QuantumScape Claims Another Breakthrough For Lithium Metal Batteries

QuantumScape, a next-generation battery company backed by Volkswagen, is years away from a fully scaled-up product and achieving any revenue. But it has attracted persistent industry and investor attention with a drumbeat of claimed breakthroughs to fundamental battery problems that have long stumped everyone else. 

The latest was last week, when chief technology officer Tim Holme, in a little-noticed presentation at an industry conference, claimed a surprising advance that, if it works at scale, would substantially cut the costs of expensive solid-state lithium-metal batteries.