Federal policy makers orchestrated an EV sales crash in the US last year, only to see electrification stakeholders gradually piece together a comeback focusing on cars that hit the affordability MSRP of $30,000 or less. New, higher-performing solid-state EV batteries are also inching their way into the market, the US startup Quantumscape contributing some fresh news.

To Be Or Not To Be A Solid-State Battery

As commonly understood, a solid-state battery replaces the liquid electrolyte of a conventional lithium-ion battery with a solid material.

High tech ceramics have emerged as one of the options (see more solid-state background here). If that sounds like a deep electrochemical challenge, its is. Nevertheless, science loves a challenge, and so do electrification stakeholders who are determined to sharpen the contrast between EVs and gasmobiles. Compared to the current generation of EV batteries, solid-state technology meets a higher bar for energy density and other performance benchmarks, while avoiding the use of volatile chemicals.

Quantumscape is among the solid-state innovators to untangle at least part of the solid-state puzzle. The company launched in 2010 and it surfaced on the CleanTechnica radar in 2012, when Volkswagen dropped word of its interest in the solid-state forumula.

Quantumscape is known for its lithium-metal batteries, where the focus is on the separator, a layer that acts as a buffer for the liquid electrolyte in conventional batteries. While not 100% solid, the lithium-metal formula represents represents a significant step towards the next generation of EV batteries.

“A solid-state lithium-metal battery…replaces the polymer separator used in conventional lithium-ion batteries with a solid-state separator. The replacement of the separator enables the carbon or silicon anode used in conventional lithium-ion batteries to be replaced with a lithium-metal anode,” QS explains.

To ice the solid state cake, the QS anode does not make an appearance during the battery manufacturing process. It self-forms as part of the battery’s first charging cycle.

One Step Closer To The EV Battery Of The Future

QS has accumulated a string of investors and affiliations since 2012, capped by a hookup with the legacy firm Corning last year aimed at developing a manufacturing system that accommodates its ceramic separator.

The latest news takes QS farther into all-solid state technology, this time with a focus on the cathode, under the trade name Osprey.

“Osprey pairs the QS proprietary ceramic separator and anode-free lithium-metal design with a solid cathode, creating an all-solid-state cell,” the company explained in a press statement on November 11.

“Osprey builds on the company’s QSE platform, and opens new licensing and co-development options for current QS customers and expanding its offering to developers of sulfide-based all-solid-state batteries,” the company elaborates. The QS blog further explains that Osprey is a “solid-state platform that allows developers of sulfide-based solid-state batteries to incorporate QS technology into their all-solid-state battery (ASSB) development programs.”

Don’t get too excited just yet — the cathode work is still in the early stages of validation — but QS is confident enough to share its data with the public. In addition to safety improvements compared to conventional Li-ion batteries, QS checks a list of additional performance boxes for ASSBs:

“Cycle life: 1,000 full charge cycles with ~80% capacity retention under gold-standard testing conditions

Fast charging: 10% to 80% in five-minutes

Low pressure: Requires only one atmosphere of pressure

Cold-weather performance: Operational to less than -20 °C (-4 °F)

Want more details? Check out QS blog, where the company takes a deeper dive into the new cathode.

What Is This Sulfide Of Which You Speak?

As for why QS is working the sulfide angle, that’s a good question. “Sulfides can react with lithium metal, which shortens battery life, and they typically need to be held under high pressure to operate, which is impractical for vehicles and many other applications,” QS notes. Despite those challenges, QS also notes the sulfide formula continues to attract widespread interest in the solid-state field, due to its high level of conductivity and ease of processing. If all goes according to plan, the Osprey platform will enable solid-state battery developers to continue pursuing sulfide to their hearts’ content.

“The industry has invested heavily in sulfide-based batteries but keeps hitting the same fundamental limits,” explains QS president and CEO Dr. Siva Sivaram, “As the data shows, Osprey can address these limitations.”

As another indication that sulfide stakeholders are not out chasing rainbows, take a look at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, part of a sprawling network of research facilities under the umbrella of the US Department of . ORNL is part of the team behind new research published in the journal Nature under the title, “Operando neutron radiography reveals calendar aging-induced lithium redistribution and back-diffusion in thick-cathode all-solid-state batteries.”

As the title indicates, the researchers a neutron radiation tool to probe the inner workings of lithium batteries while they are in operation, enabling them to deliver a precise map of the degradation process that has bedeviled the sulfide field. They also delivered a roadmap for further work:

“Based on these findings from calendar aging, we envision future formation strategies should be redesigned to minimize sustained potential gradients while stabilizing interphases, for example through optimized composite electronic percolation and catholyte or coating materials and validated with time-resolved neutron imaging to establish transport-informed, durability-first conditioning rules that generalize across cathode loadings and operating temperatures.”

Got all that? The real question is why a federal research institution is still delivering advanced research leading to the next generation of EV batteries that outperform conventional batteries while improving EV safety and reducing overall costs. After all, US President Donald Trump and the Republican majority in Congress have expended considerable time and effort to stop, if not reverse, EV sales in the US. In addition to prematurely killing off the $7,500 EV tax credit last fall, the President also tried (and ultimately failed) to claw back funds from the federal NEVI public EV charging station program.

Readers, take a guess at the answer in the discussion thread. One possible explanation is the energy storage angle. While the President’s whackadoodle “American Energy Dominance Policy” dials down on solar and wind (especially wind) activity, it supports practically every other domestic energy resource including nuclear, biomass, geothermal, and hydropower alongside fossil fuels, with energy storage also making a substantial appearance.

The electronic war of the future is another factor to consider, with crewless vehicles and “anti-idling” kits serving as a sort of gateway drug that demonstrates the advantages of silent running and a lower heat signature compared to diesel engines.

Photo: The US startup Quantumscape is contributing its new “Osprey” platform to kickstart solid-state EV batteries into the mass market and help accelerate the vehicle electrification movement.