Filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3)
Registration No. 333-251433

PROSPECTUS

306,053,642 Shares of Class A Common Stock

6,650,000 Warrants

This prospectus relates to the resale of shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class A Common Stock”), of QuantumScape Corporation and warrants to purchase shares of Class A Common Stock of QuantumScape Corporation as described herein. The securities offered hereunder include 306,053,642 shares of our Class A Common Stock, which includes Class A Common Stock issuable upon conversion of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Class B Common Stock,” and together with the Class A Common Stock, the “Common Stock”), 254,319,175 of which are issued and outstanding, 5,770,643 of which are issuable upon exercise of certain private placement warrants that were transferred to members of Kensington Capital Sponsor LLC (the “Sponsor”) that occurred simultaneously with the closing of the Business Combination (the “Closing”) and 804,357 of which are issuable upon exercise of certain private placement warrants that were transferred to an affiliate of the Sponsor that occurred simultaneously with the Closing (collectively, the “Private Warrants”), 75,000 of which are issuable upon exercise of certain private placement warrants that were issued to an affiliate of the Sponsor that occurred simultaneously with the Closing (the “Working Capital Warrants”), 11,499,989 of which are issuable upon exercise of public warrants originally sold as part of the units in Kensington’s initial public offering, currently exercisable at a price of $11.50 per share (the “Public Warrants,” and collectively with the Private Warrants and Working Capital Warrants, the “Warrants”) and 33,584,478 of which are issuable upon the exercise of stock options and the vesting of restricted stock units. Each Warrant is currently exercisable for one share of Class A Common Stock at a price of $11.50 per share.

We are registering the offer and sale of these securities to satisfy certain registration rights we have granted. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the securities by the selling securityholders. We will receive proceeds from Warrants exercised in the event that such Warrants are exercised for cash. We will pay the expenses associated with registering the sales by the selling securityholders, as described in more detail in the section titled “Use of Proceeds” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

The selling securityholders may sell the securities described in this prospectus in a number of different ways and at varying prices. We provide more information about how the selling securityholders may sell their securities in the section titled “Plan of Distribution” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

The selling securityholders may sell any, all or none of the securities and we do not know when or in what amount the selling securityholders may sell their securities hereunder following the effective date of this registration statement.

Of the shares of Class A Common Stock that may be offered or sold by selling securityholders identified in this prospectus, 244,553,653 of those shares, which include 6,650,000 shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of the Private Warrants and the Working Capital Warrants, are subject to certain lock-up restrictions as identified in the sections titled “Certain Relationships, Related Party and Other Transactions—Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement,” “Certain Relationships, Related Party and Other Transactions—Senior Employee Lock-Up Agreements” and “Certain Relationships, Related Party and Other Transactions—Stockholder Lock-Up Agreements” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

Our Class A Common Stock is listed on The New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “QS” and our warrants are listed on NYSE under the symbol “QS.WS”. On December 30, 2020, the last quoted sale price for our Class A Common Stock as reported on NYSE was $98.29 per share and the last quoted sale price for our Public Warrants as reported on NYSE was $38.13 per Public Warrant.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined under the federal securities laws, and, as such, may elect to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements for future filings.

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before buying any securities, you should carefully read the discussion of the risks of investing in our securities in “Risk Factors” beginning on page 6 of this prospectus.

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement or amendment hereto. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information.

Neither the Securities Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The date of this prospectus is December 31, 2020.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus prepared by us or on our behalf. We have not authorized any other person to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We are not making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the front cover of this prospectus. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date.

The QuantumScape design logo and the QuantumScape mark appearing in this prospectus are the property of QuantumScape Corporation. Trade names, trademarks and service marks of other companies appearing in this prospectus are the property of their respective holders. We have omitted the ® and ^™ designations, as applicable, for the trademarks used in this prospectus.

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

This summary highlights information contained in greater detail elsewhere in this prospectus. This summary is not complete and does not contain all of the information you should consider in making your investment decision. You should read the entire prospectus carefully before making an investment in our Class A Common Stock. You should carefully consider, among other things, our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and the sections titled “Risk Factors,” “Business,” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this prospectus.

QUANTUMSCAPE CORPORATION

Overview

QuantumScape is developing next generation battery technology for electric vehicles (“EVs”) and other applications.

We are at the beginning of a forecasted once-in-a-century shift in automotive powertrains, from internal combustion engines to clean EVs. While current battery technology has demonstrated the benefits of EVs, principally in the premium passenger car market, there are fundamental limitations inhibiting widespread adoption of battery technology. As a result, today, approximately 2% of global light-vehicles are electrified. We believe a new battery technology represents the most promising path to enable a mass market shift.

After 30 years of gradual improvements in conventional lithium-ion batteries we believe the market needs a step change in battery technology to make mass market EVs competitive with the fossil fuel alternative.

We have spent the last decade developing a proprietary solid-state battery technology to meet this challenge. We believe that our technology enables a new category of battery that meets the requirements for broader market adoption. The lithium-metal solid-state battery technology that we are developing is being designed to offer greater energy density, longer life, faster charging, and greater safety when compared to today’s conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Over the last eight years we have been fortunate to have developed a strong partnership with Volkswagen Group of America Investments, LLC (“VGA”) and certain of its affiliates (together with VGA, “Volkswagen”). Volkswagen is one of the largest car companies in the world and intends to be a leader in EVs. Volkswagen has announced plans to launch more than 70 new EV models and build more than 25 million vehicles on electric platforms by the end of the decade. Over the last eight years Volkswagen has invested and committed to invest, subject, in certain cases, to certain closing conditions that have not yet been satisfied, a total of more than $300 million in QuantumScape and has established a 50-50 joint venture with QuantumScape to enable an industrial level of production of our solid-state batteries. As 50-50 partners in the joint venture with Volkswagen, we expect to share equally in the revenue and profit from the joint venture. Over the course of our relationship, Volkswagen has successfully tested multiple generations of certain of our single-layer, laboratory cells at industry-accepted automotive rates of power (power is the rate at which a battery can be charged and discharged). We believe no other lithium-metal battery technology has demonstrated the capability of achieving automotive rates of power with acceptable battery life.

