While the S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.06%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.21%) are inching in opposite directions to start this shortened trading week, shares of QuantumScape (QS 3.44%) are moving decisively higher. A leading electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer has announced its plan to use solid-state batteries in their vehicles, and investors are sitting up and taking notice of the news.
As of 11:33 a.m. ET, shares of QuantumScape are up 6.3%.
2027 will be a big year for solid-state batteries
It won’t be much longer before drivers in China will be cruising around in EVs powered with solid-state batteries. Electrek, a website which covers the EV industry, reported today that BYD (BYDDY -0.24%) expects to debut its first vehicles powered by all solid-state batteries in 2027. Citing Sun Huajun, chief technology officer for BYD’s battery business, the company will produce a limited number of these vehicles from 2027 to 2029 and ramp up production in 2030 after the demonstration phase is complete.
For QuantumScape investors, the news is certainly encouraging. According to Motley Fool research, BYD is the world’s largest EV manufacturer. With BYD espousing a bullish view on the future of solid-state battery technology, investors feel more confident about QuantumScape’s prospects, since the technology’s use in a wide-scale application still seems speculative.
Continuing to advance its manufacturing processes, QuantumScape expects to begin the demonstration phase with its unnamed prospective customer in 2026.
Is now the time to plug QuantumScape into your portfolio?
While the news from BYD is interesting, it shouldn’t motivate investors to buy QuantumScape stock any more or less. The company has made significant progress in validating its technology and ability to manufacture the batteries on a large scale. For speculative investors with a higher degree of risk tolerance, now seems like a good time to dig in deeper and consider clicking the buy button.
