Solid Power Inc (SLDP) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Solid Power Inc, first quarter 2024 financial results and business update call. Please note that this conference is being recorded.

您好，歡迎參加 Solid Power Inc 2024 年第一季財務業績和業務更新電話會議。請注意，本次會議正在錄製。

I will now turn the conference over to your host, Jennifer Almquist, Investor Relations for Solid Power. Thank you. You may begin.

現在，我將會議交給主持人、Solid Power 投資者關係部 Jennifer Almquist。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator, and welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I'm joined on today's call by Solid Power's President and Chief Executive Officer, John Van Scoter; and Chief Financial Officer, Kevin Paprzycki. A copy of today's earnings release is available on the Investor Relations section of Solid Power's website, www.solidpowerbattery.com.

謝謝接線員，歡迎大家，謝謝你們今天加入我們。參加今天電話會議的還有 Solid Power 總裁兼執行長 John Van Scoter 和財務長 Kevin Paprzycki。今天的收益報告副本可在 Solid Power 網站 www.solidpowerbattery.com 的投資者關係部分找到。

I'd like to remind you that parts of our discussion today will include forward looking statements as defined by the US Securities laws. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions about future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, Solar Power disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

我想提醒您，我們今天的討論內容將包括美國證券法定義的前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述是基於管理層對未來事件的當前預期和假設，並基於有關未來事件的結果和時間的當前可用資訊。除適用法律另有規定外，Solar Power 不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述以反映未來事件或情況的義務。

For a discussion of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in today's forward-looking statements, please see Solid Power's most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be found on the company's website at www.solarpowerbattery.com.

有關可能導致實際結果與今天的前瞻性陳述中表達的結果存在重大差異的風險和不確定性的討論，請參閱 Solid Power 向美國證券交易委員會提交的最新文件，該文件可在公司網站 www.solarpowerbattery.com 上找到。

With that, let me turn it over to John Van Scoter.

現在，讓我把話題交給約翰‧範‧史考特 (John Van Scoter)。

Thank you, Jen. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining today's call. I'll begin today with a brief update on our progress. After that, I'll hand the call off to Kevin for the financial review. Then we'll open up the call for Q&A.

謝謝你，Jen。大家下午好。感謝您參加今天的電話會議。今天我將首先簡要介紹我們的進展。之後，我會將電話轉給凱文進行財務審查。然後我們將開始問答環節。

When we last spoke, we outlined our 2024 goals. They are to expand our electrolyte capabilities and available, market advance to aid to sample cell designs, execute for our partners, and strengthen our presence in Korea.

上次談話時，我們概述了我們的 2024 年目標。它們將擴大我們的電解質能力和可用性，推動市場進步，以幫助樣品電池設計，為我們的合作夥伴執行，並加強我們在韓國的影響力。

2024 is off to a good start with continued strong execution on all four of these priorities during the first quarter. With respect to electrolyte, we expanded our sampling program with ongoing shipments to new potential customers. We made progress on our A-2 cell design and are executing on a path that we believe will enable us to deliver higher performing cells by target dates.

2024 年開局良好，第一季這四個優先事項繼續有力執行。對於電解質，我們擴大了採樣計劃，並持續向新的潛在客戶發貨。我們在 A-2 電池設計方面取得了進展，並正在按照我們相信能夠讓我們在目標日期前交付性能更高性能電池的路徑執行。

We continued to execute for our partners, most notably through strong early execution on our SK ON, R&D, technology transfer, and line installation agreements. And we further established our team and offices in Korea. Providing the basis for ongoing engagement in the region.

我們繼續為我們的合作夥伴提供服務，最顯著的是透過對 SK ON、研發、技術轉移和線路安裝協議的強有力的早期執行。我們還在韓國建立了我們的團隊和辦事處。為該地區的持續參與提供基礎。

Looking a little more closely at each of these goals starting with electrolytes. We continue to see growing interest in our electrolyte powder. During the quarter, we made shipments to our existing partners. We also made repeat shipments to a potential customer after receiving positive feedback and shipped our electrolyte to a new potential OEM customer, we are excited to work with.

