Tesla confirmed in a new patent for silicon-based battery anodes that it has quietly acquired SiILion, a battery start-up company located in Colorado.
In the past few years, there have been rumors that Tesla acquired SiILion, but there is no definite evidence. This start-up company is studying a new type of high-energy density battery chemistry based on "high-load silicon anodes",
According to the patents, SiILion co-founders Tyler Evans and Daniela Molina Piper, one of the two most important patents, the patent called "a large battery anode containing silicon particles", is now listed as owned by Tesla.
The patent shows that Tesla is listed as the "applicant" for the patent, and the two co-founders of SiILion are listed as inventors. They describe the anode technology in the patent abstract:
A large anode containing high weight percentage of silicon suitable for lithium ion energy storage devices and batteries and a manufacturing method thereof. The anode material described in this patent may include a film cast on a current collector substrate, wherein the film includes a plurality of active material particles and a conductive polymer film coated on the active material particles.
Interestingly, during Tesla Battery Day, Tesla officially confirmed that its new 4680 battery is powered by a silicon-based battery anode.
IT Home learned that Tesla is accelerating the production of cheaper and longer-range 4680 battery cells. In 2019, Tesla also acquired Hibar, a Canadian battery manufacturing equipment company, whose pumps were used in Tesla's rapid battery assembly process for the new 4680 battery cell.