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Company type | Public |
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ISIN | US74767V1098 |
Industry | Electric batteries |
Founded | May 14, 2010 at Stanford University |
Founders |
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Headquarters | San Jose, California, U.S. |
Key people | Jagdeep Singh (Chairman), Dr. Siva Sivaram (CEO) [1] |
Number of employees | 850 (2023) [2] |
Website | www |
QuantumScape is an American company that develops solid-state rechargeable lithium metal batteries for electric cars. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California and employs around 850 people. [2] Investors include Bill Gates and Volkswagen. [3]
QuantumScape was founded in 2010 by Jagdeep Singh, Tim Holme and Professor Fritz Prinz of Stanford University. [4] In 2012, QuantumScape began working with German automaker Volkswagen.
In 2018, Volkswagen invested $100 million in the company, becoming the largest shareholder. In the same year, Volkswagen and QuantumScape announced the establishment of a joint production project to prepare for mass production of solid-state batteries. [3] In June 2020, Volkswagen invested an additional $200 million. [5]
In 2020, QuantumScape merged with the special-purpose acquisition company Kensington Capital Acquisition. As a result of the merger, QuantumScape received $1 billion in financing, from investors including Volkswagen and the Qatar Investment Authority. [3] At the same time, the company's shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol QS. [6] In the last quarter of 2020, QuantumScape briefly surpassed the valuation of Ford Motor Co. without a commercial product and without revenue. [7]
On April 15, 2021, hedge fund Scorpion Capital announced their short position in the stock, labeling the company a pump-and-dump scheme. [8]
On June 26, 2022, the company announced the production of a solid-state battery with a range of 650 km and a charge time of 15 minutes. [9]
At the beginning of 2024, Volkswagen and QuantumScape presented a battery prototype in a press release based on the technologies developed by QuantumScape, which has 1000 charging cycles with only 5% capacity loss and an energy density that is at least a third higher. [10] In July 2024, VW PowerCo and QS announced an agreement for volume production. The initial goal is 40 gigawatt-hours’ worth of batteries per year. [11]
The battery uses a lithium metal anode. The solid-state ceramic separator prevents dendrites and does not react with lithium. An organic liquid electrolyte then envelops the cathode. [11]
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