Quantumscape Corp (QS) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and thank you for attending today's QuantumScape Corporation's Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Call. My name is Jayson, and I'll be the moderator for today's call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to pass the conference over to our host, John Saager.

下午好，感謝您參加今天的 QuantumScape Corporation 2022 年第四季度財報電話會議。我叫 Jayson，我將擔任今天電話會議的主持人。 （操作員說明）我現在想將會議轉交給我們的主持人 John Saager。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, and thank you to everyone for joining QuantumScape's Fourth Quarter 2020 Earnings Call. To supplement today's discussion, please go to our IR website at ir.quantumsgate.com to view our shareholder letter.

謝謝你，運營商。下午好，感謝大家參加 QuantumScape 的 2020 年第四季度財報電話會議。為了補充今天的討論，請訪問我們的 IR 網站 ir.quantumsgate.com 查看我們的股東信。

Before we begin, I want to call your attention to the safe harbor provision for forward-looking statements that is posted on our website as part of our quarterly update. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events, future technology progress, or future financial or operating performance.

在我們開始之前，我想提請您注意作為我們季度更新的一部分發佈在我們網站上的前瞻性聲明的安全港條款。前瞻性陳述通常與未來事件、未來技術進步或未來財務或經營業績有關。

Our expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize. Actual results and financial periods are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. There are risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the content of our forward-looking statements for the reasons that we cite in our shareholder letter, Form 10-K and other SEC filings, including uncertainties posed by the difficulty in predicting future outcomes.

我們對這些事項的期望和信念可能不會實現。實際結果和財務期間受風險和不確定因素的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果與預期結果存在重大差異。由於我們在股東信函、10-K 表格和其他 SEC 文件中引用的原因，存在可能導致實際結果與我們前瞻性陳述的內容存在重大差異的風險因素，包括難以預測未來所帶來的不確定性結果。

Joining us today will be QuantumScape's Co-Founder, CEO and Chairman, Jagdeep Singh; and our CFO, Kevin Hettrich. Jagdeep will provide a strategic update on the business, and Kevin will cover the financial results and our outlook in more detail.

今天加入我們的是 QuantumScape 的聯合創始人、首席執行官兼董事長 Jagdeep Singh；以及我們的首席財務官 Kevin Hettrich。 Jagdeep 將提供有關業務的戰略更新，Kevin 將更詳細地介紹財務結果和我們的展望。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Jagdeep.

有了這個，我想把電話轉給 Jagdeep。

Thank you, John. In 2022, we made significant advances in our technology, encountered and overcame obstacles, and ultimately achieved our major goal for the year. I'd like to briefly recap our key results in 2022 and provide an overview of our plans for 2023.

謝謝你，約翰。 2022年，我們在技術上取得了重大進展，遇到並克服了障礙，最終實現了我們今年的主要目標。我想簡要回顧一下我們在 2022 年取得的主要成果，並概述我們 2023 年的計劃。

Our most important goal for 2022 was to ship our first 24-layer A0 prototype battery cells to customers. To achieve this, we needed to incorporate several improvements into our system, from separator film and cathode production to cell assembly, focused on the quality, consistency and throughput of our designs and processes.

我們 2022 年最重要的目標是向客戶交付我們的首批 24 層 A0 原型電池。為實現這一目標，我們需要對我們的系統進行多項改進，從隔膜和陰極生產到電池組裝，重點是我們的設計和工藝的質量、一致性和產量。

We're pleased that the team successfully incorporated these improvements and rallied to meet our target of shipping 24-layer A0 cells to customers by year-end. We see this as a demonstration of the team's ability to overcome adversity and deliver on our goals.

我們很高興該團隊成功地整合了這些改進，並齊心協力實現了我們在年底前向客戶交付 24 層 A0 電池的目標。我們認為這是團隊克服逆境和實現目標的能力的證明。

While specific customer testing protocols and results can't be disclosed, we can report that generally, most cells have performed well on initial testing, including fast charge and early cycle capacity retention. However, we need to continue to improve cell reliability as we move from prototype to product. This is a key focus area for 2023, and we expect that as we make progress on the quality and consistency of our materials and processes, reliability will continue its upward trajectory. We believe this 24-layer A0 milestone represents a significant step forward, but more work remains to turn our technology into a commercial product. I'll discuss some of these remaining steps when I lay out our 2023 goals.

雖然無法透露具體的客戶測試協議和結果，但我們可以報告說，總體而言，大多數電池在初始測試中表現良好，包括快速充電和早期循環容量保持。但是，在從原型到產品的過程中，我們需要繼續提高電池的可靠性。這是 2023 年的一個重點關注領域，我們預計，隨著我們在材料和工藝的質量和一致性方面取得進展，可靠性將繼續保持上升趨勢。我們相信這個 24 層 A0 里程碑代表了向前邁出的重要一步，但要將我們的技術轉化為商業產品還有更多工作要做。在製定 2023 年目標時，我將討論其中一些剩餘步驟。

The A0 prototypes also incorporate our proprietary cell architecture, a hybrid between pouch and prismatic cell formats designed to accommodate the volume expansion and contraction that occurs during the charge and discharge of lithium-metal cells. We shared the first images of this new architecture in our shareholder letter, and intend to share more details on this architecture later in the year.

A0 原型還採用了我們專有的電池架構，這是軟包電池和棱柱形電池格式的混合體，旨在適應鋰金屬電池充電和放電過程中發生的體積膨脹和收縮。我們在股東信中分享了這種新架構的第一張圖片，並打算在今年晚些時候分享有關這種架構的更多細節。

In addition to our cell development progress, in 2022, we also focused on scaling up cell production. One goal was to continue the build-out of our QS-0 pre-pilot production line by taking delivery of a majority of the necessary equipment. We've merged our Phase 2 engineering line with QS-0 and have now received a majority of the tools necessary for initial lower-volume production on this consolidated QS-0 line.

除了我們的電池開發進展，在 2022 年，我們還專注於擴大電池生產。一個目標是通過交付大部分必要設備來繼續擴建我們的 QS-0 預試生產線。我們已將我們的第 2 階段工程線與 QS-0 合併，現在已經收到了在這條合併後的 QS-0 線上進行初始小批量生產所需的大部分工具。

Our final key goal for the year was to scale up production of our ceramic solid electrolyte separator to a peak level of 8,000 weekly film starts. We achieved this goal, which demonstrates progress in process development, equipment qualification and manufacturing capability.

我們今年的最終關鍵目標是擴大我們的陶瓷固體電解質隔膜的生產，達到每週 8,000 片薄膜啟動的峰值水平。我們實現了這一目標，這表明我們在工藝開發、設備鑑定和製造能力方面取得了進步。

Next, I'd like to briefly discuss our customer engagement. Over 2022, we continue to see strong interest in next-generation batteries for EVs from a variety of automotive OEMs, and as we previously reported, this culminated in sampling agreements with 3 more auto makers including a top 10 automotive OEM by global revenue and a pure-play EV OEM.

接下來，我想簡要討論一下我們的客戶參與度。到 2022 年，我們繼續看到各種汽車原始設備製造商對下一代電動汽車電池的濃厚興趣，正如我們之前報導的那樣，這最終與另外 3 家汽車製造商達成了樣品協議，其中包括全球收入排名前 10 位的汽車原始設備製造商和純粹的 EV OEM。

For the consumer electronics industry, we shipped dozens of single layer pouch cells for customer testing with 0 externally applied pressure. We're pleased to report that the sister cells from the sampling campaign we reported in our last quarter have now surpassed 800 cycles. We believe that exceeds the requirements for many consumer electronics applications.

