You do realize that despite all the hoopla, only 2% of all new car sales are for electric vehicles.  And, we also buy tons of used vehicles (not just new ones)  each and every year.

Why would that be true?  Because the electric vehicles are too expensive, they don’t go far enough on a charge- and then the problem of charging the vehicles is a true impediment. (None of these include the issue that the heavy, lithium ion batteries have liquid electrolytes that can burst into flames during a collision!)

Enter QuantumScape.  This company that went public in late 2020- with significant investments from Volkswagen to boot- claims to have developed a new- and better-  battery.  One that uses a solid electrolyte, instead of that flammable liquid one.  Moreover, QuantumScape claims they can be recharged to within 80% of capacity in just 15 minutes- and can survive at least 800 charging cycles (which would provide about 240,000 miles cruising range).

Conventional lithium ion batteries have a graphite anode (which stores the lithium ions); QuantumScape uses a lithium anode, so that every electron is capable of storing energy (which means a denser energy potential). But, it also means the battery is more reactive, thereby precluding side-reactions that are critical to battery performance.  And, then there’s the problem of dendrite formation- needle-like formations that can puncture the separator in the middle of the battery- which means the battery becomes short-circuited.  (This  issues is solved by using a ceramic electrolyte that also serves as the separator.)

The problem is that QuantumScape is basing all these claims on their prototypes- single layer cells up to 4 layer cells.  Cars need several dozen layers of cells.  That scale-up is going to be tricky.

It’s not just us- but VW (with their $ 300 million investment)- that certainly hopes they pull it off!

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