On the afternoon of May 11 (EDT), solid-state battery company QuantumScape (QS.US) reported first-quarter results for 2021. QS reported a net loss of $75.089 million (483 million yuan) in the first quarter, compared with a net loss of $15.378 million (99 million yuan) in the same period last year.
Founded in 2010, QuantumScape was listed backdoor at the end of last year, specializing in solid-state battery research and production, with a large number of solid-state battery technology patents and patent applications.
QuantumScape spent $29.465 million (190 million yuan) on research and development in the first quarter, up 121% from a year earlier, while general and management expenses were $15.21 million, compared with $2.569 million in the same period last year, according to the financial report.
QuantumScape also expects cash expenditures for operations and capital expenditures to be between $260 million and $320 million for all of 2021, and its solid-state batteries will be commercially produced between 2024 and 2025.
In addition, in March, foreign media reported that QuantumScape was seeking to raise up to $859 million to expand its battery pilot production line.
It is reported that investors in QuantumScape include Volkswagen, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, SAIC Group, Continental Group and so on.
According to public data, Volkswagen has been working with QuantumScape since 2012; in 2014, Volkswagen already owned 5% of QuantumScape; in 2018, Volkswagen Group announced that it had invested US $100 million in QuantumScape to become the largest shareholder of QuantumScape, and announced that the two sides would set up a joint venture company, hoping to achieve industrial production of solid-state batteries and establish a solid-state battery production line in 2025. In June 2020, Volkswagen announced an additional $200m for QuantumScape to further develop solid-state batteries.
In April, foreign media reported that QuantumScape had successfully tested the latest generation of solid-state lithium metal batteries in its German laboratory and delivered batteries for further testing to Volkswagen manufacturers, thus receiving another $100m investment from Volkswagen.
In addition, in addition to Volkswagen, there are BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota and other multinational car companies are investing in solid-state batteries. Among them, BMW Group recently announced that it and Ford and other partners have expanded their joint development agreement with manufacturer Solid Power and invested 130 million US dollars, with the goal of applying low-cost, high-energy solid-state battery technology to future electric vehicles.
