QuantumScape, a solid-state battery developer, has entered an agreement with Volkswagen Group of America to jointly select a location for the two companies’ latest venture – a solid-state battery pilot-line facility due for completion by the end of 2021. The pair are currently contemplating Salzgitter, Germany, for the location of the new site.
The QS-1 pilot-line facility will initially be a 1GWh battery cell commercial production plant for electric vehicle batteries, with the two companies planning to eventually expand production at the same site to 20GWh.
“Our goal has been to bring our solid-state lithium-metal batteries to market as soon as possible,” commented Jagdeep Singh, CEO and co-founder of QuantumScape. “This joint venture brings together QuantumScape’s core battery technology with Volkswagen’s deep understanding of high-volume, high-quality production, and maximizes our ability to bring this technology into industrial production.”
The QS-1 facility is to follow on from the QS-0 site, QuantumScape’s planned pre-pilot line. QuantumScape has released details in a shareholder’s letter outlining that the company has secured a facility in San Jose for the QS-0 line. Following considerable interest in the company’s technology, QuantumScape has also announced that it will double the production capacity of the QS-0 site to 200,000 cells annually.
In March 2021, Volkswagen invested US$100m in the project after the OEM confirmed via lab tests in Germany that QuantumScape cells met the established technical criteria.