從電解質開始，更仔細地研究每一個目標。我們持續看到人們對我們的電解質粉末的興趣日益濃厚。本季度，我們向現有合作夥伴出貨。在收到正面回饋後，我們也向潛在客戶重複出貨，並將我們的電解質運送給新的潛在 OEM 客戶，我們很高興與其合作。

Our electrolyte has now been shipped to 10 potential customers outside of our existing joint development relationships. We've also continued to invest in our new electrolyte R&D lab, which we are targeting to complete sometime mid-year. The goal of this lab will be to optimize continuous electrolyte production, reduce the cost of our powder, and develop future generations of even higher-performing electrolyte. We continue to believe high proprietary electrolyte represents a great long-term opportunity for our industry and for our shareholders. And we remain committed to continuing to expand our capabilities and available market in this area.

我們的電解質目前已運送至我們現有聯合開發關係以外的 10 個潛在客戶。我們也繼續投資新的電解質研發實驗室，目標是在年中某個時候完成。該實驗室的目標是優化連續電解質生產，降低粉末成本，並開發未來性能更高的電解質。我們始終相信，高專有電解質對我們的產業和股東而言是一個巨大的長期機會。我們將繼續致力於擴大我們在該領域的能力和可用市場。

Turning to cell development. Our team continues to refine our A-2 cell design with the goal of delivering a A-2 cells to our partners by the end of this year. Our A-2 cells are designed to improve our cell performance, including energy and power. We believe these improvements also represent an incremental step towards commercial solid state technology.

轉向細胞發育。我們的團隊繼續完善我們的 A-2 電池設計，目標是在今年年底前向我們的合作夥伴交付 A-2 電池。我們的 A-2 電池旨在提高電池性能，包括能量和功率。我們相信這些改進也代表著邁向商業固態技術的一步。

With respect to cell performance, our team has also been working hard to better address the handful of A-1 cells that went into thermal runaway earlier this year. The team is improving our internal testing capabilities, performing detailed analysis of our cell reactions, and thoroughly evaluating the materials and processes used in production. We've been able to identify minor changes in our cells chemistry and design as well as improvements in our manufacturing process that we have factored into our plans or the A-2 builds.

關於電池效能，我們的團隊也一直在努力解決今年稍早出現的少數 A-1 電池熱失控問題。團隊正在提高我們的內部測試能力，對我們的細胞反應進行詳細分析，並徹底評估生產中使用的材料和製程。我們已經能夠識別出電池化學和設計的細微變化以及製造流程的改進，這些都已納入我們的計劃或 A-2 構建中。

Battery technology development is challenging and our team is energized by the opportunity to overcome hurdles and demonstrate the potential of solid-state batteries. I'm proud of our team's work and want to express my appreciation for their commitment to driving realistic, thoughtful solutions.

電池技術開發充滿挑戰，我們的團隊對克服障礙和展示固態電池潛力的機會充滿熱情。我為我們團隊的工作感到自豪，並想對他們致力於推動切實可行、深思熟慮的解決方案表示感謝。

Turning to our partners. Since signing the expanded agreement with SK On in January, we have begun collaboration in earnest. In April, we hosted SK On for three weeks here in Colorado to kick off the tech transfer process under our R&D license. During those three weeks, we conducted workshops, training and other hands-on learning with respect to our cell production processes. This was valuable time spent and beneficial for both sides as we set a solid foundation for future collaboration.

轉向我們的合作夥伴。自從一月與 SK On 簽署擴展協議以來，我們已經開始認真合作。今年四月，我們在科羅拉多州接待了 SK On 三週，啟動了我們研發許可下的技術轉移流程。在這三週內，我們就電池生產流程進行了研討會、培訓和其他實踐學習。這是一段寶貴的時間，對雙方都有利，因為我們為未來的合作奠定了堅實的基礎。

We also sent a team to Korea to begin work on the SK ON line installation. I'm pleased to say that we're nearing design freeze on SK ON's new EV cell line. All the lines major equipment is now on order keeping us well on track to complete the line in the first half of 2025.

