Due to the recognition of the test results of solid-state battery samples by Volkswagen Group, the stock price of American battery company Quantum Scape (QS. NYSE) surged by more than 40% in one trading day.
On January 4th local time, PowerCo, a battery company under the Volkswagen Group, announced that the solid-state battery samples provided by QuantumScape have passed its first durability test.
This solid-state battery has successfully completed over 1000 charge and discharge cycles, and there has been almost no degradation in the battery. At the end of the test, it still maintained 95% capacity. PowerCo has not disclosed any other performance indicators of the solid-state battery.
Affected by this news, QuantumScape's stock price rose 43.08% on the same day and closed at $9.3.
The above test was conducted at PowerCo's battery laboratory in Salzgit and has been ongoing for several months. QuantumScape's shareholder letter for the third quarter of 2023, released in October last year, disclosed the aforementioned durability performance of its solid-state batteries.
In the standardized testing of developing new batteries, durability is considered one of the most important indicators. The industry standard for this test is that the maximum capacity loss of the battery is 20% after 700 charge discharge cycles. The test results of QuantumScape solid-state batteries are significantly higher than this indicator.
According to PowerCo, for electric vehicles with a range of 500-600 kilometers, charging and discharging more than 1000 times is equivalent to a total driving range of over 500000 kilometers. The above durability tests indicate that electric vehicles equipped with this solid-state battery will not experience a significant decrease in range.
Electric vehicles that combine long range, high safety, and fast charging are the industry's pursuit, and solid-state batteries are considered the ultimate solution to achieve this goal.
Solid state batteries and liquid state batteries are both branches of lithium batteries, with the main difference being the use of electrolytes. Both use solid and liquid electrolyte materials, respectively.
Jagdeep Singh, founder and CEO of Quantum Scape, commented on the test results and stated that under similar testing conditions, no other solid-state battery has achieved such high durability.
But he also mentioned that there is still a lot of work to be done to truly push this solid-state battery technology to the market.
PowerCo CEO Frank Blome commented that this test result is a milestone in the mass production of solid-state batteries and will continue to strengthen cooperation with Quantum Scape to promote mass production of solid-state batteries.
Volkswagen Group has been cooperating with QuantumScape since 2012 and is one of the main investors in this solid-state battery manufacturer, with investments of hundreds of millions of dollars.
At the end of 2022, QuantumScape announced to the public that it had provided automotive customers with samples of all solid-state batteries, which are close to full-size automotive cells and can be used for mass production testing. QuantumScape did not disclose the name of the client, but there is widespread speculation that it is likely Volkswagen Group.
Toyota is a global leader in solid-state battery research and development, with over 1000 related patents. At the beginning of last year, Toyota announced its latest plan for the commercialization of solid-state batteries. As early as 2027, the company will launch electric vehicles equipped with solid-state batteries into the market.
Compared to Toyota, which has set a high-profile production schedule for solid-state battery models, Chinese companies have used semi-solid batteries as a starting point for commercialization of solid-state batteries. Currently, most of the progress announced is focused on semi-solid batteries.
Compared to all solid state batteries that use solid electrolytes, semi-solid state batteries still use a certain proportion of liquid electrolytes, which is considered to combine the characteristics of easy mass production of liquid batteries and high safety of solid state batteries.
Last December, Weilan New Energy revealed to Interface News that it is expected to supply a batch of semi-solid batteries to NIO in April next year, with a battery capacity of 150 kWh. The specific scale will be determined based on NIO's demand. NIO released this semi-solid state battery in 2021, with an energy density of 360 Wh/kg and a range of over 1000 kilometers.
As of now, Ningde Times (300750. SZ), the world's largest power battery manufacturer, has not announced the research and development or mass production progress of all solid or semi-solid batteries.
Ningde Times Chairman Zeng Yuqun stated throughout the year that there are still many fundamental scientific and technological issues that need to be solved for all solid and semi-solid batteries. The company has been deeply cultivating for more than ten years and still believes that it is difficult to form products with technical feasibility and market competitiveness.