Page 31 - Green Builder Magazine Jul-Aug 2021

With this new rechargeable car battery,

the industry takes a quantum leap.

“A transition to

transportation that runs on

electricity from renewable
$480 million energy won’t happen until

batteries are on par with, or
for research better than, the internal

Amount contributed thus far by tech combustion engine.”
players such as Bill Gates and Volkswagen

$380 million toward QuantumScape’s research and the other automakers. It costs 85 percent less today to buy a clean
company’s plan to go public; VW added $100 million this past battery than it did in 2010. “This will hopefully make electric
March after seeing the company’s progress. QuantumScape vehicles a realistic option for every car owner,” Gates wrote in
has also entered a joint venture to begin making rechargeable his blog at GatesNotes.com. The big obstacle is whether the
batteries for VW by 2025. batteries can be made for long-haul trips: Most only have a
Volkswagen, the world’s second-largest automaker based 200- to 300-mile range, depending on vehicle design, he adds.
on sales (according to CNN), has been researching electric That puts QuantumScape ahead of its competitors for now.
battery technology for the past decade. Because solid state A car with the forthcoming lithium-metal variety could travel
batteries “are the end game” in rechargeables, according 300 to 400 miles compared to a vehicle with the 200-mile
to Frank Blome, director of VW’s Battery Center of Excel- standard lithium-ion, the company notes.
lence and a member of QuantumScape’s board of directors, Paul Albertus, an assistant professor of chemical and
it makes sense to explore all options. The manufacturer has biomolecular engineering at the University of Maryland,
several battery-type projects in the works as possible ways has followed the lithium-metal battery field for some
to power its future lineup of vehicles, and QuantumScape’s time. He considers QuantumScape’s progress impressive.
is one of the most viable, Blome notes. “They’ve gone much further than other things I’ve seen,”
Gates notes that an improved market price for rechargeable Albertus says. “They’ve run a marathon while everyone
batteries will continue to draw interest from consumers and else has done a 5K.” 2021 ECO-LEADERS

New home ahead. To improve its ability to produce solid-state lithium metal batteries, QuantumScape will be moving its research and
development site to a new, larger site in northern San Jose, California before the end of 2021. COURTESY OF EXETER PROPERTY GROUP
www.greenbuildermedia.com July/August 2021 GREEN BUILDER 29