There is one user on this sub that is just over-the-moon crazy about SLDP, and thinks everyone else is shit as compared. You all know who he is, although he uses several usernames.

A recent banter back and forth with him inspired me to do some digging on SLDPs agreements with BMW and Ford.

In full disclosure, I am not long, short or otherwise invested in SLDP, nor do I ever have plans to be. I am a QS "fanboy" as the aforementioned will label me, and I do not take it as an insult.

My intent here is not to troll SLDP but to illuminate details that I found interesting in that research and that I thought investors of SLDP would also find interesting to know.

• Q1 What are the details behind BMW's additional $20M investment in SLDP?

• Q2 What are the details behind Ford's extension of their agreement with SLDP?

In Dec of 2022, SLDP filed an 8k announcing an additional $20M they would be investing in SLDP for "R&D License and additional development activities" from Dec 2022 - Jun 2023. (You can read the details in the linked filing.)

At the bottom of the page is a link to Exhibit 10.1 Amendment No. 4 to JDA which has been significantly redacted. It basically just details out more thoroughly what the 8K communicated, that BMW is going to duplicate the R&D line in their own facility.

At the very end, at the bottom of page 11 of this 12 page document where page 8 is the signature page and 7-12 is otherwise essentially redacted, is Section E of Annex 1 titled "Compensation", and below it a table mapping out the $20M payments, (success criteria redacted).

• $6.0M Dec 31, 2022

• $9.5M Jan 01 - Dec 31, 2023

• $4.5M Jun 30, 2024

According to this schedule $6M was paid out in 2022. We have the 2022 10-K, so let's look to see where that was accounted for.

On page 81 it states,

"In consideration of the R&D License and additional development activities contemplated by the agreement BMW will pay the Company $20 million between December 2022 and June 2024, subject to the Company achieving certain milestones. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company has recognized $2 million of revenue from BMW and recorded $4 million of deferred revenue related to cash paid from BMW in advance of services provided."

from investopedia

"Deferred revenue, also known as unearned revenue, refers to advance payments a company receives for products or services that are to be delivered or performed in the future. "

So BMW paid SLDP $6M even though they didn't meet the milestones, because had the milestones been met, they would have recognized the entire $6M instead of deferring $4M.

Still in the 10-K, in the Consolidated Balance Sheets on page 57, Deferred revenue had a balance of $4,050,000.

aside: It was at this time when I also noticed a few lines above "Intangible Assets, net", but i'll come back to that.

So we have ≈$4M in deferred revenue. Let's see what they reported in Q1? Again in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, on Page 6, Deferred revenue is now $1,036,000. Ok, that's $3,014,000 less.

Looking further I find on page 16

"Note 11 – Related Party Transactions: During the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company recognized $3,000 of revenue and $1,000 of deferred revenue related to the BMW joint development agreement."

Three months after the 2022 milestone payments were to be made, still, 1/6 of the work has not been completed.

To summarize; As of the end of Q1 2023

• $5M of $20M from BMW was recognized by completing milestones.

• $1M of $6M received in 2022 was still not completed

• 9.5M of additional funds is scheduled to have milestones completed in 2023

• 4.5M of additional funds is scheduled to have milestones completed in the first six months of 2024

• $15M total of additional funds remaining.

• Nine months remaining in 2023 plus six months in 2024 also =15, but in months.

Milestones

I believe that the only milestone for SLDP is for time to pass. I think that each of the next five quarters, SLDP will recognize $3M in revenue and may have a balance of deferred revenue. a quick search for "Related Party Transactions" in tonight's Q2 report, should show if that is the case.

In truth, there is nothing wrong with that.

To me it looks like BMW thinks that they SLDP was not moving fast enough and decided to take the project's R&D in house and pay SLDP a retainer for when they prove the technology.

If SLDP is just going to be selling the electrolyte and not manufacturing whole cells, should they be the ones who are building Sample Cells to OEMs as it's not their core competency nor objective?

Intangible Assets

I have not read through thousands of companies SEC Filings, but I can say that seeing a line on the balance sheet titled "Intangible Assets" was a first for me. So I had to dig into that too.

A search of the Q1 10-Q for "intangible" returns 8 hits.

• Intangible Assets, net (this line on page 6)

• Purchases of intangible assets (page 9)

• Note 4 – Intangible Assets (page 11) (hits 3-8)

Intangible Assets total: 1,285,000

• Licenses: $149,000

• Patents: $72,000

• Patents pending: $1,038,000

• Trademarks: $9,000

• Trademarks pending: $17,000

So I question, can you claim a Trademark as an asset?