對於消費電子行業，我們出貨了數十個單層軟包電池，供客戶在零外加壓力下進行測試。我們很高興地報告，我們在上個季度報告的採樣活動中的姐妹電池現已超過 800 個週期。我們相信這超出了許多消費電子應用的要求。

Now I'd like to lay out our goals for 2023. Beyond A0 prototype shipments, we plan to focus on subsequent generations of prototype samples, incorporating advances in cell functionality, process and reliability, as well as bringing online the manufacturing capability of our consolidated QS-0 line.

現在我想列出我們 2023 年的目標。除了 A0 原型出貨量之外，我們計劃專注於後續幾代原型樣品，結合電池功能、工藝和可靠性方面的進步，以及將我們合併後的製造能力上線QS-0 線。

Our goals for the year are focused on these 4 items. Our first goal is to increase cathode capacity loading to approximately 5 mAh per centimeter squared. As in conventional lithium-ion batteries, our cathode can be optimized either for better energy density or higher rates of power. We believe our current loading of approximately 3 mAh per centimeter squared would be in the range required for a power cell, but to optimize for energy density, we're targeting a capacity loading in the range of approximately 5 mAh per centimeter squared. This goal requires addressing several technical challenges, including coating thicker cathode electrodes while maintaining quality, calibrating the cathodes to the necessary thickness, optimizing cathode microstructure and ensuring good catholyte interface with active material.

我們今年的目標集中在這 4 個項目上。我們的首要目標是將陰極容量負載增加到每平方厘米約 5 mAh。與傳統鋰離子電池一樣，我們的陰極可以優化以獲得更好的能量密度或更高的功率率。我們相信每平方厘米約 3 mAh 的電流負載將在電池所需的範圍內，但為了優化能量密度，我們的目標是容量負載在每平方厘米約 5 mAh 的範圍內。這一目標需要解決幾個技術挑戰，包括在保持質量的同時塗覆更厚的陰極電極、將陰極校準到必要的厚度、優化陰極微觀結構以及確保陰極電解液與活性材料的良好界面。

Our second goal is to improve the efficiency of our cell packaging. While the active materials of the battery set a ceiling on how energy dense battery could be, the ratio between active materials and inactive materials, the packaging efficiency determines the final energy density. So we're targeting improvements on that front this year on our path to commercialization.

我們的第二個目標是提高電池封裝的效率。雖然電池的活性材料為電池的能量密度設定了上限，但活性材料和非活性材料之間的比例、封裝效率決定了最終的能量密度。因此，我們今年的目標是在我們的商業化道路上在這方面進行改進。

Our third goal for 2023 as we move from prototypes to commercial products, is to improve the quality and consistency of materials and processes. Some core drivers of quality and consistency in our manufacturing process include increased precision through automation and control, quality of input materials and particle reduction across our process flow. We plan to implement such process improvements and controls, which we believe will ultimately lead to higher reliability.

隨著我們從原型轉向商業產品，我們 2023 年的第三個目標是提高材料和工藝的質量和一致性。我們製造過程中質量和一致性的一些核心驅動因素包括通過自動化和控制提高精度、輸入材料的質量和整個工藝流程中的顆粒減少。我們計劃實施此類流程改進和控制，我們相信這最終會帶來更高的可靠性。

Finally and most exciting, our fourth goal is to deploy a new fast separator production process that's significantly faster than our current baseline. And in its initial implementation, we expect it can support up to 3x more throughput using similar equipment to our current process. When this new process comes online, we expect our consolidated QS-0 line will be ready to begin initial lower-volume production. We believe that deploying this fast process in 2023 and is an important step on our path to mass production in the coming years.

最後也是最令人興奮的是，我們的第四個目標是部署一種新的快速分離器生產工藝，它比我們當前的基線快得多。在其初始實施中，我們預計它可以使用與我們當前流程類似的設備支持高達 3 倍的吞吐量。當這個新工藝上線時，我們預計我們整合的 QS-0 生產線將準備好開始初始的小批量生產。我們相信，在 2023 年部署這一快速流程是我們在未來幾年實現大規模生產的重要一步。

With the focus on these 4 key goals, we aim to make substantial progress in 2023 towards our ultimate target of product commercialization.

圍繞這 4 個關鍵目標，我們的目標是在 2023 年朝著產品商業化的最終目標取得實質性進展。

On that note, I'd like to say a word about our strategic outlook. In our letter to shareholders last year, we laid out 4 key premises that underlie our commercial opportunity. First, battery electric powertrains represent the future of transportation. Second, anode-free lithium-metal batteries have the potential to deliver compelling improvements over current lithium-ion batteries. Third, we can scale up our cells to many layers. And fourth, we can mass manufacture our cells.

關於這一點，我想談談我們的戰略前景。在我們去年致股東的信中，我們列出了構成我們商業機會基礎的 4 個關鍵前提。首先，電池電動動力系統代表著交通的未來。其次，無陽極鋰金屬電池有可能對目前的鋰離子電池進行引人注目的改進。第三，我們可以將我們的細胞擴大到很多層。第四，我們可以批量生產我們的電池。

We continue to believe that the first 2 points are well established, and our work in 2022 was focused on the latter 2 points. Beginning shipments of 24-layer A0 cells demonstrated that it's possible to scale up our cell layer count to multi-amp-hour scale, a range we believe is relevant for a variety of applications. By hitting our weekly film starts goal and taking delivery of equipment for our consolidated QS-0 line, we made progress towards our scale-up goals.

我們仍然認為前兩點是成立的，我們 2022 年的工作重點是後兩點。 24 層 A0 電池的開始發貨表明，可以將我們的電池層數擴大到多安時級，我們認為這個範圍與各種應用相關。通過達到我們的每週薄膜啟動目標並為我們的合併 QS-0 生產線交付設備，我們在實現擴大目標方面取得了進展。

Of course, as I mentioned earlier, much more remains to be done. However, our results over the past 2 years have demonstrated that when difficult problems need solving, our team consistently rises to the occasion. In the months and years ahead, new and typical problems are sure to arise. When that happens, we're confident that we'll tackle these new challenges in the same way we solved the previous ones, with teamwork, stubborn determination and grit.

當然，正如我之前提到的，還有很多工作要做。然而，我們過去 2 年的結果表明，當需要解決難題時，我們的團隊始終如一地挺身而出。今後數月乃至數年，一定會出現新的典型問題。當這種情況發生時，我們有信心以團隊合作、頑強的決心和勇氣來應對這些新挑戰，就像我們解決以前的挑戰一樣。

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to sharing more of our progress over the year ahead. With that, I'll hand you over to Kevin.

感謝您一直以來的支持，我們期待在未來一年分享更多我們的進展。有了這個，我會把你交給凱文。

Thank you, Jagdeep. In the fourth quarter, our GAAP operating expenses were $113 million and for full year 2022 were $421 million. Our GAAP net loss for the quarter was $109 million and for full year 2022 was $412 million. This level of spend was in line with our expectations entering the quarter.

