Quantumscape Corp (QS) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to QuantumScape's second quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Dan Conway, QuantumScape's Principal Analyst, Investor Relations. You may begin your conference.

大家好，歡迎參加 QuantumScape 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。丹‧康威 (Dan Conway)，QuantumScape 投資者關係首席分析師。您可以開始您的會議了。

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon and thank you to everyone for joining QuantumScape's second-quarter 2025 earnings call. To supplement today's discussion, please go to our IR website at ir.QuantumScape.com to view our shareholder letter.

謝謝您，接線生。下午好，感謝大家參加 QuantumScape 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。為了補充今天的討論，請造訪我們的 IR 網站 ir.QuantumScape.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. Our expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize.

在我們開始之前，我想提請您注意我們網站上作為季度更新的一部分發布的前瞻性陳述的安全港條款。前瞻性陳述通常涉及未來事件、未來技術進步或未來財務或營運績效。我們對這些問題的期望和信念可能不會實現。

Actual results in 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 statement 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.

財務期間的實際結果受風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與預測結果有重大差異。由於我們在致股東信、10-K 表格和其他美國證券交易委員會文件中所述的原因，存在可能導致實際結果與我們的前瞻性聲明內容存在重大差異的風險因素，包括難以預測未來結果所帶來的不確定性。

Joining us today will be QuantumScape's CEO, Dr. Siva Sivaram; and our CFO, Kevin Hettrich.

今天與我們一起參加的有 QuantumScape 的執行長 Siva Sivaram 博士和我們的財務長 Kevin Hettrich。

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

說完這些，我想把電話轉給 Siva。

Thank you, Dan. Today, we announced an expansion of our existing collaboration and licensing agreement with Volkswagen Group's battery maker, PowerCo. This upgraded deal sees PowerCo contributing additional payments of up to $131 million to QS over the next two years to support our joint commercialization activities. These payments are connected with certain milestones to be achieved with a joint scalability. The first milestones linked to expected payments of more than $10 million have already been achieved.

謝謝你，丹。今天，我們宣布擴大與大眾集團電池製造商 PowerCo 的現有合作和授權協議。根據這項升級協議，PowerCo 將在未來兩年內向 QS 支付額外高達 1.31 億美元，以支持我們的聯合商業化活動。這些付款與需要透過聯合可擴展性實現的某些里程碑相關。預計支付金額將超過 1000 萬美元，首批里程碑已經實現。

These new payments are additional to the previously announced $130 million that will be due to QS upon satisfactory technical progress and execution of the full licensing agreement. As part of this upgraded deal, Qs will prioritize the output of QSE-5 cells from our San Jose pilot line to support our joint activities with PowerCo, though we maintain our non-exclusive arrangement and retain the right to provide cells to our other prospective customers.

這些新付款是先前宣布的 1.3 億美元付款的補充，在技術進展令人滿意且執行完整許可協議後，QS 將獲得這筆付款。作為此次升級協議的一部分，Qs 將優先從我們的聖荷西試驗生產線輸出 QSE-5 電池，以支援我們與 PowerCo 的聯合活動，但我們仍保持非排他性安排，並保留向其他潛在客戶提供電池的權利。

This expansion would allow PowerCo the right under the licensing agreement to produce up to an additional 5 gigawatt hours of QSE-5 cells annually, including for customers outside the Volkswagen Group, for a total of up to 85 gigawatt hours.

此次擴張將使 PowerCo 有權根據許可協議每年額外生產最多 5 千兆瓦時的 QSE-5 電池，包括為大眾集團以外的客戶生產，總產量最多可達 85 千兆瓦時。

PowerCo has also secured the future right to license certain advanced QS technology beyond our first generation QSE-5 platform. This upgraded PowerCo deal, with new cash payments of up to $131 million over two years, clearly demonstrates the value of our solid-state lithium metal technology platform to the automotive sector. We are extending our cash runway forecast into 2029, a six-month improvement relative to our previous guidance.

PowerCo 也獲得了未來授權我們的第一代 QSE-5 平台以外的某些先進 QS 技術的權利。此次升級的 PowerCo 交易，在兩年內新增高達 1.31 億美元的現金支付，清楚證明了我們的固態鋰金屬技術平台對汽車產業的價值。我們將現金流預測延長至 2029 年，比先前的預測提早六個月。

Now, a word on our commercial engagement beyond PowerCo. We are happy to report that we have now entered into a joint development agreement with another major global automotive OEM. The JDA strengthens the collaboration beyond our initial sampling agreement with this customer with the intent to work towards the commercialization and licensing deal.

現在，讓我們來談談我們在 PowerCo 之外的商業合作。我們很高興地報告，我們現在已經與另一家全球主要汽車原始設備製造商達成了聯合開發協議。JDA 加強了我們與該客戶之間初步採樣協議之外的合作，旨在努力達成商業化和許可協議。

We continue to collaborate closely with the existing and new customers, and we see market traction accelerating as these announcements provide commercial validation and increased urgency in the automotive space.

我們繼續與現有和新客戶密切合作，我們看到市場吸引力正在加速，因為這些公告提供了商業驗證並增加了汽車領域的緊迫性。

With respect to our broader QS ecosystem, last quarter we announced an agreement with Murata Manufacturing to explore collaboration on ceramics production, and this effort is progressing well. Beyond their world-class ceramics expertise, Murata provides particular value as a highly respected partner in the Japanese market, where we see strong demand for solid-state batteries in automotive applications. The Japanese subsidiary, QS Japan, is a valuable asset in demonstrating our technology leadership to this market.

關於我們更廣泛的 QS 生態系統，上個季度我們宣布與村田製作所達成協議，探索陶瓷生產的合作，這項工作進展順利。除了世界一流的陶瓷專業知識外，村田作為日本市場備受尊敬的合作夥伴還具有特殊的價值，我們看到汽車應用對固態電池的需求強勁。日本子公司 QS Japan 是向該市場展示我們技術領先地位的寶貴資產。

Now, an update on our annual goals. On June 24, we announced the completion of our first of our annual goals. Our next generation Cobra process has replaced Raptor as our baseline separator production process. We expect this step change in efficiency and productivity will enable B1 sample shipments this year, and we'll continuously improve all aspects of the Cobra process as we ramp production.

