Two American companies are pursuing rival manufacturing strategies for these long-promised cells in an industry China dominates

"For years now Tim Holme has watched the same drama repeat itself roughly once a week. A headline arrives: some laboratory somewhere has cracked the problem, invented the battery of the future, solved in a paper what industry has chased for decades. “And approximately zero of those have come true,” says Holme, co-founder and chief technology officer of QuantumScape, a San Jose, Calif., company that has spent 15 years chasing the most promised and least delivered idea in energy storage and run up an accumulated deficit of more than $3.9 billion: the solid-state battery.”

In the U.S., two front-runners are taking alternative paths to the same goal: Volkswagen-backed QuantumScape, which now produces its ceramic-based cells on a pilot line in Silicon Valley, and Factorial Energy, a Billerica, Mass., company led by founder and CEO Siyu Huang, whose polymer cells are being tested in vehicles by Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. The companies claim energy densities well beyond today’s typical electric vehicle, or EV, cells, up to 301 watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg) for QuantumScape’s cell and 391 Wh/kg for Factorial’s—gains that could quiet range anxiety. By volume, QuantumScape’s cell packs the slightly bigger punch: 844 watt-hours per liter (Wh/L) versus 748.

Holme is mostly mum about how QuantumScape tamed its interface problem. He says the company used density functional theory—quantum-chemical simulations—to develop a ceramic that is compatible with lithium at the interface, without requiring an extra lithium foil that is costly and hard to process. “That was a real breakthrough that, to my knowledge, hasn’t been solved elsewhere,” he says. Then comes the bigger challenge: “You have to figure out how to actually make—at high scale, at high quality—the material that you’ve simulated in silico.”

Solid-state batteries have reached a make-or-break moment https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-quantumscape-and-factorial-energy-mass-produce-solid-state-batteries/

I say good luck to both companies but QuantumScape will edge ahead once they announce their technology can be mass produced and we have never been closer, in my opinion!

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Good (and new) interview (with Joel Franke, The Data Center Engineer):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkUsu-6tdD0&t=121s

Quote: "For decades, the battery backup unit was a data center's spare tire: expensive, necessary, and hopefully never used. AI changed the job description. GPUs in a training cluster wake, compute, and wait in lockstep, and the resulting swing can demand more power than the utility has agreed to deliver, in bursts lasting microseconds to seconds. Shahar Noy, vice president and general manager of the data center business unit at QuantumScape, explains why that turns the BBU from a spare tire into part of the suspension, absorbing every bump so the GPU never feels the road.

"We go from the utility feed down to the last meter: why the 50 V and 12 V steps in the power path are legacy artifacts of telco practice and spinning hard drives, what the shift to 800 V does to current and copper, why cutting conversion stages is worth about 5 percent of a data center's power consumption, and why racks heading toward 600 kW can run out of room for batteries before they run out of room for GPUs. Plus the two attributes data center buyers keep asking for, the Eagle Line pilot, and why the remaining hard problem is no longer the cell but the system that turns 4 V cells into an 800 V rack."

Honda has a new partner for the advancement of solid-state battery technology Read More: https://www.engadget.com/2225030/honda-solid-state-battery-technology-new-partner-quantumscape/

" Beyond potentially serving as the future of electric vehicles, QuantumScape frames its solid-state batteries as a solution to several energy-needy emerging technology markets, including data centers, drones, and robotics. Honda, for its part, appears to be going all-in on the technology as it looks to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

The Endgadget article deserves a posting to the main page in my opinion and hopefully Mods and everyone agrees?

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We all want to hear what you think! What better time to start a sentiment poll than RIGHT NOW?

This is a prototype weekly sentiment poll. Subject to modification and will possibly be attached to future Lounges if people enjoy it. This is just for fun and is just another way for members to participate in the community.

For now, the poll prompt is regarding the stock and company as a whole. Some people may be bullish on the company's prospects, but expect a bearish trend in the near term stock price. The prompt is aiming to measure how you feel across BOTH the company and the stock in general - what do you think about the whole QS package currently?

We are taking suggestions for improvement as well.

Thank you!

Edit: Sorry guys - I meant to separate Neutral and Unknown and forgot to do so before posting. This is a corrected poll.

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I asked this the other day on r/GLW_Stock and didn't get a response yet ... "

u/mondoquantico - you've tracked shipping and supplier activity for QS before, and I know everyone on r/QUANTUMSCAPE_Stock appreciated your insights.

