To assess the potential of carbon silicon composite anodes for automotive applications, C–Si anodes were fabricated and certain improvements employed. The use of a PVDF buffer layer is demonstrated for the first time with a C–Si composite material. The buffer layer increases adhesion by 89%, and increases capacity by 50–80%. Also, a limited capacity range is employed to improve cycle life by up to 200%, and enable currents as high as 2 mA cm−1. The combined use of a buffer layer and limited capacity range has not been reported before. A model is also presented for comparing C–Si performance with real-world automotive targets from USABC, including energy density, power density, specific energy, and specific power. The analysis reveals a capacity penalty that arises from pairing C–Si with a traditional cathode (NCA), and which prevents the cell from meeting all targets. Scenarios are presented in which a higher-capacity cathode (250 mAh g−1) allows all targets to be hypothetically met.