現在，我們來更新一下我們的年度目標。6月24日，我們宣布完成了第一個年度目標。我們的下一代 Cobra 製程已取代 Raptor 成為我們的基線隔膜生產製程。我們預計效率和生產率的這一重大變化將使 B1 樣品能夠在今年出貨，並且隨著產量的提高，我們將不斷改進 Cobra 流程的各個方面。

To keep pace with this higher rate of separator production, we are installing higher volume cell production equipment and we remain on schedule to meet this second 2025 goal. Production ramps are always challenging, and as we scale our cell production, we are focused on improving metrics such as cell reliability, process stability, and equipment uptime.

為了跟上更高的隔膜生產率，我們正在安裝更大容量的電池生產設備，並按計劃實現 2025 年的第二個目標。產量提升始終充滿挑戰，隨著我們擴大電池生產規模，我們專注於提高電池可靠性、製程穩定性和設備正常運作時間等指標。

Turning to our launch customer. In Q2, we shipped QSE-5 cells for pack integration and testing, including safety testing. These cells were the final Raptor-based B0 samples to be shipped. Future shipments will be Cobra-based B1 samples in line with our third annual goal.

轉向我們的首發客戶。在第二季度，我們運送了 QSE-5 電池進行電池組整合和測試，包括安全測試。這些電池是最後運送的基於 Raptor 的 B0 樣品。未來的出貨量將是基於 Cobra 的 B1 樣品，符合我們的第三個年度目標。

This launch program is designed to be a low volume, high visibility project that will allow us to put ourselves into a real world vehicle application and generate customer feedback. We continue to target 2026 for the beginning of field testing.

該啟動計劃旨在成為一個小規模、高知名度的項目，使我們能夠投入現實世界的車輛應用並產生客戶回饋。我們繼續以 2026 年開始現場測試為目標。

Last, I want to address our strategic outlook. This quarter is a major inflection point in our journey, and we are now firmly in the commercialization phase of our company. We believe this expanded deal with PowerCo is an unambiguous demonstration of both the economic value of our solid-state platform and the power of our capital-light business model. Under this model, w e have the ability to monetize development activities early on and then collect licensing royalties as our customers ramp production volumes.

最後，我想談談我們的戰略展望。本季是我們發展歷程中的重要轉捩點，我們目前正處於公司商業化階段。我們相信，與 PowerCo 的此次擴大交易明確證明了我們的固態平台的經濟價值和輕資本商業模式的實力。在這種模式下，我們有能力在早期將開發活動貨幣化，然後隨著客戶產量的增加收取許可使用費。

We are just getting started. We have a long and deep relationships with additional auto OEMs and we continue to see these engagements intensify, as demonstrated by our new JDA with an existing automotive customer.

我們才剛開始。我們與其他汽車原始設備製造商保持著長期而深厚的合作關係，並且我們繼續看到這些合作不斷加強，正如我們與現有汽車客戶簽訂的新 JDA 所證明的那樣。

We believe a technology platform has the potential to revolutionize the automotive industry, as well as other rapidly emerging markets, amounting to a total addressable market in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually. The challenges of scaling production remains significant, and there is still much work left to do. But working together with our world-class partners, we believe we are closer than ever to achieving our long-term goals.

我們相信，技術平台有潛力徹底改變汽車產業以及其他快速崛起的市場，每年的潛在市場總額將達到數千億美元。擴大生產規模的挑戰仍然巨大，還有很多工作要做。但我們相信，透過與世界一流的合作夥伴共同努力，我們比以往任何時候都更接近實現我們的長期目標。

With that, let me hand things over to Kevin for a word on our financial outlook.

說完這些，讓我把話題交給凱文，讓他談談我們的財務前景。

Thank you, Siva. Capital expenditures in the second quarter were $8.3 million. Q2 CapEx primary supported facilities and equipment purchases as we prepare for higher volume QSE-5 B1 sample production using the Cobra separation process.

謝謝你，Siva。第二季資本支出為 830 萬美元。 Q2資本支出主要用於支援設施和設備採購，因為我們準備使用 Cobra 分離製程進行更大批量的 QSE-5 B1 樣品生產。

We narrow the range of our full-year guidance for CapEx to be between $45 million and $65 million. We expect the second half of 2025 to see higher levels of CapEx investment relative to the first half of the year, consistent with our narrowed guidance.

我們將全年資本支出預期範圍縮小至 4,500 萬美元至 6,500 萬美元之間。我們預計 2025 年下半年的資本支出水準將高於上半年，這與我們的縮小指引一致。

GAAP operating expenses and GAAP net loss in Q2 were $123.6 million and $114.7 million respectively. Adjusted EBITDA loss was $63 million in Q2, in line with expectations. The table reconciling GAAP net loss and adjusted EBITDA is available in the financial statement at the end of the shareholder letter.

第二季 GAAP 營運費用和 GAAP 淨虧損分別為 1.236 億美元和 1.147 億美元。第二季調整後 EBITDA 虧損為 6,300 萬美元，符合預期。股東信函末尾的財務報表中提供了 GAAP 淨虧損與調整後 EBITDA 的調整表。

We continue to streamline operations in line with the company's capital-light licensing focus and capture gains from cost reduction initiatives and process improvement, including the Cobra process.

我們繼續按照公司輕資本許可重點精簡運營，並從成本削減舉措和流程改進（包括眼鏡蛇流程）中獲取收益。

We narrow the range of our full-year guidance for adjusted EBITDA loss to be between $250 million and 270 million. The amended PowerCo collaboration agreement features payments up to $131 million over the next two years.