謝謝你，賈格迪普。第四季度，我們的 GAAP 運營費用為 1.13 億美元，2022 年全年為 4.21 億美元。我們本季度的 GAAP 淨虧損為 1.09 億美元，2022 年全年為 4.12 億美元。這一支出水平符合我們進入本季度的預期。

Cash operating expenses, defined as operating expenses less stock-based compensation and depreciation, were $70 million for the quarter and $266 million for the year, in line with previous guidance of $225 million to $275 million. CapEx in the fourth quarter was approximately $38 million and for full year 2022 was $159 million, below the guidance range of $175 million to $225 million. Drivers of the variance to guidance include deliberate postponement to further develop process and hardware specifications, cancellation of certain intermediate-stage separator production equipment to focus on our new fast separator production process, and savings captured through the incorporation of Phase 2 engineering line equipment into our consolidated preproduction QS-0 line.

現金運營費用，定義為運營費用減去基於股票的薪酬和折舊，本季度為 7000 萬美元，全年為 2.66 億美元，與之前 2.25 億美元至 2.75 億美元的指導一致。第四季度的資本支出約為 3800 萬美元，2022 年全年為 1.59 億美元，低於 1.75 億美元至 2.25 億美元的指導範圍。指導差異的驅動因素包括故意推遲進一步開發工藝和硬件規格，取消某些中間階段分離器生產設備以專注於我們新的快速分離器生產工藝，以及通過將第 2 階段工程線設備納入我們的成本節省合併試生產 QS-0 線。

Q4 CapEx was primarily directed towards facility investments, our medium-scale continuous film and cell imaging equipment.

第 4 季度資本支出主要用於設施投資、我們的中型連續膠片和細胞成像設備。

As we enter 2023, we continue to try to maximize capital efficiency and our ongoing build-out of the consolidated QS-0 line as well as to reduce our operating expenses. For full year 2023, we see capital expenditures of between $100 million and $150 million, the majority of which will be spent on our consolidated QS-0 line.

隨著我們進入 2023 年，我們將繼續努力最大限度地提高資本效率和我們正在進行的合併 QS-0 生產線的擴建，並減少我們的運營費用。對於 2023 年全年，我們看到資本支出在 1 億至 1.5 億美元之間，其中大部分將用於我們合併後的 QS-0 生產線。

On the operating expenses side, we've reduced spend where possible across the organization. Reductions came primarily through optimizing non-personnel resources such as services, materials and utility spend, as well as rebalancing personnel.

在運營支出方面，我們盡可能減少了整個組織的支出。減少主要來自優化非人事資源，如服務、材料和公用事業支出，以及重新平衡人員。

For 2023, we see cash operating expenses between $225 million and $275 million, the midpoint of which is approximately 10% below our Q4 2022 cash OpEx run rate. As a result of these cost savings initiatives, we believe our cash runway now extends into the second half of 2025, an increase from prior guidance through the end of 2024.

2023 年，我們預計現金運營支出在 2.25 億美元至 2.75 億美元之間，其中中點比我們 2022 年第四季度的現金運營支出率低約 10%。由於這些成本節約舉措，我們相信我們的現金跑道現在延伸到 2025 年下半年，比之前的指導增加到 2024 年底。

Historically, we focused on maintaining a strong balance sheet, and we intend to continue this by identifying new opportunities to reduce spending and by being strategic about opportunities to raise capital to further extend our cash runway.

從歷史上看，我們專注於維持強勁的資產負債表，我們打算通過尋找減少支出的新機會以及通過戰略性地把握籌集資金的機會來進一步擴大我們的現金跑道，從而繼續保持這一點。

With respect to cash, we spent $101 million on operations and CapEx in the fourth quarter and ended 2022 with $1.08 billion in liquidity, above the previous guidance of over $1 billion.

在現金方面，我們在第四季度花費了 1.01 億美元用於運營和資本支出，到 2022 年底流動資金為 10.8 億美元，高於之前超過 10 億美元的指導。

With that, I'll pass it over to you, John.

有了這個，我會把它傳遞給你，約翰。

Thanks, Kevin. We'll begin today's Q&A portion of the few questions we have received from investors on the Say app where that I believe investors would otherwise be interested. Our first 2 questions are Jagdeep. I'm summarizing several similar questions from investors here.

謝謝，凱文。我們將從今天的問答部分開始，我們從 Say 應用程序的投資者那裡收到的幾個問題，我相信投資者會對這些問題感興趣。我們的前兩個問題是 Jagdeep。我在這裡總結了投資者提出的幾個類似問題。

But can you give more context on the A0 delivery? Primarily, what's the significance of that milestone and what additional work needs to be done from here?

但是你能提供更多關於 A0 交付的背景信息嗎？首先，該里程碑的意義是什麼？需要從這裡完成哪些額外的工作？

Sure, John. So the significance of these first A0 deliveries is that they demonstrate the core functionality of our technology and our ability to make multi-amp-hour cells. We've previously shared some compelling data on the performance of our technology at smaller scales, but we think the multi-amp-hour scale is a significant milestone because capacity in this range is commercially relevant for a variety of applications, including both automotive and consumer electronics.

當然，約翰。因此，這些首批 A0 交付的意義在於它們展示了我們技術的核心功能以及我們製造多安時電池的能力。我們之前已經分享了一些關於我們技術在較小規模下的性能的引人注目的數據，但我們認為數安培小時規模是一個重要的里程碑，因為這個範圍內的容量與各種應用具有商業相關性，包括汽車和消費類電子產品。

In terms of what's left to do, as we reported in our letter, we're now focused on 2 important areas. One is a set of activities relating to increasing energy density, including thicker cathodes and improved packaging efficiency. And the other is continue to work on production quality and efficiency, leading to improved reliability.

就剩下要做的事情而言，正如我們在信中所報告的那樣，我們現在專注於 2 個重要領域。一個是一系列與提高能量密度相關的活動，包括加厚陰極和提高封裝效率。另一個是繼續致力於提高生產質量和效率，從而提高可靠性。

Finally, we're also excited about and plan to work on deploying our new fast separator production process about which we'll share more information at a later date.

最後，我們也很高興併計劃著手部署我們新的快速分離器生產工藝，我們將在稍後分享更多相關信息。

Okay. Great. How does the delivery of the A0 affect your time line to commercialization?

好的。偉大的。 A0 的交付如何影響您的商業化時間表？

Regarding the commercialization time line, we haven't provided any updated communications on this front since our last earnings call. The main point I'd like to emphasize here is that the path to all subsequent samples, including BMC samples, runs through our 2023 goal. In other words, those samples all require we increased cathode electrode thickness, improve packaging efficiency, incorporate the faster-driven production process and improve quality consistency leading to improved reliability.

關於商業化時間表，自上次財報電話會議以來，我們沒有在這方面提供任何更新的信息。我在這裡要強調的重點是，包括BMC樣本在內的所有後續樣本的路徑貫穿我們2023年的目標。換句話說，這些樣品都需要我們增加陰極厚度、提高封裝效率、採用更快驅動的生產過程並提高質量一致性，從而提高可靠性。

Okay. Our next question is for Kevin. Turning our attention to the finances for a moment now. You mentioned the extension of our cash runway into the second half 2025. Can you help explain in more detail what the drivers of these cost savings are?

好的。我們的下一個問題是凱文。現在將我們的注意力轉移到財務上。你提到我們的現金跑道延長到 2025 年下半年。你能幫助更詳細地解釋這些成本節約的驅動因素是什麼嗎？

Yes, John. We found savings in a number of areas, optimization of non-personnel OpEx savings areas, including services, materials and utility spend. CapEx savings resulted predominantly from the merger of the Phase 2 engineering line into a consolidated QS-0 preproduction line as well as savings associated with the new fast separator process described in the letter.