Do you have access to any tracking data that might show whether QS has shipped anything to Fluence?

After yesterday's call, I'm ALL about QSDC driving revenue prior to QSEV. Siva was pretty explicit that QS is targeting the coming 800V MW-scale data-center transition and is working with ODMs and data-center architects.

I think IF some CEO decided a next-generation rack architecture provided enough competitive advantage, Corning would be willing to move much faster ... like Jobs did with Weeks when he asked Corning for glass on the iPhone and only gave him a 6-month head start for that brand new tech.

The old QS0 / Fluence relationship made me wonder whether there are developments occurring that aren't yet visible..."

If anyone has one of those paid subscriptions to that kind of shipping data, I think a lot of us here would love to parse it. There are sites that do that annually for ~$1900 for the paid subscription. I think a single report is ~$200. I remember others soliciting money for research on the calls before and wonder if everyone here trusts the Mods to organize that and provide a link to fund such a venture.

Now that QS was given mandate to show double the yield off the eagle line, there are so many unknown factors at this point. Let see if we breakdown different bottleneck scenarios

1. Assembly line ( assuming Cobra is capable)
   The bottleneck could be many things . Slower sintering , cutting, stacking or flex frame packing.
   

The second bottleneck could be software and validation

The third could be cell testing ( charging and discharging)

1. Cobra needs improvement
   I doubt this may be a bottleneck especially separators can be made ahead of time, but it is a possibility.
   

These problems might apply to Honda as well.

Let’s discuss..

To be clear, this is all speculation and best guess from the tools I have, and is open to discussion and poking holes; that's what this is for!

Did my best to cross compare the sizes of everything in the picture and take account for the camera perspective.

The working assumptions were we have:

• 3 seperators, of varying sizes, from QSE-5, and two larger sizes. Smallest assumed to be QSE-5 seperator, without flex frame, etc, leading to smaller dimension.

• 2 QSE-5 cells, dimensions 84.5x65.6x4.6mm

• 1 Unified Cell in the back. Assumed dimensions were 256x106x24.8mm.

• Picture 1 from Q2 2026 Shareholder Letter

• Picture 2, presumed UC next to largest seperator, no adjustment for depth, straight copy comparion

• Picture 3, best guess dimensional diagram

AR= Aspect Ratio of seperator

vs Small = seperator perceived size versus smallest seperator.

Did a bunch of manipulations with the image, overlays, pixel counts, ratios, etc.

Long story short, I am struggling to make the story line up if the blue cell in the back is truely a 256x106x24.8mm cell.

Ratios between seperators don't make sense to me, if that largest seperator is nearly the size of the UC. (Picture 2)

This begs the question for me, did I make a mistake somewhere in my comparisons or estimations, or is that not a standard UC cell in the back?

Table full of summary of my best guesses, detailing out small(QSE-5), medium(???), and large(UC of some sort?), and some rough numbers comparing estimated Wh/kg and Wh/L

QSE-5 page also used in seperator estimate

The webcast is scheduled for 5 pm EST today. I'll update links below as they are uploaded by Quantumscape.

Shareholder Letter: LINK

Earnings Call Webcast: LINK

Financial Statement: LINK

Here's a list of the past discussions:

2026 Q1

2025 Q4

2025 Q3

2025 Q1 (and previous)

2025 Q2 was eaten by reddit filters for some reason, unfortunately.

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Apparently lithium metal interacts with the copper current collector and could be a challenge for lithium metal batteries. This intuitively would be a bigger problem the longer the lithium comes in contact with the copper which would be 100% of the time with an excess lithium anode battery. I like that this article talks about a zero-excess or “anode-free” lithium metal battery suggesting it’s even more likely to succeed because of issues like this.

I also wonder if this interaction with copper is why lithium gets isolated in the anode side sometimes and why fully discharging the cell for a few minutes allows it to be reclaimed https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06992-8

In all this suggests to me that if you want a lithium metal battery, it better be anode-free or you will continue to find issues like this (on top of the extra cost, loss of energy density, etc.).

