Amprius

Amprius develops silicon anodes for lithium-ion batteries as an alternative to graphite anodes. The company states that its patented technology has overcome the “swelling” problem of silicon (silicon anodes swell when charging and risk breaking the battery). Amprius’ silicon nanowire technology is based on research done by scientists at Stanford University.

Amprius states that its silicon anode battery is the highest energy density battery in the world and could improve the current EV ranges nearly twofold. In February 2022, Amprius announced the shipment of the first commercially available 450 Wh/kg lithium-ion battery cells to an undisclosed industry leader in high-altitude pseudo satellites (in comparison, the energy density of highest-density lithium-ion batteries is around 250 Wh/kg–270 Wh/kg). Other use cases of the company’s batteries include smartphones, wearables, drones, robotics, EVs, and military equipment.

Amprius has been manufacturing high-energy density batteries at its Fremont, California facility since 2018. In March 2023,, the company selected a 775,000 sq. ft. site in Brighton, Colorado to be its next manufacturing plant for lithium-ion batteries. The factory, which is expected to be operational in 2025, will have an initial capacity of 500 MWh.

Key customers and partnerships

The company has partnerships with Airbus Zephyr Programme, Kraus Hamdani Aerospace, Teledyne FLIR and the US Army to develop high-density batteries for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). In October 2022, the company partnered with BAE Systems to deliver batteries for electrically powered flight applications and identify opportunities to use batteries for products developed by BAE Systems.

Funding and financials

In September 2022, Amprius was listed on the NYSE stock exchange, which resulted in gross proceeds of approximately USD 87 million. The company is expected to use these funds for the construction of its gigawatt hour-scale manufacturing facility. In October 2022, the company was awarded a USD 1 million grant from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Manufacturing Office to continue to advance the high-volume manufacturing process for its nanowire-based silicon anodes, through the use of a deposition system currently used for manufacturing solar cells. During the same month, Amprius was awarded a USD 50 million cost-sharing grant from the US Department of Energy under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Prior to this, in May 2022, Amprius was awarded a USD 3 million contract from the US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) to develop low-cost, fast-charge (LCFC) silicon nanowire battery technology.