OneD Battery Sciences has shut down its pilot manufacturing facility in the Eastern Washington town of Moses Lake, according to The Information. Former OneD employees are also sharing “open to work” posts on LinkedIn.
Just nine months ago, the California battery company announced it had successfully completed and commissioned the site, which was producing SINANODE, a silicon anode product for next gen batteries.
“This milestone marks an important step forward in scaling up the production of OneD’s SINANODE materials for the global battery market,” the company proclaimed in August 2024.
OneD invested somewhere between $15 million and $20 million in the Moses Lake facility, and had planned to produce 100 tons of silicon-graphite anode material annually. The company launched more than a decade ago and has raised nearly $100 million from investors. The Information also reported layoffs at OneD’s California location.
GeekWire has contacted OneD for a comment.
The Biden administration championed policies supporting the expansion of U.S. battery manufacturing to power electric vehicles, grid batteries and other applications. Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has worked to undo many of those initiatives and is backing production of internal combustion vehicles.
Former OneD CEO Vincent Pluvinage told The Information that the Trump administration’s tariff war was at least partially to blame for the closure as the policy is driving down EV demand. OneD has a partnership with General Motors on R&D with the possibility of GM using the technology in its EV batteries.
Last month, Group14 Technologies, a Woodinville, Wash., battery company that is building a larger manufacturing site in Moses Lake, shared that it was slowing but not stopping construction, the Columbia Basin Herald reported.
“Given ongoing tariff and trade uncertainty, we’re simply taking a more deliberate approach to the final stages of construction. Global demand for SCC55 [Group14’s silicon anode material] remains incredibly strong, and we’re continuing to move quickly everywhere it makes sense, to support our customers worldwide,” Group14 CEO Rick Luebbe told GeekWire by email.
The company still expects its facility to come online in the second half of the year, Luebbe said.
On Monday the Trump administration and Chinese government announced that they would suspend their heightened tariffs for 90 days. The U.S. is cutting the tariff on Chinese goods to 30% from its current 145%, and China is dropping its tariff down to 10% from a previously rate of 125%.
Less than three hours from Seattle, Moses Lake was a draw for battery businesses OneD and Group14, as well as California-based Sila Nanotechnologies.
“I think it’s good to have competition,” Jan-Marc Luchies, chief operating officer for OneD, told GeekWire in October 2023 as the company was breaking ground.
“At the same time, I think we are very efficient with our money, so we don’t spend that much money in this phase,” he added. “And I strongly believe our product is also better.”
REC Silicon, a silicon manufacturing company that ceased its own operations in Moses Lake earlier this year, talked about troubles for silicon anode companies on its earnings call last week. REC Silicon CEO Curt Levens noted a “smaller” company had “recently” closed down its facility in Moses Lake, but did not name OneD.
Last month Sila announced the start of the commissioning phase for Moses Lake plant, which will be its first auto-scale manufacturing facility. The California company said it remains on track to start begin producing silicon anode materials in the second half of this year.
Both Sila and Group14 received $100 million from the Department of Energy to support the manufacturing facilities.
In September, Group14 announced a new DOE grant to build a silane factory that will produce a gas essential for silicon battery manufacturing.
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