PowerCo, the battery company founded by VW Group, has confirmed that QuantumScape’s solid-state battery cells have passed their first endurance test. VW has been working with and investing in the US-based solid-state battery developer for over a decade, in the hope of bringing its battery technology to market. According to PowerCo, A-sample tests on the cells completed 1,000 charging cycles. Furthermore, the cells suffered minimal degradation over the tests and still retained 95% capacity.
PowerCo CEO Frank Blome stated, “These are very encouraging results that impressively underpin the potential of the solid-state cell. The final result of this development could be a battery cell that enables long ranges, can be charged super quickly and practically does not age. We are convinced of the solid-state cell and are continuing to work at full speed with our partner QuantumScape toward series production.”
The industry-standard targets for such tests are 700 charging cycles and a maximum capacity loss of 20%. QuantumScape’s solid-state cell significantly exceeded these specifications in the latest test. The cell was also able to meet the requirements for other test criteria such as fast-charging capability, safety and self-discharge.
Commenting on the test results, Jagdeep Singh, founder and CEO of QuantumScape, said, “These results from the Volkswagen Group’s PowerCo testing make clear that QuantumScape’s anodeless solid-state lithium-metal cells are capable of exceptional performance. While we have more work to do to bring this technology to market, we are not aware of any other automotive-format lithium-metal battery that has shown such high discharge energy retention over a comparable cycle count under similar conditions. We’re excited to be working closely with the Volkswagen Group and PowerCo to industrialize this technology and bring it to market as quickly as possible.”
The tested solid-state cell consisted of 24 layers, corresponding to the planned series cell. The companies’ next stated goal is to scale the manufacturing process for the cells.
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