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Volkswagen is investing USD$100m in QuantumScape to accelerate the commercialization of its solid-state battery business.
Solid-state batteries are a rival technology to lithium-ion batteries with advantages such as higher energy density, enhanced safety, fast-charging capability and significantly less space requirements.
A successful solid state battery could potentially decrease the need for cobalt. Materials being tested to run solid-state batteries include ceramics, glass and lithium sulfide.
QuantumScape’s CEO touted the investment.
“Volkswagen is the world’s largest automotive manufacturer and leads the industry in its commitment to electrification of its fleet,” says Jagdeep Singh, CEO of QuantumScape, in a news release.
“We are thrilled to be chosen by Volkswagen to power this transition. We think the higher range, faster charge times, and inherent safety of QuantumScape’s solid-state technology will be a key enabler for the next generation of electrified powertrains.”
The Stanford spin-off says it plans to establish a production line for solid-state batteries by 2025.
Honda, BMW, Nissan and Toyota have all announced various partnerships and research initiatives to push solid-state battery technology forward to commercialization.
Creative Commons image courtesy of Dennis Wong
2 Comments
GPEKS
With advances in technology, battery costs have dropped in the past three years by about 2/3 to around US$200 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) early 2018. For a top-end car, the battery cost drops from around US$45,000 to around US$15,000. Bloomberg New Energy Finance has published in May a report that shows battery costs dropping to $39 by the time batteries installed on current models will need to be replaced. At that time, the used batteries will also find a market for their second life for grid application and recharging infrastructure applications, as done by Renault in France.
Karin Hall
Will the Volkswagen battery fiasco be larger than the Diesel Emissions scandal? Only time will tell.