是的，約翰。我們發現在許多領域都有節省，優化了非人員 OpEx 節省領域，包括服務、材料和公用事業支出。資本支出的節省主要是由於將第 2 階段工程線合併到一條合併的 QS-0 預生產線中，以及與信中描述的新快速分離器工藝相關的節省。

As an organization, we have and always are going to want to be as lean and efficient as possible while keeping in mind our development time line, which is, of course, our highest priority. And this lean and efficient focus by the team contributed to our year-end liquidity of about $1.08 billion, which was in excess of the $1 billion guidance.

作為一個組織，我們一直希望盡可能精簡和高效，同時牢記我們的開發時間表，這當然是我們的首要任務。團隊的這種精簡和高效的專注促成了我們年終流動資金約 10.8 億美元，超過了 10 億美元的指導。

So as you mentioned, forecasting runway now into the second half of 2025, an improvement from the end of 2024, that's something that we're pretty encouraged with.

所以正如你提到的，預測跑道現在到 2025 年下半年，比 2024 年底有所改進，這是我們非常鼓舞的事情。

Okay. Thanks, Kevin. Turning back to you, Jagdeep. Can you talk more about the new separator process that you disclosed in the shareholder letter?

好的。謝謝，凱文。回到你身邊，Jagdeep。你能多談談你在股東信中披露的新分離程序嗎？

Sure, John. So we've been working on this for some time now as an advanced development project, one that we saw is high risk, but high return if it worked. We've seen some very encouraging data from this process on small-scale equipment and believe this will allow us to produce significantly faster and with a higher level of quality and consistency. So based on this data, we've chosen to focus on this faster process as our primary scale pathway.

當然，約翰。所以我們作為一個高級開發項目一直在研究這個項目，我們認為這是一個高風險的項目，但如果成功的話，回報也會很高。我們已經在小型設備上從這個過程中看到了一些非常令人鼓舞的數據，並且相信這將使我們能夠以更高的質量和一致性更快地生產。因此，基於這些數據，我們選擇將重點放在這個更快的過程上作為我們的主要規模途徑。

Now in the fullness of time, i.e., for commercial production, we think this process can allow us to scale over an order of magnitude greater throughput than our current process. But we also believe that we can use this new process with a modified version of our current film production equipment and get about a 3x improvement in throughput in the near term as well. Deployment of this near-term version of the process is one of our key '23 goals. And of course, we look forward to sharing progress on future calls.

現在時間成熟，即對於商業生產，我們認為這個過程可以讓我們擴展比當前過程高一個數量級的吞吐量。但我們也相信，我們可以將這一新工藝與我們當前電影生產設備的改進版本一起使用，並在短期內將吞吐量提高約 3 倍。部署此流程的近期版本是我們 23 世紀的關鍵目標之一。當然，我們期待在未來的通話中分享進展。

Okay. Great. We also got a couple of questions in from José Asumendi of JPMorgan. José's first question is a little bit longer term in nature. He asks, with a 3- to 5-year view, can you remind us of the different gates and stages that you plan to go through from the current 24-layer A0 prototype to final prototypes with the OEMs?

好的。偉大的。摩根大通的何塞·阿蘇門迪 (José Asumendi) 也向我們提出了幾個問題。 José 的第一個問題本質上是一個較長的問題。他問，從 3 到 5 年的角度來看，您能否提醒我們從目前的 24 層 A0 原型到與 OEM 的最終原型，您計劃經歷的不同關口和階段？

Sure. So as we've said before, the typical automotive stage gates included A samples, which are typically demonstrations of the core capabilities of the product, followed by B and C samples, which typically focus on increasing manufacturing maturity. As I said earlier, the important point I'd emphasize is that the road to all the subsequent milestones leads to our 2023 goal. Adding functionality that improves sublevel energy density, such as bigger cathodes, more efficient packaging as well as improved reliability through better quality and consistency as well as the new fast separator process that I mentioned earlier, those things form the foundation for both more advanced A samples as well as subsequent B and C samples and, of course, commercial products.

當然。因此，正如我們之前所說，典型的汽車舞台大門包括 A 樣品，通常是產品核心功能的演示，然後是 B 和 C 樣品，它們通常側重於提高製造成熟度。正如我之前所說，我要強調的重點是通往所有後續里程碑的道路通向我們的 2023 年目標。添加可提高次級能量密度的功能，例如更大的陰極、更高效的封裝以及通過更好的質量和一致性以及我之前提到的新的快速分離器工藝提高可靠性，這些東西構成了更先進的 A 樣品的基礎以及隨後的 B 和 C 樣品，當然還有商業產品。

Okay. José's second question is for you, Kevin. Can you elaborate around the topic of protecting the balance sheet, remaining cash focused and protecting the balance sheet until 2025?

好的。何塞的第二個問題是問你的，凱文。您能否圍繞保護資產負債表、保持現金集中和保護資產負債表到 2025 年的主題進行詳細說明？

As I mentioned earlier, we want to be as lean and efficient as possible while keeping in mind our development time line, which is, of course, our highest priority. And I believe we struck the right balance in our '23 plan shared today. We're able to resource the '23 goals laid out in the letter, while also forecasting an extension in cash runway.

正如我之前提到的，我們希望盡可能精簡和高效，同時牢記我們的開發時間表，這當然是我們的首要任務。我相信我們在今天分享的 23 年計劃中取得了正確的平衡。我們能夠為信中列出的 23 年目標提供資源，同時還預測現金跑道的延長。

Our prior guidance was through the end of 2024, and we're now forecasting cash runway into the second half of 2025.

我們之前的指導是到 2024 年底，我們現在預測現金跑道到 2025 年下半年。

And regarding the question on the protection of our balance sheet, we intend to continue this by identifying new opportunities to reduce spending and by being strategic about opportunities to raise capital to further extend our cash runway.

關於保護我們的資產負債表的問題，我們打算通過確定減少支出的新機會以及通過戰略性地把握籌集資金的機會以進一步擴大我們的現金跑道來繼續這一工作。

Okay. Thanks so much, guys. We're now ready to begin the Q&A portion of today's call. So operator, please open the line up for questions.

好的。非常感謝，伙計們。我們現在準備開始今天電話會議的問答部分。所以接線員，請打開問題隊列。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Jordan Levy with Truist Securities.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Jordan Levy。

I appreciate the update. I wanted to just see if I could start asking to the extent that you can talk about it on your thoughts in the consumer electronics space and process knowing that there's probably sort of a shorter cycle sector than the auto sector and how you're thinking about approaching that space?

感謝更新。我想看看我是否可以開始問你在消費電子領域和過程中的想法，知道可能有一個比汽車行業更短的周期行業，以及你是如何思考的接近那個空間？

Yes. No, we think that's a very interesting space for us. Obviously, we've been very focused on automotive. There's a longer cycle with automotive product development. So it was important for us to engage there early. We feel good about our engagements in that space. And as we mentioned on previous calls, we are seeing a fair bit of interest from the consumer sector. We also mentioned in this letter as well as previous letters that we've provided single layer cells to the consumer electronics sector to be tested under 0 applied pressure.

是的。不，我們認為這對我們來說是一個非常有趣的空間。顯然，我們一直非常專注於汽車。汽車產品開發的周期較長。因此，我們儘早參與其中很重要。我們對我們在那個領域的參與感到滿意。正如我們在之前的電話會議上提到的那樣，我們看到消費者部門對此表現出相當大的興趣。我們還在這封信以及之前的信中提到，我們已經向消費電子行業提供了單層電池，以便在 0 施加壓力下進行測試。

We mentioned in the letter that those cells are performing well. We've seen that we've published data from the sister cells, that show they've exceeded 800 cycles count at 0 applied pressure, which we're really excited about. We keep talking about 0 applied pressure because that is really important in the consumer sector. If you have a battery that requires pressure application apparatus, that's going to take up volume, space in the phone or in the consumer device, which there isn't that much of.