我們將全年調整後 EBITDA 虧損預期範圍縮小至 2.5 億美元至 2.7 億美元之間。修訂後的 PowerCo 合作協議規定未來兩年支付金額高達 1.31 億美元。

Actual payments will be based on the scope of work and approved by the QS-PowerCo Steering Committee. In Q3 2025, we expect to invoice PowerCo for more than $10 million for development work already performed by the joint team.

實際付款將根據工作範圍並經 QS-PowerCo 指導委員會批准。2025 年第三季度，我們預計將向 PowerCo 開立超過 1,000 萬美元的發票，用於聯合團隊已經完成的開發工作。

We ended Q2 with $797.5 million in liquidity and, in light of this banded PowerCo deal and efforts to further streamline operations, extend our guidance for cash runway into 2029, a six-month improvement over our previous guidance. Any additional funds from other customer inflows or capital markets activity would further extend this cash runway.

我們在第二季結束時擁有 7.975 億美元的流動資金，並且鑑於此次 PowerCo 合併交易以及進一步簡化營運的努力，我們將現金流預測延長至 2029 年，比我們之前的預測提高了六個月。來自其他客戶流入或資本市場活動的任何額外資金都將進一步延長此現金流。

As always, we encourage investors to read more on our financial information, business outlook, and risk factors in our quarterly and annual SEC filings on our investor relation website, including today's PowerCo amendment press release and 8-K with the redacted amendment.

與往常一樣，我們鼓勵投資者在我們的投資者關係網站上閱讀我們季度和年度 SEC 文件中有關我們的財務信息、業務前景和風險因素的更多信息，包括今天的 PowerCo 修正案新聞稿和帶有刪節修正案的 8-K。

Thanks, Kevin. We'll begin today's Q&A portion with a few questions we received from investors, or that I believe, investors would be interested in. Siva, what is the significance of this expanded agreement with PowerCo? How does this fit in with our licensing business model?

謝謝，凱文。今天的問答環節我們將從投資人提出的一些問題開始，或是我認為投資人會感興趣的一些問題。Siva，與 PowerCo 達成的擴大協議有何意義？這與我們的授權業務模式有何關聯？

Dan, building upon what we just announced, our vision for the business model provides two sources of cash inflows. On the front end, we will monetize development activities for our customers to tailor our core technology to meet their specific needs.

丹，基於我們剛剛宣布的內容，我們對商業模式的願景提供了兩個現金流入來源。在前端，我們將透過開發活動為客戶創造利潤，以客製化我們的核心技術來滿足他們的特定需求。

Subsequently, as the customer ramps production, we realize royalties over the lifetime of the profit. Some of these payments could take the form of licensing fees or royalty prepayments, as in the PowerCo deal. As we continue to develop further generations of our technology, we will maintain both lines of business to generate consistent and compelling cash flows.

隨後，隨著客戶提高產量，我們將在利潤期內實現特許權使用費。其中一些付款可能採取許可費或特許權使用費預付的形式，就像 PowerCo 交易中那樣。隨著我們繼續開發新一代技術，我們將保持兩條業務線以產生持續且可觀的現金流。

Payment for development activities has the benefit of being near them. The royalty payments represent the majority of the value capture through a consistent, long-term stream of high gross margin revenue. This business model is unlocked by a highly differentiated technology platform. This expanded PowerCo deal is a validation of this vision, with about $0.25 billion to bring this technology to market.

支付開發活動的費用具有距離他們較近的好處。特許權使用費代表了透過長期持續的高毛利率收入流所獲得的大部分價值。這種商業模式由高度差異化的技術平台解鎖。此次 PowerCo 擴大交易驗證了這一願景，約 2.5 億美元將用於將這項技術推向市場。

This program will serve as a proof of concept of the QSE-5 technology and support other programs targeting VW Group vehicle applications, such as vehicle demo fleet and other programs under the scope of the overall project covered by the collaboration agreement.

該計劃將作為 QSE-5 技術的概念驗證，並支援針對大眾集團汽車應用的其他計劃，例如車輛演示車隊和合作協議涵蓋的整個項目範圍內的其他計劃。

The intention of the program is to leverage the combined expertise and resources of QS and PowerCo to advance the QSE-5 technology, ensuring its readiness for commercial application in the automotive industry.

該計劃旨在利用 QS 和 PowerCo 的專業知識和資源來推進 QSE-5 技術，確保其為汽車行業的商業應用做好準備。

As part of this deal, PowerCo will be contributing up to $131 million to QS in order for the joint team in San Jose to accelerate the scale up of QS technology. The agreement enables earlier PowerCo engagement in the QSE-5 production and automation efforts, advancing the ramp up of the QS San Jose pilot line.

作為交易的一部分，PowerCo 將向 QS 投資高達 1.31 億美元，以便聖荷西的聯合團隊加速 QS 技術的規模擴大。該協議使 PowerCo 能夠更早參與 QSE-5 的生產和自動化工作，從而推動 QS 聖荷西試驗生產線的產能提升。

You can see that this expanded agreement is a clear signal of the growing strategic, technical, and financial alignment between our two companies and reflects our shared confidence in QSE-5 as a game-changing platform for the battery industry.

您可以看到，這項擴大的協議清楚地表明了我們兩家公司之間日益增強的策略、技術和財務協調，並反映了我們對 QSE-5 作為電池行業變革平台的共同信心。

Thanks, Siva. Kevin, can you expand more on the financial impact of this expanded agreement?

謝謝，Siva。凱文，您能否進一步闡述這項擴大協議的財務影響？

The most important thing for investors to understand is that these are cash inflows from a customer. We expect these payments will reduce our GAAP net loss, improve our bottom-line result, and help extend our cash runway.