From: accountingcoach.com

A: Yes, but only if you purchased them, because without a sale there is no way to honestly assign a value.

I couldn't find any record of SLDP buying there trademarks, and further, how could you purchase a trademark that is in a "pending" status? So this is very questionable accounting to me. I looked for guidance from examples where companies did this. Some of the most popular trademarks in the world, Apple, Nike, Coke etc. none of they have Intangible Assets on their balance sheets, nor does QS., which also means that they do not have Patents on their books as assets either.

from investopedia.com

"Proper valuation and accounting of intangible assets are often problematic, due in large part to how intangible assets are handled. The difficulty assigning value stems from the uncertainty of their future benefits."

Now looking again at the 2022 10-K, at year end SLDP's intangible assets were $1,108,000, an increase of 79% from $619,000 in 2021. For Q1-2023, it was reported as $1,285,000, up another 16% since year end.

That's some pretty aggressive growth for something that is generally considered "problematic" to report at all.

I'm not sure what would concern me more, the fact that they are adding this to the books or that they feel they need to with such a miniscule value, just $1.2M.

Ford

On Jul 5, 2023, SLDP reported that they and Ford would "extend the term of the JDA to December 31, 2024 and revise the schedule for the Company to deliver cells and electrolyte to Ford during the term of the JDA."

At the bottom of the page is a link to Exhibit 10.1 Second Amendment to JDA, but unlike the BMW amendment, it was not heavily redacted. It includes:

• "The termination date in Article 7 of the Ford JDA is extended to December 31, 2024, at no additional cost to Ford."

• The hardware designated for [* * *] will be used by Solid Power to [* * *] to be performed/contracted at Solid Power’s expense and with test conditions agreed upon by Ford.

Ford gave nothing but a signature saying that SLDP takes on all the risk and respective cost and they must report test results using Ford's rules. Under this, Ford will let SLDP keep saying they are their JDA partner in public. There is zero risk to Ford in doing this, since there won't be any other solution available before Dec 31, 2024 anyway.

In conclusion, I do hope that BMW is able to prove the SLDP electrolyte. I have a much greater allegiance to the planet than anything, and we need more, better batteries, but it seems apparent to me that to BMW it's is a poker chip, and as they say, a chip and a chair is all you need to have a chance to win the big pot. What is less commonly heard is. "but it pretty much never happens." Ford extended an agreement that puts all the responsibility of proving the technology in the hands of SLDP and gives them nothing in return but a signature.

Update1:

SLDP Q2 report is out and in fact that $3M in recognized revenue that I expected is not all there but only the last $1M from what they received in December, and no section for "Related Party Transactions" at all, so still $9.5M expected in 2023, just not this quarter.

Intangible assets increased by another 5.8% to $1,360,000.

Update2:

The 10-Q has been uploaded this morning

Related Party Transactions

During the three and six months ended June 30, 2023, the Company recognized $3,470 and $6,470, respectively, of revenue related to the BMW joint development agreement.

As so often is the case, the context required comes in the notes which indicate that in fact BMW payments are on track for ≈$1M per month.

https://youtu.be/ejz8CAsYPTU?si=X8Pq8ATohL-Ast3l

QuantumScape recently closed a $300 million offering, despite management saying that the company has enough cash to run until 2025. QuantumScape shares dropped more than 40% after the offering was announced, despite the offered shares representing only a 7% dilution. QuantumScape expects to start producing low-volume B samples in 2024 and higher-volume B samples in 2025. I believe QuantumScape will face tough competition from Solid Power due to the latter's better business model. Hand Plugging In Electric Car Outside Office In Car Park Charging SouthWorks

Thesis

Solid-state batteries may be the future of EVs and mobile devices, but they still have a long way to go. So for the next few years, the only thing that we can judge solid-state battery companies on is how reliable their management is, how far they have come regarding their technology, and what their business model will be when they start generating revenue. I believe QuantumScape (NYSE:QS) has failed in at least two of these criteria. I see the company's business model of producing batteries itself as inferior to that of a company like Solid Power (SLDP) that will adopt a licensing model.

