Story at a glance
- California-based QuantumScape manufactures solid-state batteries that reportedly charge faster than other EV batteries.
- It went public in November and is backed by Volkswagen.
A battery company startup that names power players like Volkswagen AG and Bill Gates as investors recently said that its batteries can charge up to 80 percent of its full power within 15 minutes, Bloomberg reports.
That would make it almost twice as fast as the Tesla Model 3 battery.
While performance data has yet to be tested, the company, QuantumScape, could offer roughly 50 percent more miles than a comparable electric car with standard battery technology.
However promising this battery might sound for the sustainable vehicle and transportation movement, the fledgling company has yet to prove it can manufacture its products en masse.
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QuantunScape, based in San Jose, Calif., saw its stock jump by about 20 percent on Wednesday following the release of its performance data. It specializes in manufacturing solid-state batteries that use solid materials, as their name implies, rather than flammable liquids that let a battery charge and run.
Notably, QuantumScape’s batteries use an electrolyte gel in only half of a standard lithium-ion battery.
This technology makes battery-powered vehicles competitive with standard gas-powered cars.
Bloomberg notes that to become viable financially and commercially, the batteries have to be developed on a standard production line and built bigger.
Still, industry experts are optimistic about QuantumScape’s product.
“I’ve not seen data this good anywhere else,” Stan Whittingham, a professor of chemistry at Binghamton University in New York and co-winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry reportedly said at a panel on Tuesday. “You just have to make the cells bigger, get them into cars.”
QuantumScape went public in November. It estimates that it will cost about $1.6 billion to build its first battery factory, which it will construct with Volkswagen. The first cells are slated to be produced in 2024.
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Published on Dec 10,2020