投資者需要了解的最重要的事情是，這些是來自客戶的現金流入。我們預計這些付款將減少我們的 GAAP 淨虧損，改善我們的底線業績，並有助於延長我們的現金流。

In Q3, we plan to invoice PowerCo for more than $10 million tied to development activity already performed by the joint team. Our preliminary assessment is this will not be recognized as revenue. The work to determine the accounting treatment is ongoing. We will provide an update on the Q3 call.

在第三季度，我們計劃向 PowerCo 開立超過 1000 萬美元的發票，用於支付聯合團隊已經完成的開發活動。我們的初步評估是這不會被確認為收入。確定會計處理的工作正在進行中。我們將提供第三季電話會議的最新消息。

One further point, narrowed adjusted EBITA guidance is driven by operational improvements and does not reflect potential upside from this expanded PowerCo deal. We'd encourage investors to read our Form 10-Q, including the risk factors, as well as the amended press release 8-K, and the redacted amendment for more information.

另外一點，縮小調整後的 EBITA 指引是由營運改善所推動的，並未反映出此次 PowerCo 交易擴大帶來的潛在好處。我們鼓勵投資者閱讀我們的 10-Q 表（包括風險因素）以及修訂後的新聞稿 8-K 和刪節版修正案，以獲取更多資訊。

Thanks, Kevin. Siva, can you elaborate further on the joint development agreement with the second major global automotive customer?

謝謝，凱文。Siva，您能否進一步詳細說明與第二大全球汽車客戶的共同開發協議？

Dan, this is one of our existing customers with whom we have had a sampling agreement. We have now entered into a JDA with the intent to progress to a full commercialization and licensing arrangement with a global auto major. We are upgrading our relationship, deploying our high-touch model to develop a customized solution for their needs, and ultimately, progressing to a full licensing arrangement along the same lines as our PowerCo deal.

丹，這是我們的現有客戶之一，我們與他簽訂了採樣協議。我們目前已與一家全球汽車巨頭簽署了 JDA，旨在實現全面商業化和授權協議。我們正在升級我們的關係，部署我們的高接觸模型來開發滿足他們需求的客製化解決方案，並最終按照與我們的 PowerCo 交易相同的方式推進全面許可安排。

Thanks. Last month, we announced that the Cobra process has been baselined. Why was that such a significant accomplishment?

謝謝。上個月，我們宣布 Cobra 流程已實現基準化。為什麼這是一個如此重大的成就？

Dan, let's look at the big picture. We don't believe any solid-state technology can achieve the Raptorno compromise performance in range, charging speed, safety, et cetera, without a ceramic separator. The ceramic separator is a key part of our anode-free, graphite-free, lithium-metal architecture.

丹，讓我們看看總體情況。我們相信，如果沒有陶瓷隔板，任何固態技術都無法在續航里程、充電速度、安全性等方面達到 Raptorno 的折衷性能。陶瓷隔板是我們無陽極、無石墨、鋰金屬架構的關鍵部分。

Cobra takes this technology differentiation to a whole new level. It's really transformative innovation in ceramics processing. Taking technical ceramic production and improving the heat treatment by more than 200 times is unheard of in the industry. Because of this advantage, Cobra is the most important technology element for gigawatt-hour scale production.

Cobra 將這種技術差異化提升到了一個全新的水平。這確實是陶瓷加工領域的變革性創新。採用技術陶瓷生產，並將熱處理流程提高200多倍，在業界是聞所未聞的。由於此優勢，Cobra是實現千兆瓦時規模生產最重要的技術要素。

In the near term, this is what we'll be using to produce our B1 samples later this year. And over the long term, it's what our ecosystem partners will be using to ramp their production. And as impressive as Cobra is today, we believe that Cobra has significant headroom to improve even further.

短期內，我們將在今年稍後使用它來生產 B1 樣品。從長遠來看，我們的生態系統合作夥伴將使用它來提高產量。儘管 Cobra 現在已經令人印象深刻，但我們相信 Cobra 還有很大的進步空間。

Now that it's in our baseline, our systematic and iterative improvement process will allow us to continue to build out and enhance the Cobra technology portfolio.

現在它已成為我們的基準，我們系統且迭代的改進流程將使我們能夠繼續建立和增強 Cobra 技術組合。

Okay. Thanks so much. We're now ready to begin the live portion of today's call. Operator, please open up the line for questions.

好的。非常感謝。我們現在準備開始今天電話會議的現場部分。接線員，請打開熱線以便提問。

(Operator Instructions) Winnie Dong, Deutsche Bank.

（操作員指示）德意志銀行的 Winnie Dong。

Hi. Thank you for taking my question. You talked about another global automotive OEM which you now have a JDA agreement with. I was wondering if you can elaborate a bit on the agreement. It seems like there's still -- more steps to take before an official licensing deal is signed. Can you just elaborate on what else needs to be done, what the OEM is looking for before they go into a full commitment? Thanks.

你好。感謝您回答我的問題。您談到了另一家全球汽車 OEM，目前您與其簽訂了 JDA 協議。我想知道您是否可以詳細說明該協議。看起來在簽署正式許可協議之前還有更多步驟要做。您能否詳細說明一下在做出全面承諾之前還需要做什麼以及 OEM 需要什麼？謝謝。

Winnie, thanks for the question. So the second deal which is announced after the expanded PowerCo agreement is that we have signed a JDA with a global auto major OEM. Here, our job is to make sure we take our technology platform and adapt it to this customer's needs. So the JDM does exactly that. make sure that their specifications, the product that they need, we adapt our technology to that.

溫妮，謝謝你的提問。因此，在擴大 PowerCo 協議之後宣布的第二筆交易是我們與一家全球汽車主要 OEM 簽署了 JDA。在這裡，我們的工作是確保我們的技術平台能夠適應客戶的需求。所以 JDM 就是這麼做的。確保他們的規格、他們需要的產品，我們會根據這些調整我們的技術。

Once we get that going, the same playbook that we have used with PowerCo. That same model applies that we, as a joint team will make sure that we are transferring the technology to them to then ramp in volume. So the playbook has been defined with the PowerCo agreement, and we are doing the same thing into our next customer as we had originally planned. And we have had this JDA now signed and ready to go.