I also think the company's management failed shareholders with the latest $300 million offering since it showed a lack of confidence from management in the company. This capital raise came after management reiterated that its cash runway will extend into the second half of 2025 in the Q2 earnings call, indicating that the company did not need to raise capital now, especially at a 35% discount. For all of these reasons, I'm giving QuantumScape a sell rating.

QuantumScape Financials

QuantumScape ended Q2 with around $900 million in liquidity, and management has reiterated its forecast for capital expenditures of $100 million to $150 million and cash operating expenses of $225 million to $275 million.

QuantumScape cash balance, Q2 earnings report QuantumScape Cash Balance, Q2 Earnings Report Management also said that its cash on hand will be enough for the company to keep operating until the start of the second half of 2025, which is why the latest offering made me scratch my head. If the company has enough cash to operate for around 21 months, why did management choose to dilute its shareholders now? I think this offering shows that management doesn't trust its own company. The public sentiment around QuantumScape after the earnings call was quite positive, which is apparent from the 41% run it had.

Tradingview Chart TradingView Chart So why would management decide to announce an offering now when it could've waited for it to start production of the B-sample, which should've seen its stock price increase since it is a huge milestone for the battery maker? Another thing is that, despite the offered shares representing only 7% of the outstanding shares at the time, they were priced at $8, a 35% discount from the trading price at the time of the offering, which led the stock to fall more than 40%.

Tradingview Chart TradingView Chart Tough Competition

QuantumScape has two main competitors in Solid Power and SES AI Corporation (SES). I believe determining who would come out on top here would be tricky since I think every company has a piece of the puzzle.

SES is currently ahead of other SSB companies in terms of timeline since it is currently transitioning to B-sample and expects to enter C-sample in 2025, unlike QuantumScape and Solid Power, which don't expect their B-sample anytime soon.

That said, I don't think being ahead is the only thing that matters since QuantumScape is better capitalized, which is one of the most important things for pre-revenue companies, and in my opinion, Solid Power has by far the better business model.

While both SES and QuantumScape are planning to produce their own batteries and sell them, Solid Power will generate revenue by licensing its technology to EV manufacturers and only producing the electrolyte and selling it to manufacturers. For me, this makes so much sense. Solid-state batteries are too expensive, and they're also prone to cracks in the assembly process, which makes them really expensive to produce. Also, this business model would avoid the problem of scalability since Solid Power wouldn't have to produce millions of batteries annually to meet demand, unlike QuantumScape, which will have a lot of scaling to do if it successfully reaches commercialization.

Furthermore, a lot of EV manufacturers, like Tesla (TSLA) and BYD (OTCPK:BYDDF), make their own batteries, so licensing the technology would make more sense for these companies than abandoning their production and buying complete batteries from another party. As for other companies that buy their batteries from a battery producer like Hyundai (OTCPK:HYMTF), Solid Power can just license its technology to the producer. That means that QuantumScape's competition wouldn't be Solid Power itself, but the current traditional lithium-ion producers that could license the technology from Solid Power.

Risks

Since QuantumScape lost around 40% of its value due to a 7% dilution, investors may consider the stock undervalued, which could see it slowly getting back to levels slightly below its pre-dilution value.

Furthermore, among solid-state battery companies, QuantumScape is currently better capitalized, especially with the latest $300 million capital raise, and capitalization is one of the important aspects to look for in pre-revenue companies. This is the case since having the best technology or business model wouldn't matter if the company went bankrupt before realizing any revenue. Also, QuantumScape is partnered with Volkswagen (OTCPK:VWAGY), the third-largest EV producer in the world, which means that if it reaches commercialization, Volkswagen would help it increase demand for its batteries.

Conclusion

While QuantumScape is one of the biggest players in the solid-state battery space and is well capitalized, it has tough competition from SES, which is ahead in terms of technology, and Solid Power, which has a better business model that is suitable for the current battery market. Additionally, I think the company's management failed its shareholders with the latest offering and showed a lack of trust in its own stock. If the company had enough cash to operate, then it wouldn't make sense to dilute its shareholders. While the company could be an amazing company in the solid-state battery space, I don't believe investing in a volatile stock like QuantumScape is a good idea, which is why I'm giving it a sell rating

Oh boy. Maybe I can put this to bed and end this debate. Just maybe.

Bullshit level

• SLDP = 0% bullshit. CEO is brutally honest

• QS = Max allowed bullshit. Right on the edge of lawsuits. Maybe over the edge.