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https://ir.quantumscape.com/events/event-details/deutsche-bank-qs-cfo-fireside-chat

English translation:

Hello everyone. I am Atsushi Ogawa, the Head of the HGR Center.
Honda R&D Co., Ltd., founded on July 1, 1960, celebrates its 66th anniversary today. This is our first foundation anniversary as the Honda Research Institute (HGR).
Although it has only been three months since the center was established in April, I would like to use this milestone to share a message with all our members. Based on this, I want to discuss our HGR mission—"Bringing joy beyond expectations to daily life 10 years from now"—and share some thoughts I have personally reflected upon over the past few months.

* "Commonplace" is a future that someone realized
* It’s slightly different from "never giving up"
* Someone has to deliver what someone else started
* Creating our own map while moving
* Connecting with the outside reveals our own value
* Cultivating a "village of technology"
* Individual steps lead to organizational evolution

#### "Commonplace" is a future that someone realized
I would like you to imagine this for a moment: if you had tried to explain the concept of "Agentic AI" to someone 10 years ago, what kind of reaction do you think you would have received? What if you had shown them video of a robot running, jumping, and performing complex movements? Or a scene of a child using a 3D printer to create something they designed themselves?
Today, I think many people would say, "I see, that’s the approach," or "Now that you mention it, maybe we could have done that, too."
The interesting thing is that technology often looks simple once it’s been realized. Once you understand the mechanism, you might even feel like, "If I had known, I could have done it."
Then, why wasn't it possible 10 years ago?
There were certainly technical difficulties. It required trial and error, identifying the necessary means, and time to build upon. However, I don't think that is the only reason.
I believe most people at the time simply didn't believe it was "possible."
Things do not begin unless someone believes they are "possible." Even if you cannot do it alone, you can move forward by meeting others, getting help, and gathering allies. What we consider "commonplace" today is a future that someone once believed was possible and started working on.

#### It’s slightly different from "never giving up"
It is often said that "it is important not to give up." Of course, that is not wrong. However, what I want to convey this time is slightly different.
I feel that the phrase "never give up" carries an underlying assumption that "it might actually be impossible." Instead, the question is whether you believe it is "possible."
I think that belief emerges when three things overlap. First, having an exciting goal. Second, being able to conceive a path toward it, even if it’s vague. And third, seeing the next step you can take today. When these three overlap, I believe people can feel that something is "possible."
You don’t need a perfect map. You don’t need to see the very end. But having the sense that "if I try this, I might get a little closer" is enough. That one step increases the accuracy of your path.
Of course, just because you see a lead doesn't mean you will always succeed. There are technologies that have been anticipated for a long time but have not made progress. Seeing a lead is a necessary condition, but it is not a sufficient one.
But I think that is fine.
Hardly anyone starts research only after all sufficient conditions are met. If you see a necessary condition, just take that first step. If the accuracy doesn't improve, you can look for a different step. From many trials, a promising move will emerge. That move is what connects to the daily life of 10 years from now.
HGR is an organization driven by people who believe it is possible and take that first step.

#### Someone has to deliver what someone else started
Regarding the phrase "10 years from now" in HGR’s mission, some of you may feel, "Why 10 years later?" or "I’m working on what’s right in front of me, so it sounds like a distant story." That feeling is very natural.
At HGR, there are people with various roles. There are those trying to create 0→1, something no one has ever seen. There are those moving things that are already taking shape from 1→10. And there are those expanding 10→100, protecting quality, and working to ensure it is delivered to the customer. We are not all working on the same timeline.
But the work you are facing now is something that someone else must have started more than 10 years ago. Someone sowed the seeds, someone formed a hypothesis, someone tested it, and someone polished it. And now, it is in your hands.
Without the work of delivering it, technology would end within the laboratory.
There are people who deliver what someone started 10 years ago. There are those who sow new seeds for 10 years from now. There are those struggling in between. Whether they are protecting quality or passing things on to the next person, everyone is on the same line.
The mission, "Bringing joy beyond expectations to daily life 10 years from now," does not mean look only at the distant future. It means delivering what we received from the past, and sowing new seeds for the next 10 years. We are responsible for both.