我們也派遣了一個團隊前往韓國，開始進行 SK ON 線路安裝工作。我很高興地說，SK ON 的新 EV 電池系列的設計即將完成。該生產線的所有主要設備現已訂購，使我們能夠順利地在 2025 年上半年完成該生產線的建設。

Both the tech transfer and line installation efforts will ultimately increase collaboration and leveraged development efforts on our solid-state technology across the US, Europe, and Asia in the years to come. We also continue our close collaboration with both BMW and Ford under our joint development agreements. We continue to value these relationships and look forward to continuing to work closely with our OEM partners throughout the year.

技術轉移和生產線安裝工作最終將在未來幾年增加美國、歐洲和亞洲的固態技術合作和槓桿開發。我們也根據聯合開發協議繼續與寶馬和福特密切合作。我們繼續重視這些關係，並期待全年繼續與我們的 OEM 合作夥伴密切合作。

And lastly, Korea, we've made good progress in solidifying our Korean presence. We now have an entire team on the ground in Korea with a combination of expat Solid Power employees and local expertise who onboarded in our SP2 facility a couple of weeks ago. This team is located in Seoul, where we are establishing a home base for driving further engagement across the Peninsula with potential customers, vendors, government agencies, and others in the forefront of battery technology development.

最後，在韓國，我們在鞏固韓國影響力方面取得了良好進展。目前，我們在韓國擁有一支完整的團隊，由外籍 Solid Power 員工和當地專家組成，他們幾週前加入我們的 SP2 工廠。該團隊位於首爾，我們正在這裡建立一個大本營，以推動整個半島與潛在客戶、供應商、政府機構以及其他處於電池技術開發前沿的人士的進一步接觸。

Before I wrap up, I also want to say we're making good progress on our planned investor event for later this year. We look forward to sharing more details with you in the coming months.

在結束之前，我還想說，我們計劃在今年稍後舉行的投資者活動進展順利。我們期待在未來幾個月與您分享更多細節。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Kevin.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給凱文。

Thanks, John. Good afternoon, everyone. I'll start off today with an overview of our financial results for Q1. Then I'll discuss our '24 outlook.

謝謝，約翰。大家下午好。今天我將首先概述我們第一季的財務表現。然後我將討論我們的 24 年展望。

Our first quarter financial results reflect continued technology development and initial execution on our new SK agreements. First quarter revenue was just under $6 million. This primarily reflects solid performance on our BMW agreement.

我們第一季的財務表現反映了我們持續的技術開發和新的 SK 協議的初步執行。第一季的營收略低於 600 萬美元。這主要反映了我們寶馬協議的穩健表現。

Operating expenses for Q1 were $31.7 million, reflecting our planned investments in cell and electrolyte development, the scaling of our operations, and execution under our development agreements. First quarter operating loss was $25.8 million and net loss was $21.2 million or $0.12 per share.

第一季的營運費用為 3,170 萬美元，反映了我們在電池和電解質開發方面的計畫投資、我們營運的規模以及我們根據開發協議的執行情況。第一季營運虧損為 2,580 萬美元，淨虧損為 2,120 萬美元，即每股 0.12 美元。

Turning to our balance sheet. We ended the quarter with total liquidity of $379 million in cash, marketable securities, and long-term investments. We invested $29.1 million in operations during the quarter and $4.1 million in CapEx, mostly going towards our new electrolyte R&D lab. Our overall CapEx investments were lower than last year when we were investing heavily in our SP2 electrolyte plant.

轉向我們的資產負債表。截至本季末，我們的現金、有價證券和長期投資的總流動資金為 3.79 億美元。我們在本季投資了 2,910 萬美元用於運營，投資了 410 萬美元用於資本支出，主要用於我們的新電解質研發實驗室。我們的整體資本支出低於去年，當時我們對 SP2 電解質工廠進行了大力投資。

We did have an increase in working capital invested this quarter. We had a couple of large partner receivables at the end of Q1 that will be collected in Q2 in line with contract milestones. We also placed down-payments during the quarter on equipment for the SK line install. We expect our working capital to normalize over the remainder of the year, lowering our cash burn over coming quarters.

