Amprius taps CAMINUS for US silicon-anode pouch cell output

CAMINUS will manufacture pouch cells designed by Amprius at its Indianapolis plant. The agreement covers the whole production sequence, from partial assembly of components that Amprius supplies through to complete cell production. Different cell formats can enter production in stages, matched to each format’s volume and qualification status.

Qualification builds are running, and volume production is planned for the first quarter of 2027. The structure follows Amprius’s contract manufacturing strategy, which the company uses to add capacity with limited capital investment.

Adrian Yao, founder and CEO of CAMINUS, describes manufacturing execution as a bottleneck in Western supply chains and says his company can offer near-immediate capacity. Ronnie Tao, Chief Business Officer at Amprius, names a resilient supply chain compliant with the NDAA as a core element of the company’s work for defense customers.

The Indianapolis facility covers 92,000 square feet and is expanding. It is vertically integrated from powder to cell, with slurry mixing, electrode coating, automated cell assembly and formation. CAMINUS says this setup allows it to supply cells conforming to NDAA Section 842 for defense and unmanned programs.

Why it matters

Amprius is headquartered in Fremont, California, where it operates a research lab and a pilot line for silicon anodes and cells. It depends on contract manufacturers to scale output. Its SiCore pouch cells, among them the SA02 and SA03, target drones and other electric-mobility uses. Domestic capacity is also behind Amprius’s grant for a US battery-line conversion.

The Indianapolis-based company makes cells for robotics, autonomous platforms, defense, critical infrastructure and uncrewed systems, in both high-power and high-energy variants. Contract manufacturing, from toll electrode coating to finished cells, is one of its two business lines, next to its own cell and pack products.

For integrators of large UAS and eVTOL aircraft who sell into defense programs, a US production site for silicon-anode cells bears directly on supply-chain compliance and on how soon qualified cells can ship in volume.