The Tech Blog Writer Podcast - Inspired Tech Startup Stories & Interviews With Tech Leaders, Entrepreneurs And Innovators

Electric vehicles promise a cleaner future, but battery performance remains one of the biggest bottlenecks. In this episode, Tim Holme, co-founder and CTO of QuantumScape, takes us inside the company’s mission to build a new generation of solid-state lithium-metal batteries that could change the game for EVs and beyond. Tim explains why the industry has been stuck with incremental improvements to lithium-ion for decades and why replacing the graphite anode with lithium metal could unlock longer range, under-15-minute charging, and improved safety. He shares how QuantumScape’s ceramic separator prevents the dendrite formation that has held back lithium-metal designs, and why this innovation can make batteries both more energy-dense and safer, even under extreme conditions. We also discuss the company’s recent “COBRA” manufacturing breakthrough, which has increased separator production speed by roughly 200 times. This leap is key to scaling production for automotive partners like Volkswagen’s PowerCo and Murata