本季我們的營運資金投資確實有所增加。我們在第一季末有幾筆大筆合作夥伴應收款，這些款項將在第二季按照合約里程碑收取。我們也在本季支付了 SK 線路安裝設備的預付款。我們預計我們的營運資本將在今年剩餘時間內恢復正常，從而降低未來幾季的現金消耗。

Lastly, during the quarter, we repurchased 5 million shares of our common stock for a total of just over $8 million. You will see $4.9 million on our statement of cash flows with the remaining amount sitting on the balance sheet as the cash settled in early April. Overall, our liquidity position remains strong, especially in light of our capital light business model with its lower CapEx requirements.

最後，在本季度，我們回購了 500 萬股普通股，總額略高於 800 萬美元。您將在我們的現金流量表上看到 490 萬美元，剩餘金額在 4 月初現金結算時存於資產負債表上。總體而言，我們的流動性狀況仍然強勁，特別是考慮到我們的輕資本業務模式及其較低的資本支出要求。

Turning to our outlook for the year. We are reiterating our guidance for '24, which revenue is still expected to be in the $20 million to $25 million range. This includes the remaining revenue from our BMW agreement and expected revenue from our new SK agreements. We did have a small amount of SK revenue in Q1 and expect more over the rest of the year as we execute on tech transfer and line installation.

談談我們對今年的展望。我們重申對 24 年的預期，預計收入仍將在 2,000 萬至 2,500 萬美元之間。這包括我們與寶馬協議的剩餘收入和我們與新 SK 協議的預期收入。我們在第一季確實獲得了少量的 SK 收入，隨著我們執行技術轉移和生產線安裝，預計今年剩餘時間內的收入會更多。

With respect to the overall cash flow guidance, we are reiterating our expectation that total cash investment for '24 will be in the range of $100 million to $120 million, with operating cash investment expected to be $60 million to $70 million, and CapEx investments expected to be $40 million to $50 million. In addition to the $100 million to $120 million, we will have $8 million of share repurchase investments show up in our financing cash flows from the repurchases we've done so far this year. We'll continue to evaluate the timing and amounts of future repurchases under our plan.

關於整體現金流指引，我們重申我們的預期，即 24 年的總現金投資將在 1 億美元至 1.2 億美元之間，其中營運現金投資預計為 6,000 萬至 7,000 萬美元，資本支出投資預計為 4,000 萬至 5,000 萬美元。除了 1 億至 1.2 億美元外，我們還將有 800 萬美元的股票回購投資出現在我們今年迄今進行的回購的融資現金流中。我們將繼續評估我們計劃下未來回購的時間和金額。

With that, I'll now turn the call back to John.

說完這些，我現在將電話轉回給約翰。

Thanks, Kevin. In closing 2024 is off to a solid start. The team here at Solid Power continues to execute well on our 2024 goals, whether the targets are technical, strategic, or financial in nature. I'm confident that this continued strong execution will drive shareholder value for the long term.

謝謝，凱文。總而言之，2024 年開局良好。Solid Power 團隊繼續出色地執行我們的 2024 年目標，無論這些目標是技術性的、策略性的還是財務性的。我相信，持續強勁的執行力將長期推動股東價值。

With that, I'll turn it over to Q&A.

接下來，我將進入問答環節。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Mike Shlisky, D.A. Davidson.

麥克‧施利斯基、D.A.戴維森。

Yes, hello. Good afternoon and thanks for taking my questions. You had mentioned you have shifts, naturalized to 10 potential partners beyond the 3 that you've already mentioned, you're working with. Those 10 partners, could you maybe kind of bracket for us. Are they auto OEMs or battery folks? And maybe some sense as to the size maybe combined of what kind of market share those autos or batteries may have or just some sense as to how big if they all signed up to book a Solid Power, the long-term opportunity may be there.

是的，你好。下午好，感謝您回答我的問題。您曾提到，除了您之前提到的 3 個合作夥伴之外，您還輪流與 10 個潛在合作夥伴合作。您能為我們列出這 10 位合作夥伴嗎？他們是汽車原始設備製造商還是電池製造商？也許可以對這些汽車或電池可能擁有的市場份額的規模進行一些了解，或者只是對他們如果都簽約預訂 Solid Power 的話可能存在的長期機會進行一些了解。

Good afternoon, Mike. Thanks for joining. Yeah, it's a combination of battery OEMs and EV OEMs. I would say it's skewed more towards battery OEMs in this period of time. But again, it's both. I honestly don't have a good assessment of what the total available market that they address would be, but it is a combination of the very large players in the market as well as some of the medium-sized players in the market.