While we expect Volkswagen will be the first to commercialize vehicles using our battery technology, over the next few years as we build our initial 1GWh pilot facility (the “Pilot Facility”), we intend to work closely with other automotive original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) to make our solid-state battery cells widely available over time. As part of our joint venture agreement, we have agreed that the Pilot Facility will be the first facility to manufacture our battery technology for automotive applications, but, subject to the other terms of the joint venture arrangements, we are not limited from working in parallel with other automotive OEMs to commercialize our technology.

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Our development uses earth-abundant materials and processes suitable for high volume production. Our processes use tools which are already used at scale in the battery or ceramics industries. Outside of the separator, our battery is being designed to use many of the materials and processes that are standard across today’s battery manufacturers. As a result, we expect to benefit from the projected industry-wide cost declines for these materials that result from process improvements and economies of scale. We believe that the manufacturing of our solid-state battery cells provides us with a structural cost advantage because our battery cells are manufactured without an anode.

There are government regulations pertaining to battery safety, transportation of batteries, use of batteries in cars, factory safety, and disposal of hazardous materials. We will ultimately have to comply with these regulations to sell our batteries into the market. The license and sale of our batteries abroad is likely to be subject to export controls in the future.

Our investor relations website is located at https://ir.quantumscape.com and our Chief Executive Officer’s Twitter account is located at https://twitter.com/startupjag. We use our investor relations website and our Chief Executive Officer’s Twitter account to post important information for investors, including news releases, analyst presentations, and supplemental financial information, and as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor our investor relations website and our Chief Executive Officer’s Twitter account, in addition to following press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. We also make available, free of charge, on our investor relations website under “Financials—SEC Filings,” our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports as soon as reasonably practicable after electronically filing or furnishing those reports to the SEC.

CORPORATE INFORMATION

On November 25, 2020 (the “Closing Date”), QuantumScape Corporation, a Delaware corporation (f/k/a Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. (“Kensington”)) (the “Company”), consummated the previously announced merger pursuant to that certain Business Combination Agreement, dated September 2, 2020 (the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among Kensington, Kensington Merger Sub Corp., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of Kensington (“Merger Sub”), and QuantumScape Subsidiary, Inc., a Delaware corporation (f/k/a QuantumScape Corporation) (“Legacy QuantumScape”).

Pursuant to the terms of the Business Combination Agreement, a business combination between the Company and Legacy QuantumScape was effected through the merger of Merger Sub with and into Legacy QuantumScape, with Legacy QuantumScape surviving as the surviving company and as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kensington (the “Merger” and, collectively with the other transactions described in the Business Combination Agreement, the “Business Combination”). On the Closing Date, the Company changed its name from Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. to QuantumScape Corporation. As of the open of trading on November 27, 2020, the Class A Common Stock and Public Warrants of the Company, formerly those of Kensington, began trading on The New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) as under the symbols “QS” and “QS.WS”, respectively.

Our principal executive offices are located at 1730 Technology Drive, San Jose, California, 95110, and our telephone number is (408) 452-2000.

Our website address is www.quantumscape.com. The information on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not part of this prospectus, and you should not consider information contained on our website in deciding whether to purchase shares of our Class A Common Stock.

We are an emerging growth company as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest to occur of: the last day of the

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fiscal year in which we have more than $1.07 billion in annual revenues; the date we qualify as a “large accelerated filer,” with at least $700 million of equity securities held by non-affiliates; the issuance, in any three-year period, by us of more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities; and the last day of the fiscal year ending after the fifth anniversary of our initial public offering.

Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with certain other public companies difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

Unless expressly indicated or the context requires otherwise, the terms “QuantumScape,” “QS,” the “Company,” the “Registrant,” “we,” “us” and “our” in this prospectus refer to the parent entity formerly named Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp., after giving effect to the Business Combination, and as renamed QuantumScape Corporation, and where appropriate, our wholly-owned subsidiaries.

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The Offering

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The number of shares of Common Stock outstanding is based on 207,696,594 shares of Class A Common Stock and 156,263,710 shares of the Class B Common Stock as of December 23, 2020 and excludes the following:

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RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information contained in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes, before deciding to invest in our securities. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business or results of operations.

SUMMARY RISK FACTORS

The following summary risk factors and other information included in this prospectus should be carefully considered. The summary risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem less significant may also affect our business operations or financial results. If any of the following risks actually occur, our stock price, business, operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. For more information, see below for more detailed descriptions of each risk factor.

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Risks Related to Our Technology Development and Scale-Up

We face significant barriers in our attempts to produce a solid-state battery cell and may not be able to successfully develop our solid-state battery cell. If we cannot successfully overcome those barriers, our business will be negatively impacted and could fail.

Producing lithium-metal solid-state batteries that meet the requirements for wide adoption by automotive OEMs is a difficult undertaking. We are still in development stage and face significant challenges in completing development of our battery and in producing battery cells in commercial volumes. Some of the development challenges that could prevent the introduction of our solid-state battery cell include difficulties with increasing the yield of our separators and single-layer cells, multi-layer cell stacking, packaging engineering to ensure adequate cycle life, cost reduction, completion of the rigorous and challenging specifications required by our automotive partners, including but not limited to, calendar life, mechanical testing, and abuse testing and development of the final manufacturing processes.

Our solid-state separators are in the development stage. These separators have never been used before for battery applications (or to our knowledge, for any other applications) and there are significant yield, cost, performance and manufacturing process challenges to be solved in order for the separators to be produced and used commercially. We are likely to encounter engineering challenges as we increase the dimensions and reduce the thickness of its solid-state separators. If we are not able to overcome these barriers in developing and producing its solid-state separators, our business could fail.

To achieve target energy density, we need to stack our single-layer cells in a multi-layer format, which is enclosed within a single battery package. Depending upon our customer’s requirements, our battery cell may require over one hundred single-layer battery cells within each battery package. We have not yet built a multi-layer solid-state battery cell in the dimensions required for automotive applications. There are significant developmental and mechanical challenges that we must overcome to build our multi-layer battery cell for automotive application. In addition, we will need to acquire certain tools that we currently do not possess and develop the manufacturing process necessary to make these multi-layer battery cells in high volume. If we are not able to overcome these developmental hurdles in building our multi-layer cells, our business is likely to fail.

