andreas160578/pixabay)
Sila, a California-based advanced battery materials company, developed Titan Silicon, a battery it claims can charge from 10% to 80% in twenty minutes thanks to the nano-composite silicon-anode technology. Sila believes it can drop that charging time to ten minutes in future iterations. The company goes further to say its technology shrinks battery weight by 15% while increasing space by 20%, and it can be used with other battery form factors. In addition, the battery achieves a 20% boost in EV range per charge.
“Titan Silicon is the highest performing nano-composite silicon in the market today. Our battery and materials teams are constantly iterating and improving upon our chemistry to deliver the best and most cost-efficient results possible,” said co-founder and CEO Gene Berdichevsky. “With the wide adoption of EVs, consumers are looking for best-in-class solutions that deliver best-in-class performance, and our solutions provide just that: longer range and faster charge.”
Silicon anodes are regarded as the next big thing when it comes to battery technology advancement. Car companies like General Motors and Tesla showed interest in the battery. Meredes-Benz expects to be the first manufacturer to have the Titan Silicon cells in its 2024 EQG vehicle.
Using silicon instead of graphite enables the battery to store more energy in the same volume. However, this could also lead to quicker battery degradation compared to graphite anodes. The good news is Sila says it solved that issue. It spent over ten years in the labs, going through over 70,000 iterations of the material, exploring configurations, formulations, and ways to integrate it into different cells. The company eventually came up with some recipes that worked extremely well.
Titan Silicon is currently the best-performing nano-composite silicon. The battery and materials team is improving the chemistry to provide the best, cost-effective results possible.
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