It's getting harder to know where the electric vehicle (EV) story is heading. Some say demand is fading, while others insist that a fully electric future is still just around the corner.
One challenge both camps seem to agree on, however, is battery technology. Indeed, between mining raw materials and building manufacturing plants, current EV batteries are expensive. They're also cumbersome, prone to fires, slow to charge, and limited in range.
If transportation is going fully electric, it needs a better battery. QuantumScape (QS 5.18%) thinks it has built one: a solid-state battery that charges faster and could last longer than the typical lithium-ion.
Image source: QuantumScape.
The company has several prototypes, but it's struggled to commercialize a solid-state battery. Recent manufacturing developments, however, could be changing that -- and setting this stock up to soar over the next five years.
Scaling the Cobra separator could unlock commercial reality
In the past, QuantumScape's solid-state technology has worked in labs but has always been difficult to produce at a commercial level. It made investors bearish that the company would ever produce enough to become significantly profitable.
That changed dramatically in the middle of the summer when QuantumScape announced a huge upgrade to its manufacturing technology.
In its second-quarter 2025 conference call, management announced it had successfully implemented its Cobra solid separator into its prototype manufacturing line. The upgrade can significantly improve productivity -- about 25 times more than its previous equipment -- and help it eventually produce batteries at scale.
Following on the heels of this upgrade came the first real-life demo of a solid-state battery in September. Although the battery wasn't in a car -- it was in a motorcycle -- it proved that its technology can exist outside of labs in real-world applications.
The company isn't generating revenue, but it has enough cash to last until at least 2029. It could also have significant first-mover advantage if it can commercially market its solid-state battery before others.
The stock is risky, so conservative investors may want to hold off. But for aggressive investors betting on EV adoption, holding it for the next five years could pay off.
