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>>> QuantumScape (QS) Is ‘Hitting a Home Run’ in Battery Technology. Its Stock Soars.


Barron's

Dec. 8, 2020

By Al Root


https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/quantumscape-hitting-home-run-in-battery-technology-stock-soars-51607463327?mod=mw_more_headlines


QuantumScape is aiming to build a solid-state EV battery that is better than the lithium-ion ones used today.

Experts called data from solid-state battery start-up QuantumScape a home run. That vote of confidence is helping shares add to recent gains.

QuantumScape (ticker: QS) conducted a virtual battery showcase on Tuesday, giving investors and analysts a chance to examine the technology Quantum has developed and learn which solid-state battery technologies haven’t worked so far.

QuantumScape didn’t call out competition by name but management did point out that other attempts involving different types of cell separators, including polymers and sulfides, haven’t panned out.

The company’s flexible ceramic separator might be the biggest breakthrough Quantum extolled on Tuesday, without giving away its trade secrets.

That separator allows Quantum’s batteries to withstand the automotive electric-current loads and conditions—at what can be considered normal operating temperatures and pressures—without failing. There are a lot of complicated technical details behind that claim.

The technical nature of the discussion might be why the company assembled a seven-member panel of battery experts to listen to and comment on the data. The “aha” moment appeared to be statements about plating 15 microns of lithium in 15 minutes at a current density of 16 milliamperes per centimeter squared.

There is a lot to unpack there. Amps are the basic unit of electrical current, or the flow of electricity. At higher currents, batteries can fail. In fact, when investors have the chance to review other data from battery competitors, they can ask what current densities have been achieved without failure. Something below 16 milliamperes per centimeter squared isn’t going to cut it for automotive applications.

On the panel were Jugen Leohold, professor and former head of Volkswagen Research, Tesla (TSLA) co-founder J.B. Straubel, and Stan Whittingham, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on lithium-ion batteries. There were others representing Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Maryland.

They all appeared impressed with the rapid charging and battery longevity cited by Quantum. It said its batteries can reach 80% of full charge in 15 minutes. The company also said it has reached 800 cycles without battery degradation.

Quantum showed that 800 charge cycles should correspond to about 240,000 miles of driving.

“It’s been almost half a century since we built the first lithium batteries at Exxon [XOM],” Whittingham said. “I’m very encouraged by what I heard in the last few days…this will be a breakthrough for electric vehicles as well as other storage.”

Quantum is “hitting a home run,” said Paul Albertus of the University of Maryland. “They ultimately need to achieve something like a grand slam to bring this technology to market.”

All the data presented were based on Quantum’s single-layer pouch cells. They look like playing cards. The next step is to build and test a deck of cards. The deck will be the basic unit of battery power in an EV and many decks will provide a vehicle with its designed power and range. Going from the playing cards to the stacks of card decks would be the “grand slam.”

Volkswagen (VOW.Germany) is helping Quantum with manufacturing, as well as testing cells in its vehicles.

QuantumScape stock jumped 31% to $57.90. Shares are up almost 185% over the past three months, far better than comparable numbers for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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