下午好，麥克。感謝您的加入。是的，它是電池 OEM 和 EV OEM 的組合。我想說的是，這段時間內它更偏向電池 OEM。但同樣，兩者皆有。老實說，我無法很好地評估他們所針對的總可用市場，但它是市場上非常大的參與者以及市場上一些中型參與者的組合。

I also appreciate your details on the team's efforts to fix those issues where thermal runaway. Can you share with us is the resulting cell going to look cost or perform differently than what was originally put in or are on the screen is very small to your knowledge at this point?

我還感謝您提供有關團隊為解決熱失控問題所做的努力的詳細資訊。您能否與我們分享一下，最終的電池在成本或性能上與最初放入的電池相比是否存在差異，或者就您目前所知，螢幕上的差異非常小？

Yeah, a great question again, Mike. I want to emphasize clearly that just a handful of cells that we have out of thousands that we've built. So just to keep the situation in scope, but they're small tweaks that we're making. But I would like to once again reiterate that the battery system is really a complex interplay between the chemistries, the mechanics, and the overall system environment that it operates.

是的，這又是一個好問題，麥克。我想明確強調的是，我們建造的細胞只有數千個，而我們擁有的細胞卻屈指可數。因此，只是為了將情況控制在一定範圍內，但我們所做的只是一些小的調整。但我想再次重申，電池系統實際上是化學、機械和其運作的整體系統環境之間的複雜相互作用。

And so those all have to be tweaked to make a change in one area that it may affect the design and may affect the manufacturing flow. And so just bear that in mind when we talk about changes, it's small tweaks to all those because of the interplay between them for the battery system.

因此，所有這些都必須進行調整，以在一個領域做出改變，這可能會影響設計並可能影響製造流程。因此，當我們談論變化時，請記住這一點，所有這些都只是微小的調整，因為它們在電池系統中相互作用。

And perhaps one last one for me and this is for Kevin. Is it early to ask about 2025 at this point? Do you think that your cash burn or expense run rate, as it tapers down a little bit around the year. Could it may be run similar to what you're seeing this year? Or are there -- is there a major step up or down for 2025?

這也許是我的最後一句話，也是給凱文的。現在詢問 2025 年是否為時過早？您是否認為您的現金消耗率或費用運行率在全年都會略有下降？它的運作方式可能與您今年看到的類似嗎？或者說——2025 年會有重大的上升或下降嗎？

No, Thanks, Mike. We're going to give longer-term guidance later this year at our investor event. But we -- I don't think our messaging has changed much from what we said originally, which is once we got through our SP1 mine install and SP2 electrolyte facility that our CapEx needs would tweak down and overall spend would go down. So we're not expecting any changes but we'll give more detailed guidance here later this year.

不，謝謝，麥克。我們將在今年稍後的投資者活動中提供長期指導。但是我們——我認為我們的資訊與我們最初所說的相比沒有太大變化，那就是一旦我們完成 SP1 礦山安裝和 SP2 電解質設施，我們的資本支出需求就會減少，總體支出也會減少。因此，我們預計不會有任何變化，但我們將在今年稍後提供更詳細的指導。

Brian Dobson, Chardan Capital Markets.

布萊恩·多布森（Brian Dobson），Chardan Capital Markets。

I guess just one follow-up on those call it 10 clients and the two clients that you mentioned -- supplying pattern electrolyte, but on an ongoing basis to one potential client and one new potential client, what kind of feedback have you received from those companies? And can you give us an idea as to what industry they're in either automotive or battery.

我想只需對上述 10 個客戶和您提到的 2 個客戶進行一次跟進 - 提供圖案電解質，但持續向 1 個潛在客戶和 1 個新的潛在客戶提供，您從這些公司收到了什麼樣的反饋？您能否告訴我們他們所處的產業是汽車還是電池？

There's one customer that's in the battery space providing to the EV market, a major player in Asia. And then a second EV OEM also in Asia. So those are the description of the two that we referred to in the call.