We are evaluating multiple cathode material compositions for inclusion in our solid-state battery cells and have not yet finalized the cathode composition or formulation. We also have not validated that the current cell design, with the inclusion of an organic gel made of an organic polymer and organic liquid catholyte as part of the cathode, meets all automotive requirements. We have not yet validated a manufacturing process or acquired the tools necessary to produce high volumes of our cathode material that meets all commercial requirements. If we are not able to overcome these developmental and manufacturing hurdles our business likely will fail.

Even if we complete development and achieve volume production of our solid-state battery, if the cost, performance characteristics or other specifications of the battery fall short of our targets, our sales, product pricing and margins would likely be adversely affected.

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We may encounter substantial delays in the design, manufacture, regulatory approval, and launch of our solid-state battery cells, which could prevent us from commercializing any products we determine to develop on a timely basis, if at all.

Any delay in the development and manufacturing scale-up of our solid-state battery cells would negatively impact our business as it will delay time to revenue and negatively impact our customer relationships. Additionally, we may encounter delays in obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals or launching our solid-state battery on the market, including delays in entering into agreements for the supply of component parts and manufacturing tools and supplies. Delays in the launching of our product would materially damage our business, prospects, financial condition, operating results and brand.

We may not be able to establish supply relationships for necessary components or may be required to pay costs for components that are more expensive than anticipated, which could delay the introduction of our product and negatively impact our business.

We rely on third-party suppliers for components necessary to develop and manufacture our solid-state batteries, including key supplies, such as our cathode material and manufacturing tools for both our separator and solid-state battery cells. We are collaborating with key suppliers but have not yet entered into agreements for the supply of production quantities of these materials. To the extent that we are unable to enter into commercial agreements with these suppliers on beneficial terms, or these suppliers experience difficulties ramping up their supply of materials to meet our requirements, the introduction of our battery will be delayed. To the extent our suppliers experience any delays in providing or developing the necessary materials, we could experience delays in delivering on our timelines.

We expect to incur significant costs related to procuring materials required to manufacture and assemble our batteries. We expect to use various materials in our batteries that will require us to negotiate purchase agreements and delivery lead-times on advantageous terms. We may not be able to control fluctuation in the prices for these materials or negotiate agreement with suppliers on terms that are beneficial to us. Our business depends on the continued supply of certain proprietary materials for our products. We are exposed to multiple risks relating to the availability and pricing of such materials and components. Substantial increases in the prices for our raw materials or components would increase our operating costs and negatively impact our prospects.

Any disruption in the supply of components or materials could temporarily disrupt research and development activities or production of our batteries until an alternative supplier is able to supply the required material. Changes in business conditions, unforeseen circumstances, governmental changes, and other factors beyond our control or which we do not presently anticipate, could also affect our suppliers’ ability to deliver components to us on a timely basis. Any of the foregoing could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

Currency fluctuations, trade barriers, tariffs or shortages and other general economic or political conditions may limit our ability to obtain key components for its solid-state batteries or significantly increase freight charges, raw material costs and other expenses associated with our business, which could further materially and adversely affect its results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

We may be unable to adequately control the costs associated with our operations and the components necessary to build our solid-state battery cells.

We require significant capital to develop and grow our business and expects to incur significant expenses, including those relating to research and development, raw material procurement, leases, sales and distribution as we build our brand and market our batteries, and general and administrative costs as we scale our operations. Our ability to become profitable in the future will not only depend on our ability to successfully market our solid-state batteries and services, but also to control its costs. If we are unable to cost efficiently design, manufacture,

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market, sell and distribute our solid-state batteries and services, our margins, profitability and prospects would be materially and adversely affected. We have not yet produced any solid-state battery cells at volume and our forecasted cost advantage for the production of these cells at scale, compared to conventional lithium-ion cells, will require us to achieve rates of throughput, use of electricity and consumables, yield, and rate of automation demonstrated for mature battery, battery material, and ceramic manufacturing processes, that we have not yet achieved. If we are unable to achieve these targeted rates, our business will be adversely impacted.

We rely on complex machinery for our operations and production involves a significant degree of risk and uncertainty in terms of operational performance and costs.

We rely heavily on complex machinery for our operations and the production of our solid-state battery cells, all of which has not yet been qualified to operate at large-scale manufacturing. The work required to integrate this equipment into the production of our solid-state battery cells is time intensive and requires us to work closely with the equipment provider to ensure that it works properly for our unique battery technology. This integration work will involve a significant degree of uncertainty and risk and may result in the delay in the scaling up of production or result in additional cost to our battery cells.

Both our pilot manufacturing facilities and our large-scale manufacturing facility will require large-scale machinery. Such machinery is likely to suffer unexpected malfunctions from time to time and will require repairs and spare parts to resume operations, which may not be available when needed. Unexpected malfunctions of our production equipment may significantly affect the intended operational efficiency. In addition, because this equipment has not been used to build solid-state battery cells, the operational performance and costs associated with this equipment can be difficult to predict and may be influenced by factors outside of our control, such as, but not limited to, failures by suppliers to deliver necessary components of our products in a timely manner and at prices and volumes acceptable to us, environmental hazards and remediation, difficulty or delays in obtaining governmental permits, damages or defects in systems, industrial accidents, fires, seismic activity and other natural disasters.

Operational problems with our manufacturing equipment could result in the personal injury to or death of workers, the loss of production equipment, damage to manufacturing facilities, monetary losses, delays and unanticipated fluctuations in production. In addition, operational problems may result in environmental damage, administrative fines, increased insurance costs and potential legal liabilities. All of these operational problems could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows, financial condition or prospects.

Customer Risks and Risks Related to Our Partnership with Volkswagen

Our relationship with Volkswagen is subject to various risks which could adversely affect our business and future prospects. There are no assurances that we will be able to commercialize solid-state batteries from our joint development relationship with Volkswagen.