一旦我們開始行動，我們就會使用與 PowerCo 相同的劇本。同樣的模式也適用，我們作為聯合團隊將確保將技術轉移給他們，然後提高產量。因此，劇本已經根據 PowerCo 協議進行了定義，並且我們將按照最初的計劃對下一個客戶採取相同的做法。目前我們已經簽署了該聯合開發協議並準備實施。

Got it. Thanks for that color. And then you mentioned the first milestones are linked to initial expected payment of $10 million has already been achieved and you started to invoice that starting Q3. I was wondering if you can maybe delineate or outline some of the details on one of the associated with the mix set of milestones subsequent payments? And how should we understand that in the context of the original $130 million versus now the expanded agreement will provide you an additional up to $131 million.

知道了。謝謝你這個顏色。然後您提到第一個里程碑與 1000 萬美元的初始預期付款相關，目前已經實現，並且您從第三季開始開立發票。我想知道您是否可以描述或概述與後續付款的混合里程碑相關的一些細節？我們應該如何理解，在原有 1.3 億美元的背景下，現在擴大後的協議將為您提供額外的高達 1.31 億美元的資金。

Winnie, just to make sure we are clear. This $131 million we just announced is distinct from the prior $130 million licensing prepaid that we had announced that when we achieved certain milestones and we enter into the final licensing agreement they pay us.

溫妮，只是為了確保我們清楚。我們剛剛宣布的 1.31 億美元與先前宣布的 1.3 億美元許可預付款不同，當我們實現某些里程碑並簽訂最終許可協議時，他們會向我們付款。

This expanded agreement is really for the joint QS PowerCo scaleup team. The team is already here. We are together starting to do the industrialization activities. And this is our way of monetizing those collaboration activities.

這項擴展協議實際上是針對 QS PowerCo 聯合擴大團隊的。隊伍已經到了。我們一起開始進行工業化活動。這就是我們將這些合作活動貨幣化的方式。

So we think in terms of our business model having two cash flow streams, the first cash flow being what we just talked about adapting our technology to our customers' needs, industrializing and transferring it. And the second one is the longer-term licensing and royalties payment.

因此，我們認為我們的商業模式有兩個現金流，第一個現金流就是我們剛才談到的使我們的技術適應客戶需求、實現工業化和轉移。第二個是長期許可和特許權使用費支付。

These two streams -- these two cash flow streams are distinct, and we are now demonstrating the first one. which is that in the short term, we are starting to monetize our joint development activities and getting a cash flow stream out of it.

這兩條現金流是不同的，我們現在展示的是第一條，也就是在短期內，我們開始將我們的共同開發活動貨幣化，並從中獲得現金流。

And as this team is already here, we are starting to work together. And for some of the world called performed, we are starting to invoice PowerCo for that money. And there's a joint PowerCo-QuantumScape Steering Committee that runs this. And based on the statement of work, this year in Cement will approve the invoices that we'll continue to do with PowerCo. And so this is $131 million over two years.

由於這個團隊已經在這裡，我們開始一起合作。對於世界上一些所謂的已完成項目，我們開始向 PowerCo 開立發票，索取這些款項。有一個 PowerCo-QuantumScape 聯合指導委員會負責管理此事。根據工作說明，今年水泥部門將批准我們將繼續與 PowerCo 合作的發票。所以這是兩年內1.31億美元。

Yeah. And if I can just sneak one in. I think Kevin mentioned that preliminarily, the line that you will state to invoice is not going to be treated as revenue. So just so for future, like how do we understand what flows through to how the treatment is going to be like from like an accounting standpoint?

是的。如果我能偷偷溜進去的話。我認為凱文初步提到過，您聲明開立發票的行不會被視為收入。那麼對於未來，我們又該如何從會計角度了解治療流程是如何的呢？

Hey, Winnie. Thank you. Yeah, we did mention that we do expect this to improve the bottom line and not be revenue. On the Q3 call, we'll give more of an update on the accounting treatment.

嘿，溫妮。謝謝。是的，我們確實提到過，我們確實希望這能提高底線而不是收入。在第三季電話會議上，我們將提供更多有關會計處理的最新資訊。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Thank you, Winnie.

謝謝你，溫妮。

Jed Dorsheimer, William Blair.

傑德·多斯海默、威廉·布萊爾。

Hey, team. You have Mark Shooter on for Jed Dorsheimer. Congrats on the VW expansion. That's great news. Dialing in a bit more on that. Can you give us some color on what part of the manufacturing process, which part of the line are you going to be investing in to increase the pilot capacity and maybe some idea of what you're expecting for the end capacity of the pilot line and a time line expected to ramp?

嘿，團隊。馬克舒特 (Mark Shooter) 取代傑德多斯海默 (Jed Dorsheimer)。祝賀大眾汽車擴張。這真是個好消息。對此進行更深入的探討。您能否向我們詳細介紹一下製造過程的哪個部分，您將投資生產線的哪個部分來提高中試產能，以及您對中試生產線最終產能的預期以及預計的產能提升時間表？

Yeah. Mark, thanks for the question. Just to be clear, we don't intend to be a manufacturing company. We are always going to be a high-tech technology licensing company where we develop the technology and develop and industrialize it and then transfer it to our customers.

是的。馬克，謝謝你的提問。需要明確的是，我們並不打算成為一家製造公司。我們始終致力於成為一家高科技技術授權公司，開發技術，並將其發展和工業化，然後轉移給我們的客戶。

Having said that, we just announced Cobra, which gives a 25 times improvement over Raptor, 200 times over what we had done earlier in 2023. And to match that level of separator output, we are increasing the cell build capacity so we can produce enough samples for us for this activity of industrialization of the core QSE-5 technology platform, which is what we are going to be doing.