有一家客戶是電池領域的供應商，為電動車市場提供電池，是亞洲的主要參與者。然後第二家電動車原始設備製造商也位於亞洲。這就是我們在電話中提到的兩個人的描述。

The feedback has been very encouraging, Brian and the reason I say that is that we've been through multiple iterations of -- sampling with both of them. Then looking at the initial materials saying I like this characteristic about the electrolyte, but could you change this characteristic and go ahead and we do our modification or screening or what have you to get to that desired specification.

回饋非常令人鼓舞，布萊恩，我這樣說的原因是我們已經對它們進行了多次迭代採樣。然後查看初始材料，說我喜歡電解質的這種特性，但是你能否改變這種特性並繼續進行修改或篩選，或者你如何達到所需的規格。

We resample it. They re-evaluate it taking through their cell lines. And then it's a rinse and repeat from there. We've had as many as five cycles with one of those two OEMs at this point. So it should clearly shows engagement. It shows that there's interest, strong interest, I would say as a result of the engagement.

我們對其進行重新取樣。他們透過細胞系重新評估了它。然後從那裡沖洗並重複。到目前為止，我們已經與其中一家 OEM 廠商合作了多達五個週期。因此它應該清楚地顯示出參與度。這顯示人們有興趣，而且是濃厚的興趣，我想說這是參與的結果。

We're not up through that process with either of them, I would expect that would continue through the balance of this year. As I said, the battery system is a very complex interplay. They both have their own cell designs. And so we're really tuning the electrolyte to make it perform the best in their cell design. And I believe that will continue to the balance of this year.

我們還沒有完成其中任何一個的流程，我預計這種情況將在今年餘下時間繼續下去。正如我所說，電池系統是一個非常複雜的相互作用。它們都有自己的電池設計。因此，我們確實在調整電解質，以使其在電池設計中發揮最佳性能。我相信這種情況將持續到今年年底。

Is there any update on work that you have been doing with BMW toward the development of one of their prototype cars?

您與寶馬合作開發其一款原型車的進展如何？

So our collaboration with BMW continues to be very strong. If anything, it's gotten stronger in 2024. You may recall we actually have ex-pat engineers from BMW here on site in Colorado for extended periods of time. And they're working shoulder to shoulder with our engineers to come up to speed on our cell design so that they can duplicate that and then build on it in Parsdorf, Germany.

因此，我們與寶馬的合作一直非常緊密。如果有什麼變化的話，那就是它在 2024 年會變得更強大。您可能還記得，我們實際上有來自寶馬的外籍工程師在科羅拉多州工作了很長時間。他們正與我們的工程師並肩工作，以加快我們的電池設計，以便他們可以複製設計，然後在德國帕爾斯多夫進行生產。

I understand that equipment for that facility is coming in this year and they have an objective to get that facility up and running in 2025. There's -- we're still in discussions with them about the demo car. We really don't have any further updates for you at this point but we will share that with you as soon as we do have clarity about their plans.

據我了解，該設施的設備將於今年到貨，他們的目標是在 2025 年建成並投入營運。我們仍在與他們討論演示車。目前我們確實沒有任何進一步的更新信息，但一旦我們明確了他們的計劃，我們就會立即與您分享。

As you, I'm sure, know, they are going through a major platform change with the Neue Klasse coming out next year and so they're doing a lot of internal planning. So there really is no further update at this point other than that close collaboration and our support of their line in Parsdorf, Germany as we go through this year.

我相信您知道，隨著 Neue Klasse 明年的推出，他們正在經歷重大的平台變革，所以他們正在進行大量的內部規劃。因此，除了今年密切合作和對其位於德國帕爾斯多夫的生產線的支持之外，目前確實沒有進一步的更新。

Excellent. And during the quarter, you retired nearly $5 million worth of stock. I think we're in agreement that shares are undervalued at this level. But as you're thinking about utilizing additional share repurchases, are you thinking about being programmatic? Or are you thinking about being opportunistic in nature? I guess how are you and the Board going about that?

