Volkswagen (VW) has reportedly bought a stake in battery startup QuantumScape with the aim of developing batteries that can more than triple the range of its EVs.
QuantumScape, founded in 2010 by former Stanford University researchers, is licensing tech from the ARPA-E funded ‘All Electron Battery’ Stanford project, which is developing a so-called ‘solid-state’ battery as an alternative to liquid electrolyte-based lithium-ion.
Stanford’s website for the ‘All Electron Battery’ states “[The battery] stores energy by moving electrons, rather than ions, and uses electron/hole redox instead of capacitive polarization of a double-layer.”
According to Bloomberg, VW’s US division has bought a 5% in QuantumScape, with options to raise the stake. Tests to show the system is viable for cars are due to be completed in mid-2015.
VW CEO Martin Winterkorn said the technology could boost EV range to as much as 700km (430 miles), more than three times the range of the battery-powered version of the VW Golf.