Key Points

• Shares of the solid-state battery maker jumped apparently on the Lucid-Uber announcement.

• The stock has soared since it said last month that its Cobra separator had gone into production.

• Lucid has expressed interest in solid-state batteries.

• 10 stocks we like better than QuantumScape ›

Shares of QuantumScape (NYSE: QS) were moving higher again today, even though there was no company-specific news out on the stock. Instead, a combination of excitement around the Uber-Lucid deal and momentum in the stock following last month's announcement seemed to push it higher today.

As of 3:20 p.m. ET, the stock was up 17.9%.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Image source: Getty Images.

QuantumScape breaks out again

QuantumScape has surged after announcing a milestone achievement in its solid-state battery technology, going into production with its Cobra separator.

The stock has roughly tripled since then, and today it seemed to gain on the partnership announcement between Lucid and Uber, which could help fuel demand for new battery technology.

As for that deal, Uber will invest $300 million in Lucid in a robotaxi partnership that includes start-up Nuro's autonomous vehicle technology.

Lucid is known for high-performance electric vehicles, but the business has struggled to scale, so Uber's investment could give it a needed boost over the long term.

Meanwhile, QuantumScape's solid-state batteries aren't on the market yet, but Lucid has announced its intention of including solid-state batteries, which are denser than traditional lithium-ion batteries and therefore can charge faster and achieve a longer range, in its EVs. It's unclear who Lucid would partner with on it.

What's next for QuantumScape?

QuantumScape stock continues to trade in high volume, showing renewed interest in the stock, following last month's announcement.

The next update for the company will come next week when it reports second-quarter earnings on July 23. While the numbers are secondary at this point, as QuantumScape is still a development-stage company, any commentary on Cobra or other news could propel the stock higher.

Should you invest $1,000 in QuantumScape right now?

Before you buy stock in QuantumScape, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and QuantumScape wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $674,281!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,050,415!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,058% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025

Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• QuantumScape has installed the Cobra process as its new manufacturing baseline.

• Cobra will demonstrate the company's ability to produce cells at a near-commercial pace.

• QuantumScape's partnership with Volkswagen subsidiary PowerCo will be instrumental in its plan to progress toward commercial production scales -- and revenue.

• 10 stocks we like better than QuantumScape ›

When looking at the risk vs. reward balance, QuantumScape (NYSE: QS) might offer the wildest range of any company out there. QuantumScape is hard at work developing its technology for solid-state batteries -- a type of battery that no company has produced at commercial scale for the electric vehicle (EV) market yet. If it succeeds, it will be a game-changing breakthrough for EVs, but for now, the company lacks not only profits, but any commercial revenue at all.

That should change in time, but what should matter to investors is that QuantumScape is installing all of its new equipment for new processes to reach commercial production volume. And on that front, QuantumScape is making sound progress.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

In late June, the company announced a major milestone in its scale-up effort: the successful integration of its Cobra separator process into baseline cell production. Cobra is its next step toward commercialization, and the process enables faster and more energy-efficient production. QuantumScape noted that the process treats key battery cell components 25 times faster than earlier processes, and with a fraction of the equipment and operational footprint.

Image source: QuantumScape.

The Cobra process will replace the company's previous process, dubbed Raptor, which was used for sample cells and B0 cell production. Essentially, part of this development is demonstrating that QuantumScape's improved manufacturing process will work on a fast-paced assembly line.

"Cobra is a step-change innovation in ceramic processing, enabling a major improvement in productivity compared to Raptor -- which was already a considerable advancement compared to the previous generation," said QuantumScape co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Tim Holme in a press release. "This advancement is central to bringing our high-performance solid-state battery platform to market at gigawatt scale."

The announcement of that milestone was almost solely responsible for the company's 29% surge during the first half of 2025, but where is QuantumScape likely to go during the second half?

What's next?

While QuantumScape works on newer iterations of Cobra to inch closer to commercialization of its solid-state batteries, the next step for the company is already in the works. But to put that in context, we have to rewind to almost exactly one year ago, when it announced a partnership with Volkswagen Group's battery company, PowerCo.

Essentially, that partnership deal says that after the battery start-up makes satisfactory technical progress, then -- in exchange for royalty payments -- QuantumScape will grant PowerCo a license to mass-produce battery cells for EVs based on its technology. The deal will combine QuantumScape's technical innovations with PowerCo's extensive and high-quality production operations.

QuantumScape's next goal is to begin shipping QSE-5 B1 samples, and it remains on track to do so. Those are the cells it will use to show how its tech works in real-world applications, and the B1 version is expected to be distributed for the testing phase of its launch program next year.

QuantumScape stock is not an investment for the faint of heart. Anyone who buys it has to accept the considerable level of risk that comes with a company that is years away from generating revenue through the commercial manufacture of its core products. That said, QuantumScape has slowly but surely progressed, implementing each new process and hitting each new milestone on schedule. As the company continues on its quest to manufacture the "holy grail" of EV batteries, we can expect the hype train to chug forward every time it improves its Cobra process significantly.

Should you invest $1,000 in QuantumScape right now?

Before you buy stock in QuantumScape, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and QuantumScape wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $680,559!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,005,670!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,053% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025

Daniel Miller has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.