出色的。在本季度，您退出了價值近 500 萬美元的股票。我認為我們都同意，目前的股價被低估了。但是，當您考慮利用額外的股票回購時，您是否考慮採用程序化的方式？或者您本質上是機會主義的？我猜您和董事會對此有何看法？

Hey, Brian. We're thankful that we have such a strong balance sheet at this point we'll remain flexible here and consider all opportunities to buy our stock back going forward. At this point, we don't want to give too much detail because that could impact our ability to buy back but we'll consider the opportunities here as they come up going forward.

嘿，布萊恩。我們很慶幸目前擁有如此強勁的資產負債表，我們將保持靈活性並考慮所有機會在未來回購我們的股票。目前，我們不想透露太多細節，因為這可能會影響我們的回購能力，但我們將在未來考慮這些機會。

Okay. And just one final one, if I could sneak it in. It's very exciting that you're building out Korea. Have you received any kind of early feedback from team members on the ground there regarding the reception of Solid Power by the local companies?

好的。如果我可以偷偷地放進去的話，就剩下最後一個了。你們正在建設韓國，這非常令人興奮。您是否收到過當地團隊成員關於當地公司對 Solid Power 的接受程度的任何早期回饋？

Yeah, the reception has been just what we hoped it would be. I think once you plant the flag and start to invest in a country like that, it's really our first global expansion. People take notice. And so yes, we are getting differential treatment from the various partners and providers, suppliers over there and also very close collaboration with the national labs. They have clearly acknowledged that being there makes a difference.

是的，接待效果正如我們所希望的那樣。我認為，一旦你在這樣的國家樹立旗幟並開始投資，這實際上是我們的第一次全球擴張。人們注意到了。是的，我們從那裡的各個合作夥伴、供應商和供應商那裡得到了差別待遇，並且與國家實驗室也進行了非常密切的合作。他們清楚地認識到，在場是很重要的。

And we have hired now three nationals already throughout program management, technical lead as well as HR over there to build out that core team. So the reception is exactly what we had hoped, maybe a little bit better than that I had expected on the government side but it's really coming in nicely.

目前，我們已經在那裡聘請了三位當地人擔任專案管理、技術主管以及人力資源，以組建核心團隊。因此，接待情況正如我們所希望的那樣，可能比我預期的政府方面的情況要好一點，但效果確實很好。

Thanks very much.

非常感謝。

Jeffrey Campbell, Seaport Global Securities.

傑弗裡·坎貝爾，海港全球證券公司。

Good afternoon and congratulations on all the success that you've laid out. I really only have one question at this point and that is from all these various some samplings of the electrolyte and where the electrolyte is going. Is it -- is this like a line being tested for any other kind of battery architecture besides the silicon EV cell? Or conversely, if not, can we see this as some sort of validation of the silicon EV cell architecture?

下午好，祝賀您取得的所有成功。我現在實際上只有一個問題，那就是從所有這些不同的電解質樣本中，電解質的去向。這是否就像一條除矽電動車電池之外，還在測試其他類型電池架構的生產線？或者相反，如果不是，我們能否將其視為矽電動汽車電池架構的某種驗證？

Yeah. Good question, Geoffrey. We believe that it's being used in a variety of different anode-cathode combinations at this point. For obvious reasons, these OEMs generally keep those designs pretty close to their chest. So we don't have a lot of visibility but we get some clues, if you will, based on what they're asking for in terms of the changes to electrolyte. And I think it's fair to say that there's a number of different combinations of anode and cathode that are being utilized with our electrolyte at this point.

是的。問得好，傑弗裡。我們相信它目前正被用於各種不同的陽極-陰極組合。出於顯而易見的原因，這些 OEM 通常會將這些設計保密。因此，我們了解的資訊不多，但根據他們對電解質變化的要求，我們可以得到一些線索。我認為可以公平地說，目前我們的電解質中採用了多種不同的陽極和陰極組合。

Again, it underscores the -- we're really indifferent to the anode technology and the cathode technology. It speaks to the versatility, I think, of our electrolyte and of our business model. We do, again, work closely with the customers but don't have ultimate visibility right now on those designs.

