Recently, PowerCo, a battery company under the Volkswagen Group, announced a breakthrough agreement with QuantumScape, a solid-state battery manufacturer, to industrialize QuantumScape's next-generation solid-state lithium metal battery technology.
After achieving certain progress in QuantumScape's solid-state battery technology, PowerCo will obtain a license to mass produce batteries based on the QuantumScape technology platform and pay royalties. According to the non exclusive licensing agreement signed by both parties, PowerCo can use QuantumScape's technology to produce up to 40GWh of batteries annually, and can choose to expand production to 80GWh, enough to provide batteries for approximately 1 million cars.
The two companies believe that this approach is the fastest way to achieve large-scale production of solid-state batteries to meet the growing global demand for better performing electric vehicle batteries. The two companies will dispatch experts to form a dedicated team to carry out industrialization activities, hoping to integrate a product into Volkswagen Group's vehicles.
It should be pointed out that the agreement signed by both parties replaces the battery production joint venture established earlier by Volkswagen Group and QuantumScape. In 2018, Volkswagen Group announced a $100 million investment in QuantumScape and established a battery joint venture with it. Volkswagen Group remains the largest shareholder of QuantumScape, holding 17% of its shares and currently valued at $459 million.
Compared to liquid batteries, solid-state batteries can store more energy. Automakers and analysts expect that solid-state batteries can solve the problem of limited range and accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. At present, limited range remains a major pain point for the popularization of electric vehicles.
PowerCo CEO Frank Blome stated that QuantumScape's technology is about to enter a critical phase, and PowerCo's expertise, resources, and global factory layout can drive its transition to mass production.
Dr. Siva Sivaram, CEO and President of QuantumScape, said, "PowerCo is our first customer, and working closely with them will help us accelerate the commercialization and application of solid-state batteries