Yeah its got JB on the board but its also got Gates involvement and he's a green scuttler just take look at Terra Power's fate a very bad sign. It got JB before Gates I think and presumably it got VW because it got Tesla cofounder JB and Tesla board alumnus Bus on the board. And presumably it got JB because Tesla wanted to keep an eye on QS because it had the potential key to threshold solid state. But if you look at JB's comments he seems to recognize that while it checks the boxes on solid state its not really ideal for automotive. This is what I gathered- its really too far off in commercial volume production. They threw out 2024 but their charts show comparatively low projected production even in 2028. I also don't like the cycle life its 1/4 what self driving needs. And gravimentric density isn't really listed or is mediocre in one vague chart. Also, price seems off. Charge speed is not that great given the time frame. All of it very late. Culled this from Jordan and Rob's comments and a lame Elektrek article. What I get is that this is more VW marketing BS released now to try to smoke screen Tesla and the understanding that as Munster said VW's ship has sailed as VW is getting decapitalized. Its like the bs about Giga Berlin being halted because of hybernating snakes- some new tree cutting which might expand a parking lot or something was halted, the building of the factory was not halted but those are the desperate headlines driving by the fading. So QS is important but they are operating at Toyota speed. I think Tesla knew all this stuff about QS and their trajectory a while ago. QS is solving the solid state issues but solid state isn't a panacea and Tesla seems to have understood its not necesary to move forward- even on the edge cases JB mentions. Its important though because it looks to make for a simpler battery, that is still important. And as Rob pointed out Tesla could have acquired QS if it looked worth it. QS could be sand bagging but I think it tells us something about solid state's near term potential which removes some uncertainty.
Ceramic separator eliminates the SEI layer where lithium combines with electrolyte pouch cells, no cylindrical substantial volume change (not quantified in presentation) between charged and discharged - their graphic shows lithium metal deposited on the anode with a thickness that grows during charge and shrinks during discharge. This can lead to significant mechanical stress unless these cells are packaged in a way that won't lead to separator stress. Curious, these are technical challenges that will push off adoption. Some problems can be solved with packaging pouch cells into prismatic. However, the volume change appears to be substantial. A clever prismatic housing might solve part of the problem. I won't be investing in QuantumScape but it is interesting. Bob Wilson