We and Volkswagen have formed a joint venture to collaborate on the manufacturing ramp up of our solid-state battery cell.

There is no assurance that we will be able to complete the development of the solid-state battery cells in the time frame required by the joint venture arrangements. If we do not complete this development in a timely manner, Volkswagen may terminate its participation in the joint venture. Our joint venture arrangements with Volkswagen provide a framework for our cooperation and requires that we and Volkswagen enter into certain additional arrangements regarding the purchase by the joint venture of solid-state separators from us, the purchase and pricing of the solid-state battery cells that will be produced by the joint venture and sold to Volkswagen, and the terms for licensing our technology to the joint venture. There can be no assurance that the parties will be able to agree to the pricing for these key elements on terms that are financially beneficial for us or to enter into the additional arrangements, including any purchase orders, with Volkswagen for commercialization under the joint venture arrangements.

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The purchase by Volkswagen of the output of the joint venture will depend on the performance of our solid-state battery and the demand for the vehicles that Volkswagen develops to utilize the solid-state battery cells that will be produced by the joint venture. If Volkswagen does not select our solid-state battery cell or if there is a delay in the introduction of the Volkswagen vehicles that intend to use our solid-state battery cells, our business will be harmed.

The strong relationship that we have developed with Volkswagen may deter other automotive OEMs from working closely with us. If we are not able to expand our relationship over time to include other customer relationships, or if we become too dependent on Volkswagen for our revenue, our business could be harmed.

Volkswagen, and any other partners in the future, may have economic, business or legal interests or goals that are inconsistent with our goals. Any disagreements with Volkswagen or other future business partners may impede our ability to maximize the benefits of its partnerships and slow the commercialization of our solid-state battery. Our joint venture arrangements may require us, among other things, to pay certain costs or to make certain capital investments or to seek the joint venture partner’s consent to take certain actions. In addition, if Volkswagen is unable or unwilling to meet its economic or other obligations under the joint venture arrangements, we may be required to either fulfill those obligations alone to ensure the ongoing success of the joint venture or to dissolve and liquidate the joint venture. These factors could result in a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

If our batteries fail to perform as expected, our ability to develop, market, and sell our batteries could be harmed.

Once commercial production of our solid-state battery cells commences, our batteries may contain defects in design and manufacture that may cause them to not perform as expected or that may require repairs, recalls, and design changes. Our batteries are inherently complex and incorporate technology and components that have not been used for other applications and that may contain defects and errors, particularly when first introduced. We have a limited frame of reference from which to evaluate the long-term performance of our solid-state batteries. There can be no assurance that we will be able to detect and fix any defects in our solid-state batteries prior to the sale to potential consumers. If our batteries fail to perform as expected, we could lose design wins and customers may delay deliveries, terminate further orders or initiate product recalls, each of which could adversely affect our sales and brand and could adversely affect our business, prospects, and results of operations.

Our future growth and success are dependent upon consumers’ willingness to adopt EVs.

Our growth and future demand for our products is highly dependent upon the adoption by consumers of alternative fuel vehicles in general and EVs in particular. The market for new energy vehicles is still rapidly evolving, characterized by rapidly changing technologies, competitive pricing and competitive factors, evolving government regulation and industry standards, and changing consumer demands and behaviors. If the market for EVs in general does not develop as expected, or develops more slowly than expected, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be harmed.

Our future growth and success depend on our ability to sell effectively to large customers.

Our potential customers are manufacturers of EVs that tend to be large enterprises. Therefore, our future success will depend on our ability to effectively sell our products to such large customers. Sales to these end-customers involve risks that may not be present (or that are present to a lesser extent) with sales to smaller customers. These risks include, but are not limited to, (i) increased purchasing power and leverage held by large customers in negotiating contractual arrangements with us and (ii) longer sales cycles and the associated risk that substantial time and resources may be spent on a potential end-customer that elects not to purchase our solutions.

Large organizations often undertake a significant evaluation process that results in a lengthy sales cycle. In addition, product purchases by large organizations are frequently subject to budget constraints, multiple approvals and unanticipated administrative, processing and other delays. Finally, large organizations typically

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have longer implementation cycles, require greater product functionality and scalability, require a broader range of services, demand that vendors take on a larger share of risks, require acceptance provisions that can lead to a delay in revenue recognition and expect greater payment flexibility. All of these factors can add further risk to business conducted with these potential customers.

We may not be able to accurately estimate the future supply and demand for our batteries, which could result in a variety of inefficiencies in our business and hinder our ability to generate revenue. If we fail to accurately predict our manufacturing requirements, we could incur additional costs or experience delays.

It is difficult to predict our future revenues and appropriately budget for our expenses, and we may have limited insight into trends that may emerge and affect our business. We anticipate being required to provide forecasts of our demand to our current and future suppliers prior to the scheduled delivery of products to potential customers. Currently, there is no historical basis for making judgments on the demand for our batteries or our ability to develop, manufacture, and deliver batteries, or our profitability in the future. If we overestimate our requirements, our suppliers may have excess inventory, which indirectly would increase our costs. If we underestimate our requirements, our suppliers may have inadequate inventory, which could interrupt manufacturing of our products and result in delays in shipments and revenues. In addition, lead times for materials and components that our suppliers order may vary significantly and depend on factors such as the specific supplier, contract terms and demand for each component at a given time. If we fail to order sufficient quantities of product components in a timely manner, the delivery of batteries to our potential customers could be delayed, which would harm our business, financial condition and operating results.

Concentration of ownership among Volkswagen and our executive officers, directors and their affiliates may prevent new investors from influencing significant corporate decisions.

As of December 23, 2020, Volkswagen beneficially owns approximately 25.53% of the Class A Common Stock and 11.51% of Class B Common Stock outstanding, representing 13.15% of the vote, and our executive officers, directors and their affiliates as a group beneficially own approximately 39.49% of Class A Common Stock and 61.52% Class B Common Stock outstanding, representing 58.79% of the vote. As a result, these stockholders will be able to exercise a significant level of control over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors, any amendment of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”) and approval of significant corporate transactions. In addition, Volkswagen holds the right to designate two directors to our board of directors (our “Board”). This control could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of or changes in our management and will make the approval of certain transactions difficult or impossible without the support of these stockholders and of their votes.

