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VW invests in QuantumScape for potentially fireproof, long-range EV batteries

VW might be getting ready to push its plug-in technology in a big way thanks to an investment in the battery startup QuantumScape. Key point: the solid-state battery is said to be fireproof and will offer tremendous range advantages. Details are not abundant yet, but according to Bloomberg, VW of America bought a five-percent stake in QuantumScape (and has an option to raise its holding). The tech could "more than triple" the EV range of VW, Porsche and Audi plug-in vehicles as soon as the middle of 2015, according to unnamed sources that Bloomberg talked to. Former Stanford University researchers started QuantumScape in 2010. The bare-bones QuantumScape website (there's nothing there other than some contact information) doesn't offer many hints about what's happening at the company, but GigaOM's Katie Fehrenbacher notes that QuantumScape is licensing tech from the "All Electron Battery" project at Stanford a few years ago. It certainly sounds amazing: [It's] a completely new class of electrical energy storage devices for electric vehicles that has the potential to provide ultra-high energy and power densities, while enabling extremely high cycle life. The All-Electron Battery stores energy by moving electrons, rather than ions, and uses electron/hole redox instead of capacitive polarization of a double-layer. ... If successful, this project will develop a completely new paradigm in energy storage for electrified vehicles that could revolutionize the electric vehicle industry. If that's what's coming in a future e-Golf or E-Tron, sign us up.

VW will delay projects to cope with diesel scandal

Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal will require the sacrifice of far more than just executives and money. It's also going to result in the cancellation of various projects, a process that new CEO Matthias Mueller said "won't be painless." "We will review all planned investments, and what isn't absolutely vital will be canceled or delayed," Mueller said while addressing the embattled company's employees. The former Porsche boss also said the money set aside by the German giant – about $7.29 billion – won't be enough to cover recall expenses, fines from governments in affected countries, and the expected deluge of lawsuits from disgruntled TDI owners. According to Bloomberg, that figure probably won't even be enough to match the fines Uncle Sam is likely charge, pegged to be around $7.4 billion, according to one analyst. It's expected that VW could delay a further push for share in the North American market, which would include a $1-billion investment in its Puebla, Mexico, factory. But it will take more than cancellations and delays, analysts claim. "It's going to be tough to find projects they could chop that will actually move the needle," JPMorgan Chase's Jose Asumendi told Bloomberg. "What they really need to do is get costs under control." That, according to Bloomberg, is already setting up a showdown between management and labor. The latter wants a reduction in VW's $17.4-billion research-and-development budget – the world's largest and more than what Ford and General Motors spend combined – while the former wants to slash personnel costs. Bloomberg also spoke to analysts who claimed the company should look into reductions in purchasing costs as well as trimming sponsorships. It's impossible to know just how extreme Volkswagen will need to get with cancellations, delays, and cost-cutting, but it's becoming increasingly clear that the effects of this scandal will likely be felt far longer than the controversies that surrounded other automakers like General Motors and Toyota. Related Video: News Source: BloombergImage Credit: John Macdougall / AFP / Getty Images Earnings/Financials Green Plants/Manufacturing Recalls Volkswagen Diesel Vehicles vw diesel scandal matthias mueller

Former Porsche boss Wiedeking won't face criminal charges over VW bid

Hedge fund managers have been suing Porsche for years now, alleging that the car company lied about its intentions during its failed attempt to take over Volkswagen, a gambit that caused them billion in losses. Over the same period, authorities in Stuttgart built a criminal case against former CEO Wendelin Wiedeking (above, left) and Chief Financial Officer Holger Härter (right), filing charges in December 2012. When those fund plaintiffs lost their most recent court case, one of the dimming lights in the dark and receding tunnel was that the criminal investigation might unearth more evidence about Porsche's actions that could help the plaintiffs in pending litigation.
Bloomberg reports that another light has gone out, though, with a Stuttgart court dismissing the market manipulation case before going to trial because, as a court spokesperson said, "there wasn't enough evidence backing up the charges." When prosecutors get the files back from the court, they have a week to decide to refile, but unless they've been sandbagging evidence that could bolster the case, the only lights at the end of the tunnel will be those welcoming Wiedeking and Härter back to the world of legally unencumbered men.