((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(adds edits) by Eric Onstad and Paul Lienert
Volkswagen, whose efforts to develop a “solid-state” electric car battery with US startup QuantumScape have been hampered by delays, is casting its net wide in pursuit of the potentially game-changing technology.
The German auto giant is in talks with French company Blue Solutions, which already produces solid-state batteries for Daimler’s electric buses, to adapt the concept to cars, a source told Reuters having direct knowledge of the discussions.
VW VOWG.DE and Blue Solutions aim to reach a joint development agreement in the coming months, according to the source who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
Volkswagen’s decision to expand its options in this area highlights the range of technical obstacles holding back the development of solid-state technology, seen by its supporters as the “holy grail” of batteries for electric vehicles, promising greater autonomy and shorter charging times than traditional lithium-ion batteries.
VW said its project with QuantumScape QS.N was on track and declined to comment when asked if there were discussions with Blue Solutions.
A spokesman for Blue Solutions, a unit of French conglomerate Bollore BOLL.PA, confirmed it was working on a battery for passenger cars and said it had signed development deals with BMW BMWG.DE and a another company, and that he was in talks with a third, but he refused to identify the others.
VW, Toyota 7203.T , BMW and other global automakers are vying to solve the conundrum of solid-state batteries, which remain technically elusive despite decades of research and billions of dollars of investment.
“A lot of promises have not been kept and several automakers and investors have been burned,” said Rory McNulty of the consulting firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. “There is a lot of very good quality verified data and technology out there, but can they (the industry) do it reliably and at scale?
Blue Solutions, for its part, faces big challenges in radically reducing the four-hour charging time required by its current batteries, which is feasible for buses parked overnight at depots. The company’s spokesperson told Reuters it was working on a passenger car battery with a charging time of 20 minutes, and aimed to build a “gigafactory” for it by 2029.
The sector’s lack of commercial success has dampened market enthusiasm; the amount of venture capital deals in solid-state battery companies fell 72% last year, to $146 million, according to PitchBook data.
“Investor interest in solid-state batteries has waned. They are wondering if the solid-state risk is worth it,” said Jeff Peters, partner at Ibex Investors.
QUANTUMSCAPE: STILL A LOT OF WORK
Ideally, solid state envisions replacing the liquid electrolyte through which the electrical charge passes in electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries with a solid substitute, thereby reducing fire risks and battery size, and using lithium metal for the negative terminal to improve performance.
However, precisely determining the right combination of chemicals and materials so that they do not react negatively with each other is a minefield.
QuantumScape’s venture with its major shareholder VW, which invested $300 million in the startup, is an example of how semiconductor technology has failed to live up to its initial promises.
The development agreement signed in 2018 predicted that solid-state technology would power Volkswagen’s EVs by 2025, allowing the e-Golf to more than double its range to 750 km. When QuantumScape went public through a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company in New York in 2020, it said it was targeting commercial battery production in 2024.
Still, mass commercial production remains a distant prospect, even after QuantumScape shipped its first prototypes to VW and other potential customers in late 2022, at the start of a testing and certification process that will generally extends over several years.
Additionally, the battery is not purely solid-state; it uses a liquid electrolyte with a ceramic separating the positive and negative terminals.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Jagdeep Singh, chief executive of QuantumScape, told Reuters. “The purpose of the prototype is to show that the basic functionality is there, not that the cell is perfect with respect to the various defects that can be introduced during the production process
QuantumScape shares, which reached a high of $132.70 in December 2020, have since fallen to $7.37, giving the company a market value of approximately $3.6 billion. The company did not say when it expects high-volume commercial production. Goldman Sachs said it was likely to happen in the latter part of the decade.
Last October, QuantumScape told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it had failed to meet commercialization deadlines set out in the 2018 deal with VW, and that the German automaker therefore had the right to terminate the joint venture if he wished.
TOYOTA REPORTS BREAKTHROUGH
Volkswagen and QuantumScape aren’t the only players to have scaled back their ambitions as they grapple with the technical complexities of solid state.
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker ahead of VW, was targeting a 2025 production start date for its solid-state batteries, but said in June it did not plan to produce the cells at scale. before 2027 or 2028.
The Japanese company nonetheless said it had achieved a technical breakthrough , giving no more details than the expected range of 750 miles or more and charging time of 10 minutes.
Several other companies plan to launch solid-state batteries, including Chinese battery leader CATL
300750.SZ, LG Energy Solution, Solid Power SLDP.O, ProLogium, Honda 7267.T and Nissan 7201.T. (see the attached FACTBOX)
Tesla TSLA.O , the electric vehicle market leader, is an outlier in the industry because it has not detailed plans to develop solid-state batteries.
The impact of introducing lithium metal into the anode is a key question that solid-state battery scientists have faced.
Lithium metal can significantly improve performance, but it often triggers reactions with solid compounds, including the creation of dendrites, spiky formations that create cracks and imperfections and can ultimately short circuit a battery.
Battery manufacturers, automobile manufacturers, and researchers have tried using a variety of substances for the solid electrolyte in three main categories: polymers, sulfides, and oxides.
Some companies have already launched partial versions of solid-state batteries that offer some advantages of the technology. Chinese companies Nio 9866.HK and Seres have both launched electric vehicle models with “semi-solid-state” batteries that feature solid and gel electrolyte components but do not use lithium metal anodes.