Our Intellectual Property Risks

We rely heavily on our intellectual property portfolio. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our business and competitive position would be harmed.

We may not be able to prevent unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our business and competitive position. We rely upon a combination of the intellectual property protections afforded by patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws in the United States and other jurisdictions, as well as license agreements and other contractual protections, to establish, maintain and enforce rights in our proprietary technologies. In addition, we seek to protect our intellectual property rights through nondisclosure and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants, and through non-disclosure agreements with business partners and other third parties. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, third parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly, and the steps we have taken or will take to prevent misappropriation may not be sufficient. Any enforcement efforts we undertake, including litigation, could be time-consuming and expensive and could divert management’s attention, which could harm our business, results of operations and

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financial condition. In addition, existing intellectual property laws and contractual remedies may afford less protection than needed to safeguard our intellectual property portfolio.

Patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws vary significantly throughout the world. A number of foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. Therefore, our intellectual property rights may not be as strong or as easily enforced outside of the United States and efforts to protect against the unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights, technology and other proprietary rights may be more expensive and difficult outside of the United States. Failure to adequately protect our intellectual property rights could result in our competitors using our intellectual property to offer products, potentially resulting in the loss of some of our competitive advantage and a decrease in its revenue which, would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We may need to defend ourselves against intellectual property infringement claims, which may be time-consuming and could cause us to incur substantial costs.

Companies, organizations or individuals, including our current and future competitors, may hold or obtain patents, trademarks or other proprietary rights that would prevent, limit or interfere with our ability to make, use, develop or sell our products, which could make it more difficult for us to operate our business. From time to time, we may receive inquiries from holders of patents or trademarks inquiring whether we are infringing their proprietary rights and/or seek court declarations that they do not infringe upon our intellectual property rights. Companies holding patents or other intellectual property rights relating to batteries, electric motors or electronic power management systems may bring suits alleging infringement of such rights or otherwise asserting their rights and seeking licenses. In addition, if we are determined to have infringed upon a third party’s intellectual property rights, we may be required to do one or more of the following:

In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us and our failure or inability to obtain a license to the infringed technology, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. In addition, any litigation or claims, whether or not valid, could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management’s attention.

We also license patents and other intellectual property from third parties, and we may face claims that our use of this intellectual property infringes the rights of others. In such cases, we may seek indemnification from our licensors under our license contracts with them. However, our rights to indemnification may be unavailable or insufficient to cover our costs and losses, depending on our use of the technology, whether we choose to retain control over conduct of the litigation, and other factors.

Our patent applications may not result in issued patents or our patent rights may be contested, circumvented, invalidated or limited in scope, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our ability to prevent others from interfering with our commercialization of our products.

Our patent applications may not result in issued patents, which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to prevent others from commercially exploiting products similar to ours. The status of patents involves complex legal and factual questions and the breadth of claims allowed is uncertain. As a result, we cannot be certain that the patent applications that we file will result in patents being issued, or that our patents and any

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patents that may be issued to us will afford protection against competitors with similar technology. Numerous patents and pending patent applications owned by others exist in the fields in which we have developed and are developing our technology. In addition to those who may claim priority, any of our existing or pending patents may also be challenged by others on the basis that they are otherwise invalid or unenforceable. Furthermore, patent applications filed in foreign countries are subject to laws, rules and procedures that differ from those of the United States, and thus we cannot be certain that foreign patent applications related to issued U.S. patents will be issued.

Even if our patent applications succeed and we are issued patents in accordance with them, we are still uncertain whether these patents will be contested, circumvented, invalidated or limited in scope in the future. The rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with meaningful protection or competitive advantages, and some foreign countries provide significantly less effective patent enforcement than in the United States. In addition, the claims under any patents that issue from our patent applications may not be broad enough to prevent others from developing technologies that are similar or that achieve results similar to ours. The intellectual property rights of others could also bar us from licensing and exploiting any patents that issue from our pending applications. In addition, patents issued to us may be infringed upon or designed around by others and others may obtain patents that we need to license or design around, either of which would increase costs and may adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our Business Risks

The battery market continues to evolve, is highly competitive, and we may not be successful in competing in this industry or establishing and maintaining confidence in our long-term business prospects among current and future partners and customers.

The battery market in which we compete continues to evolve and is highly competitive. To date, we have focused our efforts on our lithium-metal solid-state battery technology, which is being designed to outperform conventional lithium-ion battery technology. However, lithium-ion battery technology has been widely adopted and our current competitors have, and future competitors may have, greater resources than we do and may also be able to devote greater resources to the development of their current and future technologies. These competitors also may have greater access to customers and may be able to establish cooperative or strategic relationships amongst themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their resources and competitive positioning. In addition, lithium-ion battery manufacturers may continue to reduce cost and expand supply of conventional batteries and therefore reduce the prospects for our business or negatively impact the ability for us to sell our products at a market-competitive price and yet at sufficient margins.

Most automotive OEMs are researching and investing in solid-state battery efforts and, in some cases, in battery development and production. There are a number of companies seeking to develop alternative approaches to solid-state battery technology, including lithium-metal batteries. We expect competition in battery technology and EVs to intensify due to increased demand for these vehicles and a regulatory push for EVs, continuing globalization, and consolidation in the worldwide automotive industry. Developments in alternative technologies or improvements in batteries technology made by competitors may materially adversely affect the sales, pricing and gross margins of our batteries. If a competing technology is developed that has superior operational or price performance, our business will be harmed. Similarly, if we fail to accurately predict and ensure that our battery technology can address customers’ changing needs or emerging technological trends, or if our customers fail to achieve the benefits expected from our solid-state batteries, our business will be harmed.