我們在信中提到，這些細胞表現良好。我們已經看到我們已經發布了來自姐妹電池的數據，表明它們在 0 施加壓力下已經超過 800 個循環計數，我們對此感到非常興奮。我們一直在談論零施加壓力，因為這在消費領域非常重要。如果你的電池需要壓力施加裝置，它會佔用手機或消費設備的體積和空間，而這些設備並沒有那麼多。

So just having a high energy density cell is not enough, you really want to have that cell operate without a lot of external pressure. And the lowest pressure you get to is, of course, no applied pressure. So you only have the 1 ambient atmospheric pressure on the cell and to our knowledge, we are the only non-LiPON-based, non micro battery style lithium-metal cell that has been shown to operate with 0 applied pressure.

所以僅僅擁有一個高能量密度的電池是不夠的，你真的想讓那個電池在沒有很大外部壓力的情況下運行。當然，你得到的最低壓力是沒有施加壓力。因此，電池上只有 1 個環境大氣壓，據我們所知，我們是唯一一種非基於 LiPON 的非微型電池型鋰金屬電池，已被證明可以在 0 施加壓力下運行。

So we're excited about those results. Our -- the consumer partners that we're engaged with share that excitement. And as you point out, it's a shorter cycle to get to market. So we expect to continue to move those engagements forward, and we'll report progress as we have progress to report.

所以我們對這些結果感到興奮。我們的 - 與我們合作的消費者合作夥伴分享了這種興奮。正如您所指出的，進入市場的周期更短。因此，我們希望繼續推進這些參與，我們將在有進展報告時報告進展情況。

Great. And then just a quick follow-up. Any commentary you could give as it relates to the stationary storage side of things? It seems like you're working kind of on the power cell side of it, but that sort of goes to kind of the other side of it.

偉大的。然後只是快速跟進。您可以就事物的固定存儲方面發表任何評論嗎？看起來你在它的電池一側工作，但那是它的另一側。

Yes. I think we mentioned last year that we have seen attrition from stationary storage. We announced 1 early agreement in that space. The feedback we're hearing from that space is that the performance and specifications for cells that meet the requirements of the automotive sector are good for that sector as well for stationary storage as well. So as we get further along in terms of our production capacities, we fully intend to explore that market opportunity as well.

是的。我想我們去年提到過，我們已經看到固定存儲的損耗。我們在該領域宣布了一項早期協議。我們從該領域聽到的反饋是，滿足汽車行業要求的電池的性能和規格對該行業以及固定存儲都有好處。因此，隨著我們在生產能力方面取得進一步進展，我們也完全打算探索這個市場機會。

I think the main point that I think comes out of your questions, which is a really good one, is that, if you have a better battery that has better characteristics in terms of energy density, in terms of power capability, perhaps safety, these are all things that resonate across the full spectrum of applications from automotive to consumer to stationary storage. And the question of which ones we go after, that question is going to be more based on what makes the most business sense for us rather than the fundamental applicability of our technology.

我想我認為從你的問題中得出的要點是，這是一個非常好的問題，如果你有一個更好的電池，它在能量密度、功率能力以及安全性方面具有更好的特性，這些是在從汽車到消費者再到固定存儲的整個應用領域產生共鳴的所有事物。至於我們追求哪些，這個問題將更多地基於什麼對我們最有商業意義，而不是我們技術的基本適用性。

Our next question comes from Gabe Daoud with Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Gabe Daoud 和 Cowen。

Jagdeep, was maybe hoping to, to the extent you could share, get a bit more color on the initial A sample, the A0. So is there an update on cycle life performance? I think as of last quarter, you disclosed it achieved about 100 cycles or so? And then similarly, your comments around your OEM partners being pleased, I guess, with "early cycle capacity retention". So maybe could you define early cycle capacity retention and then provide an update on cycle life if there is one.

Jagdeep，可能希望在您可以分享的範圍內，在初始 A 樣本 A0 上獲得更多顏色。那麼循環壽命性能有更新嗎？我想截至上個季度，您透露它實現了大約 100 個週期左右？然後類似地，您對您的 OEM 合作夥伴的評論很高興，我猜，“早期週期容量保留”。因此，也許您可以定義早期循環容量保留，然後提供循環壽命更新（如果有的話）。

Yes. So we didn't say anything on customer-specific testing, we actually -- we obviously can't comment on customer-specific tests. Those tend to be proprietary to customers themselves. What we did say is that the really, the purpose of the A0 samples is to demonstrate the core functionality of the technology and our ability to make multi-amp-hour cells. And these samples did that. we've actually been pleased with the performance. We don't expect these first A0 samples to have the same level of reliability as a commercial product. But we've seen, as I mentioned to you, mentioned in the letter, good performance on both fast charge and early capacity retention.

是的。所以我們沒有對客戶特定的測試發表任何評論，我們實際上 - 我們顯然不能對客戶特定的測試發表評論。這些往往是客戶自己專有的。我們所說的是，A0 樣品的真正目的是展示該技術的核心功能以及我們製造多安時電池的能力。這些樣本做到了這一點。我們實際上對性能很滿意。我們不希望這些首批 A0 樣品具有與商業產品相同的可靠性水平。但我們已經看到，正如我在信中提到的那樣，在快速充電和早期容量保持方面都有良好的表現。

So when we say early capacity retention what we mean is the shape of the capacity retention curve. So remember that one of the ways that batteries hit end of life is that with every charge/discharge cycle, you lose a little bit of lithium to site reactions. And so the capacity that remains in the battery decreases with every charge in this short cycle and eventually when it gets to 80% of the original capacity, the cell is deemed to be at end of life.

因此，當我們說早期容量保留時，我們的意思是容量保留曲線的形狀。因此請記住，電池達到使用壽命的其中一種方式是，在每次充電/放電循環中，您都會因位點反應而損失一點鋰。因此，電池中剩餘的容量會隨著這個短週期中的每次充電而減少，最終當它達到原始容量的 80% 時，電池就被認為已達到使用壽命。

And what we were referring to on letter is that the shape of that capacity retention curve or capacity degradation curve was quite good. In fact, it was similar to what we've seen in previous results that we published. So that's what we meant by early capacity retention.

我們在信中提到的是容量保持曲線或容量退化曲線的形狀非常好。事實上，它與我們在之前發布的結果中看到的相似。這就是我們所說的早期容量保留的意思。

And then what we tried to do is, as I mentioned in the letter as well and on the call, coming this coming year is add a few key bits of functionality that we think are going to be very important. One set of features is going to be related to energy density. So we mentioned the thicker cathode. We mentioned the more efficient packaging. Those are all things that will allow the energy density to the actual prototype cell to approach the energy density that we believe the system is capable of.

然後我們嘗試做的是，正如我在信中和電話中提到的那樣，來年將添加一些我們認為非常重要的關鍵功能。一組特徵將與能量密度有關。所以我們提到了更厚的陰極。我們提到了更高效的包裝。這些都是讓實際原型電池的能量密度接近我們認為系統能夠達到的能量密度的所有因素。

And then the other parallel track of that is good reliability. And our path to improved reliability is very simple. It comes down to basically improving the quality and consistency of our materials and processes in our system, we believe, as we get higher high-quality in our materials and processes that directly translates to better reliability. So that's a quick summary of both the testing and our plans going forward this year.

