There's definitely a lot of potential, and I think this year could have a lot of actionable catalysts. Maybe not in terms of shipping at scale, but the future of the company 'hangs in the balance' of whether or not Cobra really works or not. Should be an exciting next few quarters.
The limiting factor for consumer electronics will be zero pressure performance. Alpha 2 samples already showed a lot of promise there, but I think that'll come later. EVs seem to by their primary focus right now. But consumer electronics (phones, power tools, et al) could be a great use of resources at QS-0 specifically because it will probably never be a massive manufacturing line.
And I think you're right. I think we all want it to be Salzgitter starting this year or next - definitely possible - but Canada in 2027 makes a ton of sense. We'll definitely learn a lot at this coming earnings call!
A lot of good stuff came out of the call yesterday. I'm planning on doing a write up once I get a chance to go through it again and digest everything.
For your question on Cobra, my interpretation is that "Cobra", itself, is just the heat treatment step in the process. The rest of the production line (stacking, packaging, etc) needs to be either built out or modified to accommodate the faster speeds.
Regarding the anonymous new customers, I think that's just how it's done in the battery industry. It wouldn't surprise me if the new companies remain anonymous even after licensing deals are signed...maybe only becoming named after start of production of their own QS lines. My guess is that they do this because they have concurrent deals with other battery companies. Solid Power is teamed up with Ford, for example. If Ford were to sign a public deal with QS, it would probably damage their relationship with Solid Power. PowerCo is public because VW has been heavily invested in Quantumscape since QS was founded - so the relationship is already well known. Siva sounds serious about signing new customers this year, which is pretty exciting.
Also, there's a reddit community where I host a live discussion every quarter during the earnings call. There's tons of good stuff in there about the latest conference call, and an archive of discussions going all the way back to 2022. A lot of the community has been following the company since 2020. Here's the link to the latest earnings discussion:
There's definitely a lot of potential, and I think this year could have a lot of actionable catalysts. Maybe not in terms of shipping at scale, but the future of the company 'hangs in the balance' of whether or not Cobra really works or not. Should be an exciting next few quarters.
The limiting factor for consumer electronics will be zero pressure performance. Alpha 2 samples already showed a lot of promise there, but I think that'll come later. EVs seem to by their primary focus right now. But consumer electronics (phones, power tools, et al) could be a great use of resources at QS-0 specifically because it will probably never be a massive manufacturing line.
And I think you're right. I think we all want it to be Salzgitter starting this year or next - definitely possible - but Canada in 2027 makes a ton of sense. We'll definitely learn a lot at this coming earnings call!
Thanks Bill!
Hi Bill!
A lot of good stuff came out of the call yesterday. I'm planning on doing a write up once I get a chance to go through it again and digest everything.
For your question on Cobra, my interpretation is that "Cobra", itself, is just the heat treatment step in the process. The rest of the production line (stacking, packaging, etc) needs to be either built out or modified to accommodate the faster speeds.
Regarding the anonymous new customers, I think that's just how it's done in the battery industry. It wouldn't surprise me if the new companies remain anonymous even after licensing deals are signed...maybe only becoming named after start of production of their own QS lines. My guess is that they do this because they have concurrent deals with other battery companies. Solid Power is teamed up with Ford, for example. If Ford were to sign a public deal with QS, it would probably damage their relationship with Solid Power. PowerCo is public because VW has been heavily invested in Quantumscape since QS was founded - so the relationship is already well known. Siva sounds serious about signing new customers this year, which is pretty exciting.
Also, there's a reddit community where I host a live discussion every quarter during the earnings call. There's tons of good stuff in there about the latest conference call, and an archive of discussions going all the way back to 2022. A lot of the community has been following the company since 2020. Here's the link to the latest earnings discussion:
https://www.reddit.com/r/QUANTUMSCAPE_Stock/comments/1io1uh1/2024_q4_earnings_discussion/
Cheers!
Brian