We must continue to commit significant resources to develop our battery technology in order to establish a competitive position, and these commitments will be made without knowing whether such investments will result in products potential customers will accept. There is no assurance we will successfully identify new customer requirements, develop and bring our batteries to market on a timely basis, or that products and technologies developed by others will not render our batteries obsolete or noncompetitive, any of which would adversely affect our business and operating results.

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Customers will be less likely to purchase our batteries if they are not convinced that our business will succeed in the long term. Similarly, suppliers and other third parties will be less likely to invest time and resources in developing business relationships with us if they are not convinced that our business will succeed in the long term. Accordingly, in order to build and maintain our business, we must maintain confidence among current and future partners, customers, suppliers, analysts, ratings agencies and other parties in our long-term financial viability and business prospects. Maintaining such confidence may be particularly complicated by certain factors including those that are largely outside of our control, such as our limited operating history, market unfamiliarity with our products, any delays in scaling manufacturing, delivery and service operations to meet demand, competition and uncertainty regarding the future of EVs and our eventual production and sales performance compared with market expectations.

If we are unable to attract and retain key employees and qualified personnel, our ability to compete could be harmed.

Our success depends on our ability to attract and retain our executive officers, key employees and other qualified personnel, and our operations may be severely disrupted if we lost their services. As we build our brand and become more well known, there is increased risk that competitors or other companies will seek to hire our personnel. None of our employees are bound by a non-competition agreement. The failure to attract, integrate, train, motivate and retain these personnel could seriously harm our business and prospects.

In addition, we are highly dependent on the services of Jagdeep Singh, our Chief Executive Officer, and other senior technical and management personnel, including our executive officers, who would be difficult to replace. If Mr. Singh or other key personnel were to depart, we may not be able to successfully attract and retain senior leadership necessary to grow our business.

We are an early stage company with a history of financial losses and expects to incur significant expenses and continuing losses for the foreseeable future.

We incurred a net loss of approximately $51.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 and an accumulated deficit of approximately $295.9 million from our inception in 2010 through the year ended December 31, 2019. We believe that we will continue to incur operating and net losses each quarter until at least the time we begin significant production of our lithium-metal solid-state batteries, which is not expected to occur until 2024, and may occur later.

We expect the rate at which we will incur losses to be significantly higher in future periods as we, among other things, continue to incur significant expenses in connection with the design, development and manufacturing of our batteries; as we expand our research and development activities; invest in manufacturing capabilities; build up inventories of components for our batteries; increase our sales and marketing activities; develop our distribution infrastructure; and increase our general and administrative functions to support our growing operations. We may find that these efforts are more expensive than we currently anticipate or that these efforts may not result in revenues, which would further increase our losses.

We have been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

We face various risks related to epidemics, pandemics, and other outbreaks, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of COVID-19, including changes in consumer and business behavior, pandemic fears and market downturns, and restrictions on business and individual activities, has created significant volatility in the global economy and led to reduced economic activity. The spread of COVID-19 has also impacted our potential customers and suppliers by disrupting the manufacturing, delivery and overall supply chain of battery and EV manufacturers and suppliers and has led to a global decrease in battery and EV sales in markets around the world.

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The pandemic has resulted in government authorities implementing numerous measures to try to contain the virus, such as travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders, and business shutdowns. For example, employees at our headquarters located in San Jose, California are subject to a stay-at-home order from the state and local governments. These measures limit operations in our San Jose headquarters and have and may continue to adversely impact our employees, research and development activities and operations and the operations of our suppliers, vendors and business partners, and may negatively impact our sales and marketing activities. In addition, various aspects of our business cannot be conducted remotely, including many aspects of the development and manufacturing of our solid-state material and our battery cells. These measures by government authorities may remain in place for a significant period of time and they are likely to continue to adversely affect our future manufacturing plans, sales and marketing activities, business and results of operations. We may take further actions as may be required by government authorities or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, suppliers, vendors and business partners.

The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our business, prospects and results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including the duration and spread of the pandemic, its severity, the actions to contain the virus or treat its impact, and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating activities can resume. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may continue to experience an adverse impact to our business as a result of the global economic impact, including any recession that has occurred or may occur in the future.

There are no comparable recent events that may provide guidance as to the effect of the spread of COVID-19 and a pandemic, and, as a result, the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or a similar health epidemic is highly uncertain.

Our operating and financial results forecast relies in large part upon assumptions and analyses developed by us. If these assumptions or analyses prove to be incorrect, our actual operating results may be materially different from our forecasted results.

The projected financial and operating information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus reflect current estimates of future performance. Whether actual operating and financial results and business developments will be consistent with our expectations and assumptions as reflected in our forecasts depends on a number of factors, many of which are outside our control, including, but not limited to:

Unfavorable changes in any of these or other factors, most of which are beyond our control, could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial results.

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From time to time, we may be involved in litigation, regulatory actions or government investigations and inquiries, which could have an adverse impact on our profitability and consolidated financial position.

We may be involved in a variety of litigation, other claims, suits, regulatory actions or government investigations and inquiries and commercial or contractual disputes that, from time to time, are significant.

For example, on October 2, 2020, a putative class action lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York by a purported Kensington stockholder in connection with the Business Combination: Sanchez v. Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp., et al., Index No. 654941/2020 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty.). The complaint names Kensington and certain current and former members of Kensington’s board of directors as defendants. The complaint alleges, among other things, breach of fiduciary duty claims against Kensington’s board of directors in connection with the Business Combination. Legacy QuantumScape as the surviving company of the Business Combination inherited this litigation as a result of the Closing.

Additionally, on December 11, 2020, a putative class action lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York by a purported QuantumScape warrantholder: Jeffrey Jakubiak v. QuantumScape Corporation and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, Index No.656963/2020 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty.). The complaint names QuantumScape and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company as defendants. The complaint alleges, among other things, that the plaintiff is entitled to exercise warrants within 30 days of Closing. The complaint also alleges that the proxy statement/prospectus/information statement dated September 21, 2020 and November 12, 2020 is misleading and/or omits material information concerning the exercise of the warrants. The complaint generally seeks, among other things, the ability to exercise the warrants within 30 days of Closing.