再次強調，我們對陽極技術和陰極技術真的漠不關心。我認為這說明了我們的電解質和商業模式的多功能性。我們確實與客戶密切合作，但目前對這些設計還沒有最終的了解。

(Operator Instructions) Vincent Anderson, Stifel.

（操作員指示）Vincent Anderson，Stifel。

So just two quick ones on the SK partnership. Could you remind me, are you able to immediately start iterating off of your most recent A-2 battery with SK? Or does the nature of the JDA mean that you kind of have to start a few steps back and develop forward from there?

關於 SK 合作關係，我只想簡單說兩點。您能提醒我嗎，您是否能夠立即開始使用 SK 迭代您最新的 A-2 電池？或者 JDA 的性質是否意味著您必須先退後幾步，然後再向前發展？

We will start with the A-1 design as a baseline because it's the most learned and then build from there. But our intention would be to have ongoing collaboration for the various designs as we go forward. They've expressed the desire to do that same thing but it will start off of our base which we built largely last year.

我們將以 A-1 設計作為基準，因為它是最容易學習的，然後從那裡開始建造。但我們的目的是隨著我們前進，繼續就各種設計進行合作。他們表達了做同樣事情的願望，但這將從我們去年主要建造的基地開始。

And are they going to be explicitly sourcing raw materials or you are having a direct, say, in raw material sourcing?

他們會明確採購原料，或是您直接採購原料？

You mean for our precursors? Or do you mean for the other guys on everything in the battery?

你是指我們的前輩嗎？還是你是指電池中其他所有東西？

Yeah. Apologies, yes, for your precursors.

是的。是的，對於你的前因，我深感抱歉。

No. We solely control our precursor vendors and selection.

不。我們全權控制我們的前驅供應商和選擇。

All right. And just shifting gears. I'm curious, are you planning on requiring or dedicating additional prototyping equipment or electrolyte manufacturing equipment to support the new electrolyte chemistry? I'm only asking because I assume you've already started working on some of this R&D around the new chemistry and you feel the need to afford it its own lab space. So I'm just wondering if that's going to eventually come with maybe entirely segregated lines and things like that.

好的。只是換檔而已。我很好奇，您是否計劃要求或專用額外的原型設備或電解質製造設備來支援新的電解質化學？我之所以問這個問題，是因為我認為您已經開始圍繞新化學進行一些研發工作，並且您覺得有必要為其提供自己的實驗室空間。所以我只是想知道這是否最終會帶來完全隔離的線路和類似的東西。

We have the DVPR line that will be coming on midyear here. Well, lab, excuse me, not line. That will advance the state of the art there, advance our production capability in terms of continuous flow versus batch as well as driving on our cost vectors. But once that's done, it's designed so that whatever results can be seamlessly integrated into our SP2 existing powder line.

我們有 DVPR 生產線，將於年中上市。嗯，實驗室，對不起，不行。這將推動那裡的技術進步，提高我們在連續流與批量方面的生產能力，並推動我們的成本向量。但一旦完成，它的設計使得無論結果如何都可以無縫整合到我們現有的 SP2 粉末系列中。

And one of the, I think, real highlights of this year has been the flexibility that, that line has demonstrated already. I mean it was designed for flexibility. But as we've gone through these customer sampling exercises I described previously, our ability to actually tune it very quickly to the customer requirements is really proven to be beyond even my expectations. So we don't envision a different line other than the DVPR lab that then will -- that material designs will migrate into the standard SP2 facility.

我認為，今年真正的亮點之一就是這條生產線已經展現出的彈性。我的意思是它的設計非常靈活。但是，正如我們完成我之前描述的這些客戶抽樣練習一樣，事實證明，我們能夠非常快速地根據客戶要求進行調整，這甚至超出了我的預期。因此，除了 DVPR 實驗室之外，我們並沒有設想其他生產線，材料設計將遷移到標準 SP2 設施中。

This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to John Van Scoter for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議交還給約翰·範·斯科特 (John Van Scoter) 做最後發言。

Thank you for joining the call today, everyone and for your interest in Solid Power. We look forward to updating you again next quarter.

感謝大家今天參加電話會議，也感謝大家對 Solid Power 的關注。我們期待下個季度再次向您更新資訊。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。