話雖如此，我們剛剛宣布了 Cobra，它比 Raptor 的性能提高了 25 倍，比我們在 2023 年早些時候所做的改進提高了 200 倍。為了達到隔膜產量的水平，我們正在提高電池製造能力，以便為核心 QSE-5 技術平台的工業化活動生產足夠的樣品，而這正是我們將要做的事情。

And the output of it is primarily going to be used for the joint activity by this joint scale or team. And the expectation is that I want to be a little bit boring here, the idea of it being a systematic, methodical iterative process that we do on our pilot sample production line will be done by the joint PowerCo-QS scaleup team, and this $131 million is geared towards those product line.

其輸出主要用於該聯合規模或團隊的聯合活動。而我的預期是，我想在這裡講得有點無聊，我們在中試樣品生產線上進行的系統化、有條理的迭代過程將由 PowerCo-QS 聯合擴大團隊完成，而這 1.31 億美元將用於這些產品線。

And then, Mark, just to draw that out between what Siva was mentioning in our annual goals when we set out the goals for the year, this is how we hoped it would play out on a the first goal of baselining Cobra production, which we did in Q2.

然後，馬克，只是為了在 Siva 在我們制定年度目標時提到的年度目標之間進行闡述，這就是我們希望它能夠實現眼鏡蛇生產基準的第一個目標，我們在第二季度做到了這一點。

The second goal with that 25x higher productivity relative to Raptor is to lift the production capacity of the downstream assembly equipment to keep up with that significantly higher flow coming from the Raptor process.

與 Raptor 相比，生產率提高了 25 倍，第二個目標是提高下游組裝設備的生產能力，以跟上 Raptor 製程帶來的顯著更高的流量。

That's great. I appreciate the color. For the increased volumes will allow the iteration process to be a bit faster, it would be nice. I guess touching -- that's great [indiscernible] the capacity as well. The VW agreement continues to expand, which is great.

那太棒了。我很欣賞這個顏色。因為增加的數量將使迭代過程更快一些，這將是一件好事。我想，觸動——這也是很棒的[音頻不清晰]容量。大眾汽車協議繼續擴大，這很好。

And now we're sitting at 85 gigawatt hours, which is double of what Tesla produces at the Nevada facility with Panasonic. So what do you think that VW needs to see to start to invest in a large facility to start chipping away at really large opportunities you have for licensing?

現在我們的產量已達到 85 千兆瓦時，是特斯拉與松下在內華達州工廠生產的兩倍。那麼您認為大眾汽車需要看到什麼才會開始投資大型設施，以開始蠶食您在授權方面擁有的真正巨大機會？

Yeah. So I want to be very careful not to speak for my customer, Mark. It is theirs to decide how they're the factory at the rate that they do. Having said that, this expansion of the relationship clearly demonstrates that our interests are very aligned in this. We want to make sure this technology is transferred to them so that they can ramp and move very, very quickly.

是的。所以我要非常小心，不要代表我的客戶馬克說話。他們有權決定如何以自己的速度經營工廠。話雖如此，兩國關係的拓展清楚地表明，我們的利益是一致的。我們希望確保這項技術能夠轉移給他們，以便他們能夠非常快速地發展和行動。

you can go to their site to see all the factories that they are building and what application they're going to be doing, et cetera. Our partnership has been very, very strong. As I keep saying, that there is a joint scaleup team physically present in San Jose to accomplish this.

您可以訪問他們的網站，查看他們正在建造的所有工廠以及他們將要進行的應用程式等等。我們的夥伴關係非常非常牢固。正如我一直說的那樣，有一個聯合擴大規模的團隊實際駐紮在聖荷西來完成這項工作。

Appreciate that. And if I could squeeze one last one in. I know you don't want to be a manufacturer, and I fully appreciate that. But now you do have some capacity in a pilot line in the United States with high energy density battery. So I'm wondering if you've gotten any increased engagement from maybe US defense contractors or drone manufacturer given the executive orders of the Trump administration on drones?

非常感謝。如果我能再擠進最後一個。我知道你不想成為製造商，我完全理解這一點。但現在美國的一條試驗生產線上確實擁有一定容量的高能量密度電池。所以我想知道，鑑於川普政府關於無人機的行政命令，您是否得到了美國國防承包商或無人機製造商的更多參與？

Yeah. I want to talk about two allied -- may not be directly answering to you, but you can see the possibilities here. One of the limitations of lithium-ion batteries is the presence of graphite. Graphite comes like upper 90% from China. As you know, there is no major graphic production in that quantities within the United States.

是的。我想談談兩個盟友——可能不會直接回答你的問題，但你可以在這裡看到可能性。鋰離子電池的限制之一是石墨的存在。石墨90%以上來自中國。如您所知，美國境內沒有如此數量的大型圖形作品。

Graphite is inherently dirty. It's a greenhouse disaster trying to produce the best way not to have graphite in your system is not to have an anode, which is what our technology is. So we are a US maker, a lithium-metal, anode-free technology.

石墨本質上是骯髒的。這是一場溫室災難，試圖生產系統中不含石墨的最佳方法就是不使用陽極，而這正是我們的技術。所以我們是一家美國製造商，擁有鋰金屬、無陽極技術。

And the last point I want to make is we are carefully curating and creating our ecosystem. The QS ecosystem provides that optionality of how a potential customer can use our technology and how to ramp. We've been very, very careful in expanding our ecosystem to make sure that all of these new applications can also be served.

我要說的最後一點是，我們正在精心策劃和創建我們的生態系統。QS 生態系統為潛在客戶提供如何使用我們的技術以及如何提升的可選性。我們在擴展生態系統時非常非常小心，以確保所有這些新應用程式都能得到服務。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Ben Keller, Baird.

本凱勒，貝爾德。

Hey, guys. Good afternoon, good evening. Thanks for taking my question. Congrats on the two announcements. First, on the JDA and then the expanded PowerCo. How many -- and I know you have other potential customers, how many can you manage at one time?