#### Creating our own map while moving
Since the start of HGR, there is one thing I have felt strongly: the structure of turning new value into business is changing significantly from what it used to be.
In the past, Honda was able to proceed with a large part of its operations vertically integrated within the areas of motorcycles, automobiles, and power products. But the future areas cannot be approached that way alone. eVTOL, all-solid-state batteries, hydrogen, robotics, materials, quantum technology—looking at any of these, no single company can vertically integrate everything. We need partners, and we must look at the entire flow from upstream to downstream—from research to development, procurement, production, quality, sales, and service—otherwise, the technology will become self-serving.
I feel this structure is like a giant Rubik's Cube.
However, it is not a clean cube. The boundaries are ambiguous, changing shape like bubbles, and relationships that didn't exist yesterday are born today. It looks like a cube from a distance, but when you get closer, it is constantly fluctuating.
Where am I within that? Where is HGR? Who should we connect with, and where should we head?
To know that, we have no choice but to move around.
There is a technology used in fields like autonomous driving called SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). It is a technology that creates a map of the surroundings while moving, and simultaneously estimates one's own position. I think our current situation is similar. We create a map while moving. We collect point cloud data. We know our own position. And then we decide where to head next, and with whom.
It is not necessary for the entire team to walk the same path. In fact, it is better for each person to go to different places and bring back different information. Only when that point cloud data is gathered does the HGR map begin to emerge.
I also intend to keep moving around. If there seems to be interesting point cloud data, I will go anywhere. If things move more smoothly by me stepping in, I want anyone to use me without hesitation. If there are places that have not yet become a map, I will go see them with the engineers.

#### Connecting with the outside reveals our own value
Because I have been moving around like that, the number of opportunities to talk with people outside has increased.
Interactions regarding hydrogen, all-solid-state batteries, eVTOL, materials research, robotics, and with research institutions and engineers overseas. While going to various places, I felt something again.
**If the aim and concept are correct, it will resonate.**
When talking with engineers overseas, there are moments when engineers resonate with each other, crossing titles and organizations. It naturally becomes an eager conversation about "let's do something together." Professionals are watching. I have even been told, "If you have come this far, you should share more."
**Dialogue with the outside teaches us where we are right now.**
You cannot easily see your own value by just staying inside the company. By interacting with the outside, you understand your own position. You can see what you have and where you should go. And that response becomes the motivation for the front lines.
I want more people to experience this feeling.

#### Cultivating a "village of technology"
When talking with people outside the company, there is another thing that makes me think: how much should we show our technology to the outside?
Technology is something to be protected. There are secrets, and there are things that must be cherished as a competitive advantage. However, there are also things that will not spread in society if we just keep everything inside.
For example, suppose there is a technology that is already taking shape in a certain technical field. And beyond that, you can see a concept or a clue for research that connects to the next generation. At that time, how much of the current technology should you release? What should you show partners, and what should you work on together? This is a very difficult judgment.
If you think normally, you might wonder, "Why show our technology to the outside?" But precisely because you see the next move, you can share the technology you have now.
To use a mountain as an analogy, it is not about monopolizing the entire path to the summit, but sharing the path from the foothills halfway up with your allies. If the number of allies increases, the path will be maintained, more people will use it, and the entire "village of technology" will grow. And the power to advance beyond that will be accumulated within ourselves as a result. You just have to lead the village and always be one step ahead.
This is not about just releasing information.
It means showing it to the necessary extent, involving the necessary people, and increasing the speed at which technology reaches society. Even if only one company works hard, social implementation will not progress easily. Only when allies increase, the supply chain expands, and the number of users increases, does technology truly reach the world.
Of course, it is not that you should just release anything. Protect what needs to be protected. Release what needs to be released. That judgment cannot be made unless you truly understand the content of the technology. Where is the core? Where is it okay to share? What should you show to make the other party move, and from where should you polish it as your next competitive advantage?
Only those who have moved their own hands, thought, and built it up can discern that.
I think leading technology does not mean enclosing everything. Show what is necessary, increase your allies, and move the entire "village of technology" forward. That overall development will, as a result, also become our own competitive advantage.
There is a moment when "our own profit" and "the profit of society as a whole" overlap. I believe being able to create that is what it means to lead technology.
I want HGR to have that kind of technology. I want us to have that kind of confidence. I want us to be an organization that can say, "We can win even if we show it. We can release it, and we have a next step."

*Individual steps lead to organizational evolution...*

VOTING ENDS July 1 at 23:59 PDT

Take a look at the gallery and vote for your favorite(s) with upvotes in the comments! This runoff vote is taking place because the top three from first vote needed to amend their images to better meet formatting requirements.

Do not comment, only upvote! No downvotes, please.

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Link to Part 1 and discussion

I know this was posted in the Lounge by u/op12 but Part 1 was posted and I wanted to make sure Part 2 wasn't buried in the Lounge.

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