The carmaker has followed up a $100m investment two years ago with a pledge to provide up to $200m for the solid-state battery developer.

Automotive manufacturer Volkswagen revealed yesterday that it is investing up to $200m in US-based solid-state battery developer and existing portfolio company QuantumScape.

QuantumScape is developing solid-state batteries that would utilise solid electrodes and a solid electrolyte, in theory offering greater energy density than the lithium-ion batteries generally used for electric vehicles right now, which use liquid or polymer gel electrolytes.

The company was spun out of Stanford University in 2010 and began collaborating with Volkswagen two years later, before the…

Robert Lavine

Robert Lavine is special features editor for Global Venturing.