Sicona, an Australian-based battery materials manufacturer, is moving forward with the phased development of a 6,700-tonne per annum (tpa) silicon-carbon anode materials production plant in the Southeastern US. By the early 2030s, Sicona plans to expand its US production to a total output of 26,500 tpa, enough silicon-carbon anode materials to power more than 3.25 million American EVs.

Sicona said the silicon carbon it produces, Sicona SiCx, can deliver significant improvements in today’s EVs through increased range and reduced charge times. These anode materials supercharge lithium-ion batteries delivering a 20%-plus increase in energy density over conventional graphite-only lithium-ion battery cells and reducing charge times by more than 40%, the company said. Furthermore, Sicona said its technology does not rely on expensive, dangerous, bottlenecked or emissions-intensive supply chains such as silane gas.

Utilizing a top-down process, Sicona said it has cracked highly efficient mechanical silicon metal reduction to create uniform nanoparticles. Further treatment in specialized carbon coating processes creates the unique material qualities that customers demand, Sicona explained.

To support its US manufacturing plans, Sicona started supplying product samples and initiated off-take discussions with cornerstone customers with qualification activities expected to ramp up significantly over the coming 12 to 18 months.

“Sicona’s vision is to be the largest silicon-carbon battery materials producer in the world and this announcement is the first major step towards the realization of that goal,” Christiaan Jordaan, cofounder of Sicona, said.