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There's a lot of news around. I hope you didn't miss the news on what's probably THE next big battery breakthrough.
Meet QuantumScape, which went public today via a SPAC, at a valuation of $3.3 billion.
Deal here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-03/vw-battery-partner-quantumscape-to-list-after-blank-check-deal?sref=jjXJRDFv
Why "breakthrough" in thread
Meet QuantumScape, which went public today via a SPAC, at a valuation of $3.3 billion.
Deal here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-03/vw-battery-partner-quantumscape-to-list-after-blank-check-deal?sref=jjXJRDFv
Why "breakthrough" in thread
The basics first. Every battery has three major components: two electrodes (anode and cathode) and electrolyte to shuttle charge between the electrodes.
Electrodes determine how much energy batteries can store and electrolytes typically determine how long the battery lasts
Electrodes determine how much energy batteries can store and electrolytes typically determine how long the battery lasts
For the last 30 years, we've had the same anode (graphite), tinkered with making ever more energy dense cathodes (which typically contain some nickel and cobalt), and tweaked electrolytes ever so slightly.
QuantumScape overcomes TWO major challenges.
QuantumScape overcomes TWO major challenges.
QuantumScape says it will have a lithium-metal anode AND it will replace the liquid electrolyte with a solid electrolyte. Combined that could mean a car that has a range that's 50% more than what we have now and that can charge up to 80% in 15 minutes.
It's been decades of work getting here. Lithium-metal battery was the OG battery invented in the 1970s, but it kept catching fire. Because lithium-metal is the most dangerous metal in the universe.
Below is a tiny bit of sodium. That much lithium would cause an explosion.
Below is a tiny bit of sodium. That much lithium would cause an explosion.
The thing causing lithium-metal batteries to fail was liquid electrolyte. Lithium metal loves to create all kinds of weird things in liquids, called dendrites. Too many dendrites and the battery can get shorted, causing fire.
The answer: solid-state electrolyte.
The answer: solid-state electrolyte.
Going from liquid to solid is hard. You need to make sure charged particles flow without any resistance. It's the difference between swimming in water and swimming in a pool of soft balls.
That's why QuantumScape has such a high valuation and investors like @Breakthrough.
That's why QuantumScape has such a high valuation and investors like @Breakthrough.
If you make it work, however, you don't just get a battery that can pack in more energy and host a lithium-metal anode, but also one that is much safer. As we learned, liquid electrolytes are typically culprits in causing battery fires. With solid-state, that risk falls a lot.
Bonus breakthrough: QS will build a battery without any anode. All the lithium will be in the cathode material. When the battery is first charged, lithium ions will travel through the solid electrolyte and create the anode.
Pellion reached it first. https://qz.com/1349245/the-next-major-innovation-in-batteries-might-be-here/
Pellion reached it first. https://qz.com/1349245/the-next-major-innovation-in-batteries-might-be-here/
Those are the claims of CEO Jagdeep Singh, who told CNBC that QS "has addressed most of the science risks".
No guarantee still, of course. But the company has raised $800 million and VW is betting on QS battery in cars by 2025. A lot is on the line.
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2020/09/03/quantumscape-ceo-spac-electric-vehicle-battery-supplier-squawk-box.html
No guarantee still, of course. But the company has raised $800 million and VW is betting on QS battery in cars by 2025. A lot is on the line.
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2020/09/03/quantumscape-ceo-spac-electric-vehicle-battery-supplier-squawk-box.html
I nerd out a lot more in this @qz feature. https://qz.com/1588236/how-we-get-to-the-next-big-battery-breakthrough/
