QuantumScape Amends PowerCo Collaboration, $75.4M Milestone Program

What Happened

• QuantumScape Corporation’s wholly owned unit, QuantumScape Battery, Inc. (QS), on July 16, 2026 entered an amendment to its Amended and Restated Collaboration Agreement with PowerCo SE (a Volkswagen Group battery cell company).
• The Amendment replaces the prior statement of work and cost-reimbursement approach with a milestone-driven program focused on automotive cell development, larger-format cells and advancing QSE-5 Technology toward a cell size to be determined by PowerCo.
• The amended program ties payments to achievement of technical milestones, including delivery and validation of battery cells over the next two years, and sets the maximum aggregate amount QS will receive from PowerCo at $75.4 million (inclusive of amounts already paid). The Amendment does not change the terms of any contemplated IP license.

Key Details

• Amendment effective date: July 16, 2026; original Collaboration Agreement dated July 17, 2025.
• Maximum aggregate milestone payments to QS from PowerCo: $75.4 million (inclusive of prior payments).
• Statement of Work No. 1 under the prior Collaboration Agreement was terminated effective July 16, 2026 and replaced by the Amendment. Outstanding invoiced obligations under the prior agreement remain due and payable.
• Payments are milestone-based and tied to delivery and validation of battery cells over the next two years; the Amendment focuses development on automotive cell formats.

Why It Matters

• The Amendment formalizes a milestone-based commercialization pathway with a major investor/partner (PowerCo/Volkswagen Group) and identifies up to $75.4M in potential near-term program funding tied to technical progress.
• For investors, the filing clarifies how collaboration work will be funded going forward (milestone payments rather than prior cost-reimbursement terms) and that future receipts depend on achieving defined development and validation milestones.
• The company highlights typical forward-looking risks: milestone achievement, development and commercialization challenges for solid-state batteries, and reliance on the PowerCo/Volkswagen relationship as described in its risk disclosures.