然後另一個並行軌道是良好的可靠性。我們提高可靠性的途徑非常簡單。我們相信，歸根結底是提高我們系統中材料和工藝的質量和一致性，因為我們在材料和工藝中獲得更高的質量，這直接轉化為更好的可靠性。因此，這是對今年的測試和我們未來計劃的快速總結。

Super helpful. And then I guess on that note, just hitting on cathode loading going to 5 mAH. I think in one of your previous slides, you showed the QS-0 power cell and the QS energy call, both of which had pretty good or attractive fast charge capabilities. So I guess the question is going to the energy cell and the 5-milliamp hour to bump up energy density, would you still expect to have that, call it, 15 minutes charge time for 10% to 80% -- for the 10% to 80% charge window? Would that still be fair? And is that the 950 or so watt hour per liter energy density target on the energy cell, is that still fair?

超級有幫助。然後我猜在那個音符上，只需點擊陰極負載即可達到 5 mAH。我認為在您之前的一張幻燈片中，您展示了 QS-0 電池和 QS 能量電話，它們都具有非常好的或有吸引力的快速充電功能。所以我想問題在於能量電池和 5 毫安小時以提高能量密度，你是否仍然期望擁有 15 分鐘的充電時間，從 10% 到 80% - 對於 10%到 80% 充電窗口？那仍然公平嗎？能量電池上每升 950 瓦時左右的能量密度目標是否仍然公平？

Yes. So I think the long-term numbers that we've shared in the slide that you're referring to are still our targets. So we expect the energy cell to be somewhere in the vicinity of 900 to 1,000 [watt] hours per [liter], as we've mentioned before. And we do think that cell should still be able to charge more quickly than conventional lithium-ion batteries. So yes, we think getting something in the 15-ish-minute range is not unrealistic for that cell. For the reason that we mentioned before, which is that cell does not -- even though it's an energy cell, we have thick cathode. It doesn't have an anode. So there's no extra distance for the lithium ions to have to traverse in the anode.

是的。所以我認為我們在您提到的幻燈片中分享的長期數字仍然是我們的目標。因此，正如我們之前提到的，我們預計能量電池將在每 [升] 900 至 1,000 [瓦] 小時附近。而且我們確實認為電池應該仍然能夠比傳統的鋰離子電池充電更快。所以是的，我們認為在 15 分鐘左右的範圍內獲得一些東西對於那個細胞來說並不是不現實的。由於我們之前提到的原因，即電池沒有 - 即使它是能量電池，我們也有厚陰極。它沒有陽極。因此，鋰離子無需在陽極中穿過額外的距離。

So we can basically use the ion transport length of a conventional lithium-ion battery, which includes both anode and cathode distance, and apply that purely to the cathode, so that we can get thicker cathodes, more to cathode than conventional cells or have those cathodes be able to charge faster the conventional cells.

所以我們基本上可以使用傳統鋰離子電池的離子傳輸長度，包括陽極和陰極的距離，並將其完全應用於陰極，這樣我們就可以獲得比傳統電池更厚的陰極，更厚的陰極或具有那些陰極能夠比傳統電池更快地充電。

And then the power cell, we believe, will be -- could potentially get even faster than that. But of course, at the extent of somewhat lower energy density, because as you point out to get the power cathode you have, somewhat thinner cathode with somewhat higher amount of electrolytes. So basically lower cathode mass loading, which gives you both higher power and lower energy density.

然後，我們相信，動力電池將 - 可能會比這更快。但是，當然，在能量密度較低的情況下，因為正如你指出的那樣，你擁有的功率陰極更薄，電解質含量更高。所以基本上較低的陰極質量負載，這會給你更高的功率和更低的能量密度。

So effectively, the short answer to your question is, yes, we do believe that our energy cell should still be compelling on the power front, and our power cell will also have an interesting level of energy density.

如此有效，對您的問題的簡短回答是，是的，我們確實相信我們的能量電池在功率方面仍應引人注目，並且我們的能量電池也將具有有趣的能量密度水平。

Our next question is from Winnie Dong with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Winnie Dong。

I wanted to elaborate a little bit more on the cathode capacity loading improvement. How does that change your in-process A sample testing right now with customers? Or do you then anticipate that is an improvement that will be similar beyond? I just want to clarify that. That's my first question.

我想詳細說明一下陰極容量負載的改進。這如何改變您現在與客戶進行的過程中 A 樣品測試？或者您是否認為這是一種類似的改進？我只想澄清一下。這是我的第一個問題。

Yes. Yes. So as we've said before, we see the A sample as really being a phase. There's a series of deliveries we'll make under the A sample umbrella. And subsequent versions of that sample will have this new higher mass loading, higher capacity loading cathode as well as the more efficient packaging. And then that will be to be in samples subsequently.

是的。是的。因此，正如我們之前所說，我們將 A 樣本視為真正的一個階段。我們將在 A 樣品保護傘下進行一系列交付。該樣品的後續版本將具有這種新的更高質量負載、更高容量負載陰極以及更高效的包裝。然後這將是隨後的樣本。

Got it. And then in terms of the series of A sample prototypes that you will be continuing to deliver this year, how long do you anticipate that series to last? And I think previous quarters, you've alluded to B sampling, C sample, each being around 18 months or so, which puts us into perhaps the time frame of 2026 or so. So with A sample sort of rolling out this year as well, can you give a picture for us in terms of the time line for ultimate commercialization.

知道了。然後就您今年將繼續交付的 A 系列樣品原型而言，您預計該系列會持續多長時間？我認為前幾個季度，你提到了 B 抽樣，C 抽樣，每個抽樣大約 18 個月左右，這使我們可能進入 2026 年左右的時間範圍。因此，今年也將推出 A 樣例，您能否為我們描繪一下最終商業化的時間表。

Yes. So we haven't said anything -- we haven't provided any new communications relative to time line other than what we said on the last earnings call. I think the main thing that we, I think, are pointing out on this call is that when you look at the B and C samples and even the commercial product, some of the key requirements for those subsequent samples and products, are the key things we're focused on in 2023. So whether it's the B or the C sample or more advanced versions of A or the product, they all need more efficient packaging. They all need the ability to have these more energy dense cathodes or higher capacity loading cathodes.

是的。所以我們什麼也沒說——除了我們在上次財報電話會議上所說的以外，我們沒有提供任何與時間線相關的新信息。我認為我們在這次電話會議上指出的主要事情是，當您查看 B 和 C 樣品甚至商業產品時，這些後續樣品和產品的一些關鍵要求是關鍵我們專注於 2023 年。因此，無論是 B 或 C 樣本還是 A 或產品的更高級版本，它們都需要更高效的包裝。他們都需要能夠擁有這些能量密度更高的陰極或更高容量負載的陰極。

And frankly, they all would need this -- we think this new fast film production process that we've also alluded to on this call. We think those are all really key things. And they all need obviously increasing liabilities you go from prototype to products. So those are all things that are a key part of our goals for this year. And regardless of which sample we want to focus on in the future, we have to get these things done this year. And that's kind of why this is an important year for us. And we just want to make sure that we execute on these key goals because they will form the foundation for all those subsequent milestones.