On December 18, 2020, the plaintiff filed a motion for injunctive relief, seeking to require us to allow the warrants to be exercised when our current Registration Statement filed with the SEC becomes effective. On December 22, 2020, we removed the case to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Also, on December 24, 2020, a lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York by three purported QuantumScape warrantholders, Michael Assante, John Wilschke, and Headwaters Holdings LLC: Assante et al. v. QuantumScape Corporation, Index No. 657256/2020 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty.). The complaint names QuantumScape as the defendant. The complaint alleges, among other things, that the plaintiffs are entitled to exercise warrants within 30 days of Closing. The complaint also alleges that the proxy statement/prospectus/information statement dated September 21, 2020 and November 12, 2020 is misleading and/or omits material information concerning the exercise of the warrants. The complaint generally seeks, among other things, the ability to exercise the warrants within 30 days of Closing.

On December 24, 2020, the plaintiffs filed a motion for injunctive relief, seeking to require us to allow the warrants to be exercised when the our current Registration Statement filed with the SEC becomes effective.

In addition, from time to time, we may also be involved in legal proceedings and investigations arising in the normal course of business including, without limitation, commercial or contractual disputes, including warranty claims and other disputes with potential customers and suppliers; intellectual property matters; personal injury claims; environmental issues; tax matters; and employment matters.

It is difficult to predict the outcome or ultimate financial exposure, if any, represented by these matters, and there can be no assurance that any such exposure will not be material. Such claims may also negatively affect our reputation.

We may become subject to product liability claims, which could harm our financial condition and liquidity if we are not able to successfully defend or insure against such claims.

We may become subject to product liability claims, even those without merit, which could harm our business, prospects, operating results, and financial condition. We face inherent risk of exposure to claims in the

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event our batteries do not perform as expected or malfunction resulting in personal injury or death. Our risks in this area are particularly pronounced given our batteries have not yet been commercially tested or mass produced. A successful product liability claim against us could require us to pay a substantial monetary award. Moreover, a product liability claim could generate substantial negative publicity about our batteries and business and inhibit or prevent commercialization of other future battery candidates, which would have a material adverse effect on our brand, business, prospects and operating results. Any insurance coverage might not be sufficient to cover all potential product liability claims. Any lawsuit seeking significant monetary damages either in excess of our coverage, or outside of our coverage, may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business and financial condition. We may not be able to secure additional product liability insurance coverage on commercially acceptable terms or at reasonable costs when needed, particularly if we do face liability for our products and are forced to make a claim under our policy.

Our batteries and our website, systems, and data we maintain may be subject to intentional disruption, other security incidents, or alleged violations of laws, regulations, or other obligations relating to data handling that could result in liability and adversely impact our reputation and future sales.

We expect to face significant challenges with respect to information security and maintaining the security and integrity of our systems and other systems used in our business, as well as with respect to the data stored on or processed by these systems. Advances in technology, an increased level of sophistication, and an increased level of expertise of hackers, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or others can result in a compromise or breach of the systems used in our business or of security measures used in our business to protect confidential information, personal information, and other data.

The availability and effectiveness of our batteries, and our ability to conduct our business and operations, depend on the continued operation of information technology and communications systems, some of which we have yet to develop or otherwise obtain the ability to use. Systems used in our business, including data centers and other information technology systems, will be vulnerable to damage or interruption. Such systems could also be subject to break-ins, sabotage and intentional acts of vandalism, as well as disruptions and security incidents as a result of non-technical issues, including intentional or inadvertent acts or omissions by employees, service providers, or others. We anticipate using outsourced service providers to help provide certain services, and any such outsourced service providers face similar security and system disruption risks as us. Some of the systems used in our business will not be fully redundant, and our disaster recovery planning cannot account for all eventualities. Any data security incidents or other disruptions to any data centers or other systems used in our business could result in lengthy interruptions in our service.

Our facilities or operations could be damaged or adversely affected as a result of natural disasters and other catastrophic events.

Our facilities or operations could be adversely affected by events outside of our control, such as natural disasters, wars, health epidemics such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and other calamities. We cannot assure you that any backup systems will be adequate to protect us from the effects of fire, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, power loss, telecommunications failures, break-ins, war, riots, terrorist attacks or similar events. Any of the foregoing events may give rise to interruptions, breakdowns, system failures, technology platform failures or internet failures, which could cause the loss or corruption of data or malfunctions of software or hardware as well as adversely affect our ability to provide services.

Any financial or economic crisis, or perceived threat of such a crisis, including a significant decrease in consumer confidence, may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In recent years, the United States and global economies suffered dramatic downturns as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a deterioration in the credit markets and related financial crisis as well as a variety of other factors including, among other things, extreme volatility in security prices, severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, ratings downgrades of certain investments and declining valuations of others. The United

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States and certain foreign governments have taken unprecedented actions in an attempt to address and rectify these extreme market and economic conditions by providing liquidity and stability to the financial markets. If the actions taken by these governments are not successful, the return of adverse economic conditions may negatively impact the demand for our solid-state battery cells and may negatively impact our ability to raise capital, if needed, on a timely basis and on acceptable terms or at all.

Our ability to utilize our net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.

In general, under Section 382 of the Code, a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change” is subject to limitations on its ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards (“NOLs”), to offset future taxable income. The limitations apply if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” which is generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage point change (by value) in its equity ownership by certain stockholders over a three-year period. If we have experienced an ownership change at any time since our incorporation, we may already be subject to limitations on our ability to utilize our existing NOLs and other tax attributes to offset taxable income or tax liability. In addition, the Business Combination and future changes in our stock ownership, which may be outside of our control, may trigger an ownership change. Similar provisions of state tax law may also apply to limit our use of accumulated state tax attributes. As a result, even if we earn net taxable income in the future, our ability to use these or our pre-change NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes to offset such taxable income or tax liability may be subject to limitations, which could potentially result in increased future income tax liability to us.

