-3:55 a.m. Pacific Time on November 5, 2021

Tesla confirmed that it quietly acquired SiILion, Inc., a battery start-up company located in Colorado, in a new patent for silicon-based battery anodes.

In the past few years, there have been rumors that Tesla acquired SiILion, Inc., a battery technology start-up company located in Colorado.

The rumors began after Tesla hired several start-up employees, and the automaker began listing battery research jobs in Colorado, where it had no R&D operations before.

The start-up company is working on a new type of high-energy density battery chemistry based on a "high-load silicon anode."

It described on its closed website:

"Developers of advanced lithium-ion batteries aim to meet the market’s accelerated demand for higher-performance energy storage devices. The company’s technology combines high-load silicon anodes, nickel-rich NMC cathodes, and non-flammable ionic liquid electrolytes to provide high-energy batteries. , And improve the energy density and specific energy of lithium-ion batteries, enabling users to obtain safer and lower-cost energy storage devices for defense, consumer electronics and electric vehicle applications."

The startup received multiple funding from the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Energy before it went bankrupt in 2018.

Although the company's three researchers changed their jobs to Tesla, co-founders Tyler Evans and Daniela Molina Piper never did this.

But we can now confirm that their technology belongs to Tesla.

One of the most important patents of the SiILion duo, called "Large Battery Anode Containing Silicon Particles", is now listed as Tesla's:

Tesla is listed as the "applicant" for the patent, while Evans and Molina Piper are listed as inventors.

They described the anode technology in the patent abstract:

"Describes a large anode containing high weight percent silicon suitable for use in lithium-ion energy storage devices and batteries and a method of manufacturing the same. The anode material described herein may include a film cast on a current collector substrate, the film including a plurality of active The material particles and the conductive polymer film coated on the active material particles. In some embodiments, the conductive polymer film includes polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The method of manufacturing the negative electrode material may include preparing the active material particles and the conductive polymer The material slurry is cast on the current collector substrate, and the composite material is dried and heat treated."

Interestingly, during Tesla Battery Day, the automaker confirmed that its new 4680 battery is powered by a new anode activated by new silicon.

Earlier this week, we reported that Tesla delivered a new anode production line at the Texas Gigafactory.

This is not the only battery startup that Tesla has acquired to ensure the technical safety of its next-generation 4680 batteries.

As we previously reported, Tesla also acquired Springpower International of Canada for its cathode technology.

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Tesla is a transportation and energy company. It sells cars in the "Tesla Motors" division and stationary battery packs for household, commercial and utility scale projects in the "Tesla Energy" division.

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