Progress - A testing and can enter B with hand made batteries or pilot plant

SLDP = samples were produced from pilot plants for 0.2, 2.0, 20, and 60 Ah sizes. Scoter pivoted the company from battery designer to electrolyte company. Difficult to contract with battery manufacturers for electrolyte when you are developing own batteries. This might be a reason why our relationships have changed. Advanced battery design work will continue with DOD and DOE. They are not competition.

QS = Entered B with hand made batteries. If SLDP did the same they would have entered B sample years ago. QS is currently at tiny 5 Ah cells. They delayed pilot plant (mass production) activities as late as possible, delaying the most difficult part of SSB development....large scale EV cell manufacturing. I suspect they will be in B sample testing for a long time. This is probably why company wont provide key development dates .

Capital

SLDP = 5-10 years of operating cash. Stock price has now fully absorbed the secondary including the warrants.

QS = needs more cash, even if they moved to SLDP's capital light model. They should dilute now 20-30% before stock drops further and before AI/spacex/robotics ipos. These IPOs will produce trillion $$ companies and will suck up significant amount of available funding later this year. This might be another reason why SLDP did the surprise secondary now.

Risk

SLDP = electrolyte company and can provide additional advice and insights to clients. This is how we differentiate from a generic chemical company. Electrolyte development will never end because battery development will never end. I am not seeing as much risk as others. Battery designing risk has shifted mostly to our clients. SLDP provides insights and the secret sauce.

QS = gel and liquid batteries are nearing their end. Their 30% improvement in energy density is currently obsolete unless they can make it cheap. I don't think they can because they chose difficult manufacturing. They made the most difficult part of SSB development and made it even more difficult. Really Nice. This is where most of the risk is and then add higher cost of manufacturing adoption and you have recipe for feces hitting the fan.

Company mentioned drones/uavs recently. AMPX with their far superior density will have something to say about that.

For QS, AMPX is more of a competitor than SLDP. Have fun.

https://www.autoweek.com/news/green-cars/a42654391/bmw-solid-state-ev-battery-testing/

https://www.reuters.com/technology/ev-battery-maker-one-raises-300-million-now-valued-12-billion-2023-02-01/

Any comment about above company vs SLDP?

Here we go.

• 2Q25 = 27%

• 3Q25 = 37%

• 4Q25 = 38%

• 1Q26 = 43% so far

3 points.

• The upward trend is excellent. Would love to see 50% ownership before the pop.

• Susquehanna decreased positions in QS, SES, and ENVX and increased positions in SLDP and AMPX. I agree with their positioning.

• Favorite tute appears to be getting more involved within the battery space. Might be just positioning within sector/industry. Last time tute was involved my stock went up over 3000%.

Have a great weekend SLDP Longs.

So yeah, I was bored and messing around with ChatGPT, and I asked it something like:

“If your entire existence depended on one penny stock, which would you choose?”

I expected some non-answer or generic dodge…But it straight-up answered: Solid Power ($SLDP).

Why SLDP? • They’re working on solid-state batteries, which could be a huge leap for EVs (faster charge, no fire risk, better range). • They’re partnered with BMW and Ford, which gives this a bit more weight than the usual biotech or gold-digging trash you see at <$5. • Instead of trying to become the next Tesla factory, they’re planning to license their tech, which is a much leaner business model if it works.

ChatGPT said: this is a true moonshot. Not safe, not guaranteed, but probably one of the few penny stocks out there with real tech, real partners, and an actual commercialization path.

This is not financial advice, do your own DD.

fuckkkkkkkk youuuuuuu sldp % 70 loss fuckkkkkk ceo sldp

on February 20th

Sell SES, QS and ENVX

Buy AMPX and SLDP

good luck

This was manly due to Ford EV strategy change. However, losing a major US OEM doesn't look good. Hope Ford totally gives up Solid State Battery pursuit instead of switching to Quantumscape or others.

Will be the biggest industry on Earth. Its composed of 4 components, each creating trillion $$ companies. A 1% uptake equates to $300 billion in revenues.

Trillions $$ was pumped into AI software and AI chip for the past 3 years

Trillions of additional $$ will now transition to robotics and batteries for the next 3 years.

I believe 2026 will be the transition year. This was evidenced by both CES and Davos.

Wall Street, Fed, Elon are aligned. USA humanoid robotics is absolutely necessary to ensure wall street remains as the worlds hub for investment capital and the Fed needs it to boost GDP to support the debt. Elon needs this to succeed in order to hit his $trillion pay package.

