{ "docId": "019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-32b620517ee9", "docSlug": "2ec39f20dd86", "documentTitle": "QuantumScape (QS)", "authorId": "58_Scorpion_Capital", "authorName": "Scorpion Capital", "documentKindSlug": "activist-deck", "documentKindLabel": "Activist deck", "sourceTypeSlug": "short_seller", "sourceTypeLabel": "Short seller", "presentationDate": "2021-04-15 00:00:00", "orientation": "landscape", "aspectRatio": 1.3333334, "pageNumber": 173, "pageCount": 188, "prevPage": 172, "nextPage": 174, "slideType": "expose_contradiction", "function": "expose_contradiction", "density": "overcrowded", "nDataPoints": 0, "notes": "The slide uses a 'before-after' style comparison to frame Quantumscape as a repeat of the Sakti3 fraud.", "elementsJson": [ "headline_text", "paragraph", "screenshot", "quote_block", "footnote" ], "metadataConfidence": 1, "imagePath": null, "slideHref": "/slides/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-32b620517ee9/173", "deckHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-32b620517ee9", "deckJsonHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-32b620517ee9.json", "deckAnchorHref": "/decks/019dd923-622c-750b-8b9a-32b620517ee9#slide-173", "components": [ { "bbox": null, "kind": "callout", "text": "The parallels between Sakti3 and Quantumscape are striking: 1) Claiming a solid state battery breakthrough with a novel separator, which a skeptical Scientific American article likened to “the God Battery”; 2) high profile founders with previous R&D credibility; 3) technological “validation” because a large automaker invested (GM), similar to VW’s “validating” QS; and 4) drip-feeding scraps of “data” from tiny, single-layer, non-commercially relevant prototype cells and hyping them as groundbreaking with commercialization right around the corner.", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Visual emphasis", "toolSlug": "visual-emphasis", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd952-f5d1-75b6-b066-3b0a0c2b5965", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.18, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.18 }, "kind": "paragraph", "text": "The parallels between Sakti3 and Quantumscape are striking: 1) Claiming a solid state battery breakthrough with a novel separator, which a skeptical Scientific American article likened to “the God Battery”; 2) high profile founders with previous R&D credibility; 3) technological “validation” because a large automaker invested (GM), similar to VW’s “validating” QS; and 4) drip-feeding scraps of “data” from tiny, single-layer, non-commercially relevant prototype cells and hyping them as groundbreaking with commercialization right around the corner.", "attrs": null, "subkind": "paragraph", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "f8eeff7b-03b6-4690-8158-1bf2522905eb", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.12, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.65 }, "kind": "quote", "text": "“There was no one in the battery R&D community that did not think that Sakti 3 was a fraud and was not angered by it. Everyone knew. GM invested, and I think, thanks to Khosla, found a greater fool in Dyson to dump it on. They had very, very small cells. They never really showed any performance data. It seemed to be a manufacturing process that would be expensive or impossible to scale up, and it never scaled.” - Solid-state expert", "attrs": null, "subkind": "pull-quote", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "b888a433-a800-4d19-8fae-bd413a2c4626", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.08, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.8 }, "kind": "quote", "text": "“Sastry’s peers in the battery industry were intensely skeptical...Among their questions: How many battery layers had Sakti3 stacked? (If it was a single layer, the claim was hardly worth reporting because it would lack a crucial feature known as specific energy density.)” - Quartz article 8/21/2015", "attrs": null, "subkind": "pull-quote", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "fadabab8-9e53-4ab5-920b-43e343269d60", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": null, "kind": "quote", "text": "“There was no one in the battery R&D community that did not think that Sakti 3 was a fraud and was not angered by it. Everyone knew. GM invested, and I think, thanks to Khosla, found a greater fool in Dyson to dump it on. They had very, very small cells. They never really showed any performance data. It seemed to be a manufacturing process that would be expensive or impossible to scale up, and it never scaled.” — Solid-state expert; “Sastry’s peers in the battery industry were intensely skeptical...Among their questions: How many battery layers had Sakti3 stacked? (If it was a single layer, the claim was hardly worth reporting because it would lack a crucial feature known as specific energy density.)” — Quartz article 8/21/2015", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": "Authority citation", "toolSlug": "authority-citation", "confidence": null, "componentId": "019dd952-f5d1-75b6-b066-3deca34c1f04", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.05, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.92 }, "kind": "source-note", "text": "Source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/secretive-company-claims-battery-breakthrough/; https://marker.medium.com/an-ultra-secret-battery-startup-hints-that-its-blown-past-tesla-but-won-t-show-the-goods-2ed31173610d/; https://qz.com/524268/sakti3s-quest-for-a-better-battery-hype-funding-promises-and-then-a-surprise-sale/", "attrs": null, "subkind": null, "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "0500613a-e112-405e-b02b-51a21e7da1a0", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.15, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.42 }, "kind": "table", "text": "Sakti3 article in Scientific American, 8/20/2014 vs Recent article on Quantumscape, 9/21/2020", "attrs": null, "subkind": "data", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "6b85bd6a-5f19-4726-ac16-2b3dcf71b5b9", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.08, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.08 }, "kind": "title", "text": "Case study #2 (cont’d): Sakti3 red flags then are identical to QS red flags today: “there was no one in the battery R&D community that did not think that Sakti3 was a fraud”", "attrs": null, "subkind": "action-title", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "6c44b261-3546-4895-b50c-a650a7c991a9", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null }, { "bbox": { "h": 0.03, "w": 0.9, "x": 0.05, "y": 0.04 }, "kind": "title", "text": "9) Quantumscape’s lead investors have a track record of backing frauds and failures in the EV battery/cleantech industry", "attrs": null, "subkind": "headline", "toolName": null, "toolSlug": null, "confidence": null, "componentId": "f771b45f-83da-4b79-be06-8eeb00deacaa", "frameworkName": null, "frameworkSlug": null } ], "metrics": [], "tools": [], "frameworks": [ { "name": "fraud-exposure", "slug": null, "matchId": "0a2c8325-21f1-4faf-8f05-04c229a13aca", "evidence": "Comparison of red flags between two companies to establish a pattern of deception.", "confidence": 0.9 } ], "arcBeats": [], "loops": [ { "to": 188, "from": 150, "name": "Cost Of Inaction", "slug": "27-cost-of-inaction", "bestFor": "Urgent budget requests, compliance, risk mitigation", "matchId": "30a3a7d5-9626-4db4-85ed-defeed0ba9d5", "evidence": "The document implies that investors may face significant losses if they do not take action.", "position": 1, "objective": "The cost of inaction for investors", "structure": "The Status Quo -> The Hidden Costs Accumulating -> The Future State of Inaction -> The Tipping Point", "confidence": 0.6, "description": "Quantify what happens if the audience does nothing" } ], "imagePathAlt": null, "thumbSrc": null, "thumbSrcAlt": null, "locked": true }