Solid Power, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLDP) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Kevin Paprzycki: Sure. Good question. We have taken an approach to invest ahead of the aggregate demand that’s in the marketplace. And I believe it’s been a key part of the uptake that we have from not only our current partners, but our potential future partners in that these are all very high-volume minded companies in very high-volume spaces. And I think that really differentiates us from the other current providers that are providing electrolyte into the market. Obviously, market windows close and we need to continue to make investments to stay ahead of the demand. Right now, I think we look forward into 2024, we have a good balance to what we see demand wise and what we can produce here at SP2. But we’re constantly looking at that and actually have on the drawing board SP3 plans right now underway to, again, stay ahead of that.

In terms of competitors, I think that we’re near the front of the pack with regard to ability to produce high-quality, consistent production to the level that is required by the marketplace. There may be one or two others that could do that today. But we’re in a small set, I believe, relative to wholesaling electrolyte.

Brian Dobson: Yes. Very good. And then just turning to BMW, if I could ask a follow-up question on that side. You mentioned that you’ve met the initial requirements and that you’re currently making adjustments for BMW’s A2 requirements. How long do you have to do that? And how far along are you in making those adjustments?

Kevin Paprzycki: Yes. For clarification, A2 is going to be a new cell design. So it’s more than just an adjustment and it could require some other chemistries all the way back to the electrolyte depending on where we land. We literally are in the collaboration phase with them to define specifically what those requirements are going to be. And based on those requirements, it will drive an overall time line. As we commented earlier in our remarks, we do plan to do an investor event in 2024 and one of the things that we’ll cover in that we expect will be more details around our A2 timing and specifications. Really not in a position to comment any further on that right now. But it is underway. It’s a cell design as well as potentially back into electrolyte chemistries.

Brian Dobson: Yes, very good. Thank very much.

Operator: Thank you. [Operator Instructions] All right. That does conclude the question-and-answer session as well as the call itself. Thank you so much for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.