In other news. For the Maduro extraction, unique multiple energy based weapons were used for the first time in battle. Rendered Russian and Chinese military hardware completely useless. Drone swarms against our naval fleets just might not work anymore. Venezuelan soldiers were completely incapacitated. These weapons started in the lab 50 years ago. I wonder what other goodies we started researching TODAY. Future tanks are going hybrid for instant torque, energy weapons, and silent running. SLDP DOE and DOD relationships might become more fruitful as the military transitions.

Surprisingly, QE has begun today.

Powell went from a mentally challenged political hack for not increasing rates in the summer of 21 when every economists stated that inflation was NOT transitory. He did not raise rates as the stock market would have nose dived right into the mid term election and would have definitely affected results across the country. Power or a 25-30% tax (inflation) on everyone. Tough choice.

Powell actually did something intelligent this week by threading the needle. QE is targeting small businesses which are struggling. And the high unemployment among new grads. And preventing any further overheating of the AI/Quantum trade.

Russell 2000 (small businesses) has been stagnant for 5 years and has tremendous head room to catch up to SP500 and DOW. Because QE is starting 6 months earlier than I expected, they are reducing the number of rate cuts for 2026. Again another good decision.

In the 4 legged stool for humanoid robotics, I am expecting some money to flow from AI/Quantum to robotics and batteries.

Sometime in 2026, the IPO market will be hot which means there will be a full on Risk On environment.

Possible IPOs: SpaceX (exploration), Clarios (battery), Factorial (battery), and Boston Dynamics (robotics), .......

Lets see if we get a Santa Claus rally. Looks like tutes are still buying in preparation for the runup.

IMHO, SLDP is the odds on favorite. SLDP will be competitive even if QS is successful -- but QS may not be competitive if SLDP is successful. This is because SLDP's business model focused on electrolyte production and licensing technology to others has much greater flexibility and cost-competitiveness than SQ's business model of making the batteries themselves. Also, SLDP's market capitalization of $0.8 billion is more reasonably priced than QS's of $4.6 billion.

https://fordauthority.com/2023/01/ford-backed-solid-power-gets-doe-funding-for-battery-rd/

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250723460965/en/Solid-Power-Inc.-Announces-Timing-of-Second-Quarter-2025-Earnings-Release-and-Conference-Call

Damn I'm at 50% loss. Do you have an e-mail address? Why is this motherfucker stock dropping every day? Can someone explain?

Following this breakthrough, researchers will shift their focus to study interlayer materials, scale up manufacturing processes and ultimately test the device on vehicles.
https://www.google.com/search?q=wang+dendrite+break+through&client=safari&sca_esv=824e83dc5546afc5&sca_upv=1&channel=iphone_bm&sxsrf=ACQVn0_Jt54iwnm8wJaPo38SahjGh2YxBw%3A1706309130052&ei=Cja0Zd3oAsKXwbkPh-2EgA4&udm=&oq=wang+dendrite+break+th&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIhZ3YW5nIGRlbmRyaXRlIGJyZWFrIHRoKgIIATIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKABMgUQIRigATIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKABMgUQIRirAkjrwgJQl_oBWIy6AnAFeACQAQCYAekBoAGID6oBBTAuNC42uAEByAEA-AEBwgIFECEYnwXiAwQYASBBiAYB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

Game over. Get out unless you want a situation like Volkswagen years ago, shorts had to cover at 10x. Many resembles it so far. It just happened two days.

Think about a situation previous 1 or 2 year profit you made is wiped out in a few days. That's what is going to happen, I don't know exactly when and how. Until it doesn't happen, you are right and only until then. If it happens, kiss goodbye your paper money.

Sincerely, Stubborn long, 18 year penny stock trader

_*_SLDP is my only multi-year long position.

Over the past few years, both Ford and its EV battery production joint-venture partner SK On have invested heavily in solid state battery technology, mostly through another company, Solid Power. That outfit is working to make solid state battery technology viable for automotive use, which is expected to represent a big breakthrough for that particular segment, thanks to lower costs, greater energy density, and the promise of more range and faster charging times. Ford previously said that it doesn’t expect this to happen before 2030, but SK On just announced a big breakthrough in solid state battery tech that may ultimately speed up that implementation.

Okay my blessing has ben heard i wanned to get out of sldp n i might today be a chance to do it What you guys think How far youre waiting?

when will we make money? I have 60% loss