嘿，大家好。下午好，晚上好。感謝您回答我的問題。祝賀這兩項公告。首先是 JDA，然後是擴充的 PowerCo。有多少—我知道您還有其他潛在客戶，您可以一次管理多少個客戶？

I guess the question, both from an employee standpoint, a bandwidth standpoint, an equipment standpoint. And the last piece, just mean like do you need a new Cobra for this JDA and the back end for the cells? Or if you could just help with that, that would be helpful. Thank you.

我想這個問題，既要從員工的角度，又要從頻寬的角度，也要從設備的角度。最後一點，意思是說，您是否需要為這個 JDA 和單元後端配備一條新的眼鏡蛇？或者如果你能幫忙的話，那將會很有幫助。謝謝。

Ben, you're thinking just like what you are thinking, you're absolutely right. There is an upper limit on how many we are going to be handling at the same time because we want to make sure we protect this technology to chosen customers with whom we can scale in high volume because we want it to be a high-touch model. We had mentioned in our last earnings call that we were working with two other auto OEMs, and we just signed one of them. We will be careful in choosing how fast we scale, but --

本，你想的和你想的一樣，你完全正確。我們同時處理的數量是有上限的，因為我們希望確保將這項技術保護給選定的客戶，以便我們能夠大規模擴展，因為我們希望它成為一個高接觸模型。我們在上次財報電話會議上提到，我們正在與另外兩家汽車原始設備製造商合作，並且剛剛與其中一家簽約。我們會謹慎選擇擴展速度，但是--

(technical difficulty)

（技術難度）

You are right that we have to be making sure that we keep the intellectual property for each of them well protected, each of our customers, and making sure that we are servicing them very, very well. We have accounted for all of this in our current plans. And we will make sure that we could keep updating you as we do sign more customers.

您說得對，我們必須確保每個客戶的智慧財產權都受到良好的保護，並確保我們為他們提供非常非常好的服務。我們已經在當前計劃中考慮到了所有這些因素。當我們簽約更多客戶時，我們將確保能夠持續向您通報最新情況。

Thank you. And then just maybe one more. On the expanded PowerCo agreement, you mentioned up to 85 gigawatt hours and then how it wasn't exclusive. Could you just talk more about like how different the process is to make, keep it not exclusive from what's under the PowerCo? I guess it follows on to the similar question from before with the next customer, do you have to change the process or how much difference is it than what you're doing with the PowerCo?

謝謝。然後也許再來一次。關於擴大的 PowerCo 協議，您提到了高達 85 千兆瓦時的電力，並且提到它不是排他性的。您能否詳細談談該流程有何不同，以及如何使其與 PowerCo 下的流程保持統一？我想這會與之前問下一位客戶的類似問題類似，您是否必須改變流程，或者與您使用 PowerCo 所做的相比，它有多大區別？

Yeah. Just to be clear, we do have a nonexclusive arrangement with PowerCo. PowerCo has been our first customer, an amazing partner, and we are working very well with them. Clearly, each auto OEM has their own specifics on how they like their batteries in the product specifications that they like to use. We have developed a core technology platform, which we then work with each of them to modify. Some can be maybe form factor change.

是的。需要明確的是，我們與 PowerCo 確實有非獨家協議。PowerCo 是我們的第一個客戶，也是一個非常棒的合作夥伴，我們與他們的合作非常愉快。顯然，每個汽車原始設備製造商對於他們喜歡使用的產品規格中的電池都有自己的具體要求。我們開發了一個核心技術平台，然後與他們每個人合作進行修改。有些可能是外形尺寸的改變。

Some of them may be specifications tightened in one way or the other. Many such things will be customized for each of them. And that's exactly what we are doing right now. The first generation is being customized for PowerCo and the second envisions doing the same thing for the second customer.

其中一些可能是以某種方式收緊的規範。很多這樣的東西都會為他們每個人量身訂做。這正是我們現在正在做的事情。第一代產品是為 PowerCo 量身定制的，第二代產品則計劃為第二位客戶做同樣的事情。

Great. Thank you, guys, very much.

偉大的。非常感謝你們。

Gabriel Gonzales, UBS.

瑞銀的加布里埃爾·岡薩雷斯。

Hey, guys. This is Gabriel on for Joe. Thanks for taking my questions. Kevin, just wanted to touch on the original $130 million prepayment. Can you give us some high-level color on how that's progressing generally? And what's the ballpark expectation of when that comes to fruition?

嘿，大家好。我是加布里埃爾，代表喬回答問題。感謝您回答我的問題。凱文，我只是想談談最初的 1.3 億美元預付款。您能否向我們詳細介紹一下目前進展？當這一目標實現時，預計會是怎樣的呢？

Thank you, Gabe. As we stated in the press release last year, the joint QS PowerCo team needs to make satisfactory technical progress towards QSE-5 industrialization, after which we grant Power code license, and they make the $130 million prepayment. Our public goals are aligned with that technical progress, and we just need to keep our heads down and keep executing.

謝謝你，加布。正如我們去年在新聞稿中所述，QS PowerCo 聯合團隊需要在 QSE-5 工業化方面取得令人滿意的技術進展，之後我們才會授予 Power 代碼許可證，並且他們將支付 1.3 億美元的預付款。我們的公共目標與科技進步是一致的，我們只需要埋頭苦幹，繼續執行。

Understood. Okay. And it's encouraging with the new $131 million upgraded deal from PowerCo that you extended the cash runway into 2029. However, the stock has also had quite an impressive rally in recent weeks. So given where we stand now, how are you thinking about tapping into the equity markets here to further shore up the cash position on the balance sheet?

明白了。好的。令人鼓舞的是，PowerCo 達成了 1.31 億美元的新升級交易，將現金流量延長至 2029 年。然而，該股最近幾週也出現了相當令人印象深刻的上漲。那麼，考慮到我們目前的狀況，您如何考慮利用股票市場來進一步鞏固資產負債表上的現金狀況？

Our job as a management team is set out to do important things that create value for the company and to do so systematically, methodically and iteratively we value a strong balance sheet. It's a differentiator for the company, and we commit to continue to be strategic regarding any capital markets activity.

