QuantumScape Corp (QS.US), a US solid-state lithium battery maker, is seen as a leader in solid-state batteries with the support of well-known companies and business people such as Volkswagen, SAIC and Bill Gates.
Shares in QuantumScape Corp jumped more than 14 per cent overnight after it revealed to the Securities and Exchange Commission a new partnership with another of the world's top 10 automakers to evaluate its solid-state battery prototype, Zhitong Financial APP learned.
It is reported that the deal also includes an element that the carmaker will buy 10MWh batteries from QuantumScape's pilot production line. However, QuantumScape declined to identify the carmaker, but said it was one of the top 10 automakers in the world by revenue.
The unnamed carmaker has apparently evaluated QuantumScape's early batteries and will evaluate advanced solid-state battery prototypes. The manufacturer will also buy about 10 megawatt-hours (MWh) of batteries from QuantumScape's QS-0 pilot production line, which is expected to start production in 2023. The deal should give QuantumScape investors some confidence that the secretive start-up is making progress. QuantumScape has never publicly demonstrated any prototype, and the last significant update to its technology was in December 2020.
To be sure, over the next few years, QuantumScape's stock will continue to move based on news catalysis rather than fundamentals. The company plans to start providing batteries for installation and testing on mass-produced cars in 2025, and only after that can we see meaningful revenue. At the same time, key factors driving up the company's share price include the company's deal with the car giant and the company's progress in defect-free mass production of batteries.
QuantumScape has already reached a partnership with German car giant Volkswagen Group to build a joint venture to build a pilot battery manufacturing plant that will start producing solid-state batteries from 2024 and will provide them to other automakers in the future.
It is worth mentioning that Toyota recently announced an investment of more than $13.5 billion in batteries to develop next-generation batteries, including solid-state batteries. Industry insiders point out that the world's largest carmaker's big bet on solid-state batteries could boost the battery industry as a whole.
In May, Samsung announced that it would develop large all-solid-state cells and prototype all-solid-state cells by 2025 and begin mass production in 2027. In the world, Samsung has the second largest number of international patents related to all-solid-state batteries after Toyota.
In fact, solid-state batteries are often regarded as the holy grail of the battery industry. Now, with Toyota, the world's largest carmaker, investing heavily, competition in this area will also become fiercer.
Compared with lithium-ion batteries, QuantumScape batteries have significant advantages, including:
It takes 60 minutes to charge an ordinary lithium-ion battery from 10% to 80%, while a QuantumScape battery can charge 0% to 80% quickly in less than 15 minutes. The production cost of the battery is estimated to be 17% lower than that of ordinary lithium-ion batteries.
Compared with the ordinary lithium-ion battery, its energy density is more than 80% higher, the range is significantly increased, the vehicle mileage is expected to be increased by 50-80%, and the battery life is significantly extended. QuantumScape single-layer batteries have shown that the median energy retention is more than 90 per cent at more than 1000 cycles.
According to QuantumScape, the company is expected to push the delivery prototype to a commercial promotion model of dozens of layers by 2022 and enter commercial production between 2024 and 2025.