--- title: Sila lands $1.4B Pentagon loan as militaries demand more... description: Sila Nanotechnologies has secured a $1.4 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Defense to expand production of its silicon-carbon battery anode material at... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/sila-lands-1-4b-pentagon-loan-as-militaries-demand-more-batteries-mjqvxj7zy twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Sila lands $1.4B Pentagon loan as militaries demand more batteries | daily.dev og:description: Sila Nanotechnologies has secured a $1.4 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Defense to expand production of its silicon-carbon battery anode material at... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/sila-lands-1-4b-pentagon-loan-as-militaries-demand-more-batteries-mjqvxj7zy og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/mJQVxj7ZY.png og:image:alt: Sila lands $1.4B Pentagon loan as militaries demand more batteries og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Sila lands $1.4B Pentagon loan as militaries demand more batteries **[TechCrunch](https://daily.dev/sources/tc)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Sila Nanotechnologies has secured a $1.4 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Defense to expand production of its silicon-carbon battery anode material at its Moses Lake, Washington factory. The funding addresses growing demand for battery materials sourced outside China, where most graphite anode supply chains are concentrated. Silicon anodes offer 20–40% greater energy density than graphite, making them attractive for EVs, drones, and defense applications. The factory currently produces ~2 GWh of anode material annually; the expansion aims for a fivefold increase, enough for over 100,000 EVs. Sila also raised $300M in private funding in July and has existing deals with Mercedes and Panasonic. The Pentagon simultaneously announced loans to three other companies targeting scandium mining, rare-earth-free magnets, and bauxite. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How much more energy can silicon anodes store compared to graphite anodes? Silicon anodes can store 20% to 40% more electricity than graphite anodes. This improved energy density enables either longer-lasting battery cells or smaller, lighter batteries — both valuable for defense applications like drones and for EV mobility. Multiple companies including Sila, Group14, and Amprius are pursuing silicon anode technology as an alternative to graphite, whose supply chain is dominated by Chinese companies. _Engineers evaluating battery material choices for EVs or defense hardware track developments like this on daily.dev._ ### What is the current production capacity of Sila's Moses Lake Washington factory? Sila's Moses Lake, Washington factory, which began operating in September, can currently produce about 2 gigawatt-hours of anode material annually. Sila is working to expand the factory fivefold, which would allow it to produce enough silicon-carbon anode material for more than 100,000 EVs per year. _Teams building battery supply chain strategies can follow capacity and funding milestones like these on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Sila raises $300M to fast-track gigascale anode production and shore up US battery supply chains](https://daily.dev/posts/sila-raises-300m-to-fast-track-gigascale-anode-production-and-shore-up-us-battery-supply-chains-ct7m0x9w7) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Bucking EV slowdown, Sila raises $300M to expand battery materials factory](https://daily.dev/posts/bucking-ev-slowdown-sila-raises-300m-to-expand-battery-materials-factory-kv2fifbvg) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Group14 opens factory to produce battery materials for flash charging EVs](https://daily.dev/posts/group14-opens-factory-to-produce-battery-materials-for-flash-charging-evs-bf1ttju1m) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Material’s Printed Batteries Put Power in Every Nook and Cranny](https://daily.dev/posts/material-s-printed-batteries-put-power-in-every-nook-and-cranny-oqgxfqgy5) · IEEE Spectrum · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [This graphite-free battery could break China’s grip on the EV supply chain](https://daily.dev/posts/this-graphite-free-battery-could-break-china-s-grip-on-the-ev-supply-chain-uwmsfzmvm) · The Next Web · 4 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/sila-lands-1-4b-pentagon-loan-as-militaries-demand-more-batteries-mjqvxj7zy) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Sila lands $1.4B Pentagon loan as militaries demand more batteries","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/sila-lands-1-4b-pentagon-loan-as-militaries-demand-more-batteries-mjqvxj7zy","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/sila-lands-1-4b-pentagon-loan-as-militaries-demand-more-batteries-mjqvxj7zy"},"datePublished":"2026-08-10T15:25:39.027Z","dateModified":"2026-08-10T18:15:36.504Z","description":"Sila Nanotechnologies has secured a $1.4 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Defense to expand production of its silicon-carbon battery anode material at...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/b8faa5e70f37faa3529986166c6995cc?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/b8faa5e70f37faa3529986166c6995cc?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"TechCrunch","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TechCrunch","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tc","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tc"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/sila-lands-1-4b-pentagon-loan-as-militaries-demand-more-batteries-mjqvxj7zy","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TechCrunch","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tc"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Sila lands $1.4B Pentagon loan as militaries demand more batteries"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/sila-lands-1-4b-pentagon-loan-as-militaries-demand-more-batteries-mjqvxj7zy#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How much more energy can silicon anodes store compared to graphite anodes?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Silicon anodes can store 20% to 40% more electricity than graphite anodes. This improved energy density enables either longer-lasting battery cells or smaller, lighter batteries — both valuable for defense applications like drones and for EV mobility. Multiple companies including Sila, Group14, and Amprius are pursuing silicon anode technology as an alternative to graphite, whose supply chain is dominated by Chinese companies. Engineers evaluating battery material choices for EVs or defense hardware track developments like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the current production capacity of Sila's Moses Lake Washington factory?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Sila's Moses Lake, Washington factory, which began operating in September, can currently produce about 2 gigawatt-hours of anode material annually. Sila is working to expand the factory fivefold, which would allow it to produce enough silicon-carbon anode material for more than 100,000 EVs per year. 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