作為管理團隊，我們的工作是做一些能為公司創造價值的重要事情，並且有系統地、有條理地、反覆地這樣做，我們重視強勁的資產負債表。這是公司的差異化因素，我們承諾在任何資本市場活動中繼續保持策略性。

Understood. Thanks for the color.

明白了。謝謝你的顏色。

Mark Delaney.

馬克·德萊尼。

Hi, everyone. This is Aman for Mark Delaney. Just going back to this PowerCo expanded agreement. Can you talk about the implications from an OpEx and CapEx standpoint? I appreciate the color on the -- or the $10 million not coming through as revenue. So how should we think about that like hitting on an EBIT level? Is there any margin associated with that revenue? Or just any color you could provide there would be great.

大家好。我是馬克‧德萊尼 (Mark Delaney) 的阿曼 (Aman)。回到這個 PowerCo 擴充協定。您能從營運支出 (OpEx) 和資本支出 (CapEx) 的角度談談其影響嗎？我很欣賞這一點——或者說，這 1000 萬美元沒有作為收入實現。那麼，我們該如何看待息稅前利潤水準呢？該收入有利潤嗎？或只要您提供任何顏色就可以了。

Thank you, Aman. Just to highlight a few things that I mentioned before. So in Q3, we planned invoice PowerCo for more than $10 million for development activity already performed by the joint scale-up team. This will mark the first meaningful nondilutive cash inflow from a customer. We expect this will improve the bottom line.

謝謝你，阿曼。只是想強調一下我之前提到的幾件事。因此，在第三季度，我們計劃向 PowerCo 開立超過 1,000 萬美元的發票，用於聯合擴大規模團隊已經完成的開發活動。這將標誌著來自客戶的第一筆有意義的非稀釋性現金流入。我們預計這將改善底線。

Our preliminary conclusion is this will not be accounted for as revenue and the work to determine the accounting treatment is underway, and we plan to provide an update on the Q3 call. We would encourage investors to read our Form 10-Q, including the risk factors as well as the press release and the 8-K. The 8-K does include a redacted form of the amendment.

我們的初步結論是，這不會被視為收入，確定會計處理的工作正在進行中，我們計劃在第三季電話會議上提供最新消息。我們鼓勵投資者閱讀我們的 10-Q 表，其中包括風險因素以及新聞稿和 8-K。8-K 確實包含該修正案的刪節版。

Understood. Just to maybe follow up on that. So is there any incremental -- maybe to phrase it a little better, is there any incremental OpEx or CapEx under the expanded agreement? Or is this just payments for the already existing OpEx and CapEx that was planned for?

明白了。只是為了跟進這一點。那麼，是否有任何增量——也許表述得更好一些，在擴展協議下是否有任何增量的營運支出或資本支出？或者這只是針對已經存在的營運支出和資本支出的計畫付款？

That's a good question. Our long-term operational plans included the bulk of the work and the statement that work. So from that point of view, these inflows are accretive.

這是個好問題。我們的長期營運計劃包括大部分工作和工作聲明。因此從這個角度來看，這些流入是增值的。

Understood. And then just a second part of -- my second question would be around this JDA. What are the milestones? I know you spoke about needing to fit to the customers' need. Any specifics on what type of technical milestones that would look like or time frame in which that would happen?

明白了。然後是第二部分——我的第二個問題是關於這個 JDA 的。有哪些里程碑？我知道您說過需要滿足客戶的需求。能否具體說明一下這些技術里程碑是什麼樣的，或是在什麼時間範圍內實現這些里程碑？

And how much geared to the earlier question, bandwidth you have to support that while you're still prioritizing the PowerCo agreement under the new deal? Thank you.

那麼，對於先前的問題，在新協定下，當您仍然優先考慮 PowerCo 協定時，您需要多少頻寬來支援這一點？謝謝。

Aman, just like Kevin just alluded to, these are already in our longer-term plans. And so this work is also in our works already. And the second JDA is something, obviously, we announced the possibility of in the last quarter, and we are following through it. And so these are well accounted for in the financials that we have put up.

阿曼，就像凱文剛才提到的那樣，這些已經在我們的長期計劃中了。因此這項工作也已在我們的工作之中。顯然，我們在上個季度宣布了第二次 JDA 的可能性，並且正在跟進。這些都在我們提供的財務報表中得到了很好的體現。

Okay. Thank you very much.

好的。非常感謝。

As a technology licensing company, our first job is to develop differentiated technology. And as you know, in a licensing business model, there's a lot of operating leverage. We celebrate the opportunity to specialize and to tailor our technology to their specific needs towards that two-phase cash flow -- set of cash inflows that Siva mentioned, both to monetize the upfront tailoring under the collaboration phase towards longer-term royalty inflows as we jointly have success helping them scale up their factories.

作為一家技術授權公司，我們的首要任務是開發差異化技術。眾所周知，在許可業務模式中，存在著很大的經營槓桿。我們很高興有機會根據他們的特定需求定制我們的技術，以實現兩階段現金流 - Siva 提到的一組現金流入，既可以將合作階段的前期定制貨幣化，也可以將長期特許權使用費流入轉化為共同幫助他們擴大工廠規模的成功。

(Operator Instructions) I will now turn the call back over to Siva Sivaram for closing remarks.

（操作員指示）現在我將把電話轉回給 Siva Sivaram 作結束語。

Thank you, operator. I'd like to thank our employees for the dedication, our partners for their trust, and our shareholders for their continued support. We look forward to updating you on further progress in the months to come. Thank you.

謝謝您，接線生。我要感謝我們員工的奉獻、我們合作夥伴的信任以及我們股東的持續支持。我們期待在未來幾個月向您通報進一步的進展。謝謝。