坦率地說，他們都需要這個——我們認為我們在這次電話會議上也提到了這種新的快速電影製作過程。我們認為這些都是非常關鍵的事情。他們都需要明顯增加從原型到產品的責任。所以這些都是我們今年目標的關鍵部分。而且無論我們未來要關注哪個樣本，我們都必須在今年完成這些事情。這就是為什麼今年對我們來說是重要的一年。我們只是想確保我們執行這些關鍵目標，因為它們將為所有這些後續里程碑奠定基礎。

Got it. If I may just squeeze in 1 more on the topic of improving quality and consistency. Could you maybe elaborate for us sort of like the steps that you're taking to achieve that goal for this year? Is it more -- perhaps more material integration? Is it more automation of the equipment? Any details on that?

知道了。如果我可以在提高質量和一致性的話題上再擠進 1 個話題。您能否為我們詳細說明您為實現今年的目標而採取的步驟？是不是更多——也許是更多的材料整合？是不是設備自動化程度更高？有關於此的任何詳細信息嗎？

Absolutely. So there's a lot of things that can lead to quality that we want to improve. So things like particles, for example. If you have any kind of a -- if you have, for example a large particle sitting between the layers of your cells, that could eventually lead to issues. If you have, for example, tabs that are not welded properly as you bring together all the different layers in the cell, that could lead to issues. There's just a lot of things that revolve around, incoming materials quality. If the material is getting in had defects or process control. If things are not -- if the partners itself is not operating within your statistical buses control limits, for example, automation, which allows you to have more precision in how you assemble and align the various layers.

絕對地。所以有很多事情可以帶來我們想要提高的質量。例如，像粒子這樣的東西。如果你有任何一種 - 例如，如果你有一個大顆粒位於你的細胞層之間，那最終可能會導致問題。例如，如果您在將單元格中的所有不同層組合在一起時有未正確焊接的標籤，則可能會導致問題。有很多事情圍繞著來料質量。如果材料進入有缺陷或過程控制。如果情況並非如此——如果合作夥伴本身不在您的統計總線控制範圍內運行，例如，自動化，這使您可以更精確地組裝和對齊各個層。

So those are all areas that are potentially contributors to quality consistency. And those are the kinds of things that we are trying to tighten up this year to ensure better and better quality. I think the key point I would emphasize is that other industries, including some of the 1P efforts in the letter, like the multi-layer ceramic capacitor industry as well as the lithium-ion battery industry have already shown the ability to control those parameters quite well. And so we don't need to reinvent the wheel there.

因此，這些都是可能有助於質量一致性的領域。這些都是我們今年試圖收緊的事情，以確保質量越來越好。我認為我要強調的重點是其他行業，包括信中的一些 1P 努力，如多層陶瓷電容器行業以及鋰離子電池行業已經顯示出相當大的控制這些參數的能力出色地。所以我們不需要在那裡重新發明輪子。

We just plan on having a disciplined execution process, a disciplined manufacturing team that puts in place those controls, those processes, that level of automated precision that ensures that we don't have extraneous product floating around or that we don't have emphasized placement or we don't have bad tab wells and those kind of things. So those are all things that a doable. We just need to implement an organization that has the discipline to repeatably execute on that front.

我們只是計劃有一個紀律嚴明的執行流程，一個紀律嚴明的製造團隊，將這些控制、那些流程、自動化精度水平確保我們沒有多餘的產品，或者我們沒有強調放置或者我們沒有壞標籤井之類的東西。所以這些都是可行的。我們只需要實施一個組織，該組織具有在這方面重複執行的紀律。

Our next question comes from Chris Snyder with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Chris Snyder。

I understand you cannot share specific customer testing protocols and results. But could you provide some general feedback from -- that you got from customers post delivery of the A0 sample?

我了解您無法共享特定的客戶測試協議和結果。但是您能否提供一些一般性反饋——您在 A0 樣品交付後從客戶那裡得到的反饋？

I can reiterate what we said earlier, which is that we feel that most of the samples we provided have performed well. We've mentioned some of the specific tests that were done, including fast charge, some of the early capacity retention curves and so on. And I can also point out that one of the areas that we want to keep improving is, in fact, the reliability of these cells. And so that's why we spend a lot of time talking about things we plan to do this year to improve quality and consistency, all the process automation and particle reduction and so on.

我可以重申一下我們之前所說的，就是我們覺得我們提供的大部分樣本都表現不錯。我們已經提到了一些已經完成的具體測試，包括快充、一些早期的容量保持曲線等等。我還可以指出，我們想要不斷改進的領域之一實際上是這些電池的可靠性。這就是為什麼我們花很多時間談論我們今年計劃做的事情，以提高質量和一致性，所有過程自動化和減少顆粒等等。

Other than that, there's not a lot we can say about the specifics. These are customer-specific protocols and results. But I think from our standpoint, we can say, we're actually pleased with where we are. And we think we're well positioned to go from here to the next phase, which involves adding this additional functionality that we talked about earlier today.

除此之外，關於具體細節我們無話可說。這些是客戶特定的協議和結果。但我認為從我們的角度來看，我們可以說，我們實際上對我們所處的位置感到滿意。我們認為我們已經準備好從這裡進入下一階段，其中包括添加我們今天早些時候談到的附加功能。

I appreciate that. And then, I guess, maybe just following up on some of the prior questioning on the pathway from the A0 sample to the B sample. I guess how many generations of the A sample should we expect? And will we get updates on these as the samples progress?

我很感激。然後，我想，也許只是跟進一些關於從 A0 樣本到 B 樣本的路徑的先前問題。我想我們應該期待多少代 A 樣本？隨著樣本的進展，我們會得到這些更新嗎？

And then kind of another 1 on that same line, are the subsequent generations of A samples customer specific in that like an A sample to customer X would be different than the A sample of the customer Y or is it uniform across all customers?

然後是同一行上的另一個 1，A 樣本的後續代是否特定於客戶，因為客戶 X 的 A 樣本與客戶 Y 的 A 樣本不同，還是所有客戶都是統一的？

Yes, that's a good question. So first of all, let me more backwards from the C sample. Obviously, the C sample is going to be very customer-specific because the definition of a C sample is that it's -- it's a product that is -- it's a sample made of an actual production line that's going to go into serious production. And you can't do that until you've got a customer that's told you they're planning on using that sample -- that type of sample in an actual product, right? So that will be tested.

是的，這是個好問題。因此，首先，讓我從 C 示例向後看。顯然，C 樣本將非常針對客戶，因為 C 樣本的定義是——它是一種產品——它是由將要投入正式生產的實際生產線製成的樣本。你不能這樣做，直到你有一個客戶告訴你他們計劃使用那個樣品——實際產品中的那種樣品，對吧？所以這將被測試。

The B sample is likely also to be customer-specific, maybe less so than the C sample, but because the B sample is used to make test vehicles, that's also going to have a customer-specific element to it. The A sample is typically the most technology oriented the samples, because it's a demonstration of the core capabilities of the product. But even there, different customers have different things they're most interested in.

B 樣品也可能是特定於客戶的，可能不如 C 樣品，但由於 B 樣品用於製造測試車輛，因此它也將具有特定於客戶的元素。 A樣本通常是最面向技術的樣本，因為它展示了產品的核心功能。但即使在那裡，不同的客戶也有他們最感興趣的不同事物。

So yes, even with A sample, see one customer have a certain set of functionalities they care more about than other functionality or other customers. And so there will be some customer-by-customer variance of all those samples. Relative to will we share progress with you on all those samples, to the extent those are meaningful milestones, we absolutely will. And to the extent that they're not meaningful, then we wouldn't need to. But we try to be more transparent rather than less transparent. So I would expect that we sharing updates on any meaningful customer milestones.

