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  "documentTitle": "QuantumScape (QS)",
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  "authorName": "Scorpion Capital",
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  "presentationDate": "2021-04-15 00:00:00",
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      "text": "Interviews with experts and ex-employees lead us to believe that the ceramic separator QS is using is LLZO, which is far more expensive to manufacture than the separators used by competing solid-state efforts: “they’re not cost competitive”",
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      "text": "Like other ceramic-based solid separators, LLZO requires a manufacturing process called sintering at temperatures approaching ~2400 ºF. An ex-employee and an expert explained that sintering is extremely expensive and not cost-competitive compared to the materials other solid-state players are using.",
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      "kind": "quote",
      "text": "“Because they use an oxide-type, it's a true ceramic-type separator material, and they have to sinter that material. Sintering is a high-temperature process... it is an additional CAPEX item...\" – Solid state expert",
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      "kind": "quote",
      "text": "“The process used to make a thin ceramic layer is expensive. It's more expensive than what their competitors are using. So, they could have a cost structure issue... The thin ceramic layer is expensive because it uses high-temperature furnaces...\" – Former employee",
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      "text": "“The process used to make a thin ceramic layer is expensive. It's more expensive than what their competitors are using. So, they could have a cost structure issue. It also turns out that it's hard to achieve that thin dense layer, so there could be quality issues in addition to cost issues. That's the biggest risk they face. The thin ceramic layer is expensive because it uses high-temperature furnaces to essentially keep the crystals near their melting point so that they can flow, and it's through that flow that they stick to each other. The sulfide, another electrolyte that Solid Power and Sion are using, doesn't require the same high temperature, so it's cheaper. Finally, the ionic material is plastics, and that's the cheapest of all.” — Former employee; “Because they use an oxide-type, it's a true ceramic-type separator material, and they have to sinter that material. Sintering is a high-temperature process. It's not something that's commonly done. I have not investigated at length the CAPEX and throughput required in a way that it can be achieved with sintering. However, it is an additional step, it is an additional CAPEX item, and it is not insignificant step of sintering the separator layer in order to densify it.” — Solid state expert",
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      "text": "Source: Scorpion Capital consultation calls with experts",
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      "text": "Interviews with experts and ex-employees lead us to believe that the ceramic separator QS is using is LLZO, which is far more expensive to manufacture than the separators used by competing solid-state efforts: “they’re not cost competitive”",
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      "text": "7) Doomed by cost: the “magic material” that we believe QS is using is too expensive to ever replace Li-ion",
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