所以是的，即使有一個樣本，也可以看到一個客戶擁有他們比其他功能或其他客戶更關心的一組特定功能。因此，所有這些樣本都會因客戶而異。相對於我們是否會與您分享所有這些樣本的進展，如果這些是有意義的里程碑，我們絕對會。如果它們沒有意義，那麼我們就不需要了。但我們努力提高透明度而不是降低透明度。所以我希望我們分享任何有意義的客戶里程碑的更新。

I appreciate that. If I could just squeeze a final quick 1 in on the A to B sample. In the past, when you guys have kind of said roughly 18 months, kind of time line between A sample and B sample. Does that clock start with A0 delivery? Or does that clock start when you deliver the last generation of the A sample?

我很感激。如果我能在 A 到 B 樣本中擠出最後一個快速 1 就好了。過去，當你們說大約 18 個月時，A 樣本和 B 樣本之間的時間線。該時鐘是否從 A0 交付開始？或者當您交付最後一代 A 樣品時，該時鐘是否開始？

I think that the 18-month windows that we provided earlier were kind of approximations. And so I think if you look at it as an approximation, then I think whether you start with A0 or some subsequent version of it, you're still roughly in the same time frame. So I don't think we want to be overly precise. I think it's hard to be overly precise about milestones that are years away. The main point we wanted to provide was that -- maybe that's the one that is there is a series of progressively more mature samples that we need to provide to the automotive sector.

我認為我們之前提供的 18 個月窗口是一種近似值。所以我認為，如果你把它看作一個近似值，那麼我認為無論你是從 A0 還是它的某個後續版本開始，你仍然大致處於相同的時間範圍內。所以我認為我們不想過於精確。我認為很難對幾年後的里程碑過於精確。我們想提供的要點是——也許就是我們需要向汽車行業提供一系列逐漸成熟的樣品。

The first of those milestones, which is the A sample phase is really focused on some core functionality and demonstration of capability. The next version, which is the B sample phase, is focused on production processes, although it could be on smaller, lower volume versions of the tools. And the final phase is the C sample, which is focused on the functionality and the right process, but on the actual production tooling, and we wanted to provide that rough range so people have a sense of roughly what we're talking about, it's not a 2-month delta. It's not a 10-year delta, but it was something in the range that we had mentioned. And I think that pretty much remains the case.

這些里程碑中的第一個，即 A 示例階段，真正專注於一些核心功能和能力演示。下一個版本，即 B 樣品階段，側重於生產過程，儘管它可能用於更小、更小批量的工具版本。最後階段是 C 示例，它側重於功能和正確的過程，但側重於實際的生產工具，我們希望提供粗略的範圍，以便人們大致了解我們在說什麼，它是不是 2 個月的增量。這不是 10 年的三角洲，但它在我們提到的範圍內。我認為情況幾乎仍然如此。

Our next question is from Mark Delaney with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的馬克德萊尼。

Yes, thank you for all the details in the shareholder letter. My first question was a follow-up on that same topic. And just trying to better understand in more depth, if I could, please, what's the difference between A0 sample and an A sample and any sort of idea of how many A samples we should be expecting?

是的，感謝您提供股東信中的所有細節。我的第一個問題是關於同一主題的後續問題。只是想更深入地更好地理解，如果可以的話，A0 樣本和 A 樣本之間有什麼區別，以及我們應該期望多少 A 樣本的任何想法？

Well, I mean, I think that -- the -- we laid out in the letter some of the key things we're working on this year, right? So we said that -- so what the A0 has is multi-amp-hour capabilities, so 24 layers and demonstrates the core capability of the product. So it's a lithium-metal anode solid-state separator, 0 lithium to start with cell. All that can be tested by the customer. Customers even tested as we mentioned earlier, fast charging and capacity retention and so on.

好吧，我的意思是，我認為 - 我們在信中列出了我們今年正在做的一些關鍵事情，對嗎？所以我們說——所以 A0 具有多安培小時的能力，所以 24 層並展示了產品的核心能力。所以它是一個鋰金屬陽極固態隔膜，0鋰電池開始。所有這些都可以由客戶測試。客戶甚至像我們前面提到的那樣進行了測試，快速充電和容量保持等等。

The things we're working on this year, which include thicker cathodes, more energy-dense packaging, mid of the year, the fast film production process. Those are all features that will make their way into subsequent releases. And that -- you might imagine those going into a second generation of A sample. And they will also make their way into the B sample and the C sample. But I think, the key for the A sample really is, is there new functionality that's going into the cell. And the goals we laid out this year indicate a number of areas where there's key functionality we are trying to roll in.

我們今年正在做的事情，包括更厚的陰極、更高能量密度的包裝、年中、快速的薄膜生產過程。這些都是將進入後續版本的功能。那——你可能會想像那些進入第二代 A 樣本的人。他們也會進入 B 樣本和 C 樣本。但我認為，A 示例的關鍵確實在於，是否有新功能進入單元格。我們今年制定的目標表明了我們正試圖推出的一些關鍵功能領域。

So you can imagine probably at least 1 further generation of A sample. And then subsequent to that, we think we will have a lot of the core functionality in, and we will focus more on getting some of the manufacturing maturity for the B and C samples.

所以你可以想像至少還有 1 代 A 樣本。然後在那之後，我們認為我們將擁有很多核心功能，我們將更多地關注 B 和 C 樣品的製造成熟度。

That's helpful. My other question was on some of the optimization efforts the company spoke about in the shareholder letter in the prepared remarks. One of the things that was mentioned was rebalancing personnel. I'm hoping perhaps you could elaborate specifically on that and any more color you can share there?

這很有幫助。我的另一個問題是關於公司在準備好的評論中的股東信中談到的一些優化工作。提到的其中一件事是重新平衡人員。我希望也許您可以詳細說明這一點以及您可以在那里分享的更多顏色？

Yes, Mark, that was predominantly the consolidation and transfer of teams within the organization to better focus on the '23 goals. This did include a small approximately 3% reduction in the team, as part of our annual planning effort, we did eliminate positions not aligned to near-term goals. There wasn't a net reduction in manufacturing operations. In fact, we had a small increased personnel assigned to manufacturing operations.

是的，馬克，這主要是組織內團隊的整合和轉移，以更好地專注於 23 年的目標。這確實包括團隊中約 3% 的小幅裁員，作為我們年度計劃工作的一部分，我們確實消除了與近期目標不符的職位。製造業務沒有淨減少。事實上，我們有少量增加的人員分配給製造業務。

There are no further questions. So I'll pass the call back over to the management team for closing remarks.

沒有其他問題了。所以我會把電話轉回給管理團隊，讓他們發表結束語。

Yes. So I want to just thank you all for joining today's call. I'd like to thank our investors for their ongoing support of our mission, our customers for their commitment to helping us get this technology to market. And of course, our amazing team for their incredibly dedicated efforts to overcome the hard problems associated with bringing down breaking new technology to market. We look forward to reporting on further progress in the coming quarters.

是的。所以我只想感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我要感謝我們的投資者對我們使命的持續支持，感謝我們的客戶致力於幫助我們將這項技術推向市場。當然，還要感謝我們出色的團隊，他們竭盡全力克服與將突破性新技術推向市場相關的難題。我們期待在未來幾個季度報告進一步的進展。

That concludes the conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.

電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開線路。