There is also a risk that changes in law or regulatory changes made in response to the need for some jurisdictions to raise additional revenue to help counter the fiscal impact from the COVID-19 pandemic or for other unforeseen reasons, including suspensions on the use of net operating losses or tax credits, possibly with retroactive effect, may result in our existing net operating losses or tax credits expiring or otherwise being unavailable to offset future income tax liabilities. A temporary suspension of the use of certain net operating losses and tax credits has been enacted in California, and other states may enact suspensions as well.

We are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, financial and economic sanctions and similar laws, and non-compliance with such laws can subject us to administrative, civil and criminal fines and penalties, collateral consequences, remedial measures and legal expenses, all of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation.

We are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, financial and economic sanctions and similar laws and regulations in various jurisdictions in which we conduct or in the future may conduct activities, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, and other anti-corruption laws and regulations. The FCPA and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010 prohibit us and our officers, directors, employees and business partners acting on our behalf, including agents, from corruptly offering, promising, authorizing or providing anything of value to a “foreign official” for the purposes of influencing official decisions or obtaining or retaining business or otherwise obtaining favorable treatment. The FCPA also requires companies to make and keep books, records and accounts that accurately reflect transactions and dispositions of assets and to maintain a system of adequate internal accounting controls. The U.K. Bribery Act also prohibits non-governmental “commercial” bribery and soliciting or accepting bribes. A violation of these laws or regulations could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation. Our policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with these regulations may not be sufficient and our directors, officers, employees, representatives, consultants, agents, and business partners could engage in improper conduct for which we may be held responsible.

Non-compliance with anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering or financial and economic sanctions laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, and severe administrative, civil and criminal sanctions, collateral consequences, remedial measures and legal expenses, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation. In addition, changes in economic sanctions laws in the future could adversely impact our business and investments in our Class A Common Stock.

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Our insurance coverage may not be adequate to protect us from all business risks.

We may be subject, in the ordinary course of business, to losses resulting from products liability, accidents, acts of God, and other claims against us, for which we may have no insurance coverage. As a general matter, the policies that we do have may include significant deductibles or self-insured retentions, and we cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be sufficient to cover all future losses or claims against us. A loss that is uninsured or which exceeds policy limits may require us to pay substantial amounts, which could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.

Our management has limited experience in operating a public company.

Our executive officers have limited experience in the management of a publicly traded company. Our management team may not successfully or effectively manage our transition to a public company that will be subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws. Their limited experience in dealing with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could be a significant disadvantage in that it is likely that an increasing amount of their time may be devoted to these activities which will result in less time being devoted to the management and growth of our Company. We may not have adequate personnel with the appropriate level of knowledge, experience, and training in the accounting policies, practices or internal controls over financial reporting required of public companies in the United States. The development and implementation of the standards and controls necessary for us to achieve the level of accounting standards required of a public company in the United States may require costs greater than expected. It is possible that we will be required to expand our employee base and hire additional employees to support our operations as a public company which will increase our operating costs in future periods.

We will incur significant increased expenses and administrative burdens as a public company, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We will face increased legal, accounting, administrative and other costs and expenses as a public company that Legacy QuantumScape did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), including the requirements of Section 404, as well as rules and regulations subsequently implemented by the SEC, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and the rules and regulations promulgated and to be promulgated thereunder, the PCAOB and the securities exchanges, impose additional reporting and other obligations on public companies. Compliance with public company requirements will increase costs and make certain activities more time-consuming. A number of those requirements will require us to carry out activities we have not done previously. For example, we have created new Board committees and adopted new internal controls and disclosure controls and procedures. In addition, expenses associated with SEC reporting requirements will be incurred. Furthermore, if any issues in complying with those requirements are identified (for example, if the auditors identify a material weakness or significant deficiency in the internal control over financial reporting), we could incur additional costs rectifying those issues, and the existence of those issues could adversely affect our reputation or investor perceptions of it. It may also be more expensive to obtain director and officer liability insurance. Risks associated with our status as a public company may make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our Board or as executive officers. The additional reporting and other obligations imposed by these rules and regulations will increase legal and financial compliance costs and the costs of related legal, accounting and administrative activities. These increased costs will require us to divert a significant amount of money that could otherwise be used to expand the business and achieve strategic objectives. Advocacy efforts by stockholders and third parties may also prompt additional changes in governance and reporting requirements, which could further increase costs.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, our business, or the market in which we operate, or if they change their recommendations regarding our securities adversely, the price and trading volume of our securities could decline.

The trading market for our securities will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, market or competitors. Securities and industry analysts do

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not currently, and may never, publish research on us. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of us, our share price and trading volume would likely be negatively impacted. If any of the analysts who may cover us change their recommendation regarding our shares of Class A Common Stock adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our shares of Class A Common Stock would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease our coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on it, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

Our Regulatory Risks

We are subject to substantial regulation and unfavorable changes to, or failure by us to comply with, these regulations could substantially harm our business and operating results.

Our batteries, and the sale of EVs and motor vehicles in general, are subject to substantial regulation under international, federal, state and local laws, including export control laws. We expect to incur significant costs in complying with these regulations. Regulations related to the battery and EV industry and alternative energy are currently evolving and we face risks associated with changes to these regulations.

To the extent the laws change, our products may not comply with applicable international, federal, state or local laws, which would have an adverse effect on our business. Compliance with changing regulations could be burdensome, time consuming, and expensive. To the extent compliance with new regulations is cost prohibitive, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results would be adversely affected.

Internationally, there may be laws in jurisdictions we have not yet entered or laws we are unaware of in jurisdictions we have entered that may restrict our sales or other business practices. The laws in this area can be complex, difficult to interpret and may change over time. Continued regulatory limitations and other obstacles that may interfere with our ability to commercialize our products could have a negative and material impact on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to requirements relating to environmental and safety regulations and environmental remediation matters which could adversely affect our business, results of operation and reputation.

We are subject to numerous federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations governing, among other things, solid and hazardous waste storage, treatment and disposal, and remediation of releases of hazardous materials. There are significant capital, operating and other costs associated with compliance with these environmental laws and regulations. Environmental laws and regulations may become more stringent in the future, which could increase costs of compliance or require us to manufacture with alternative technologies and materials.

Federal, state and local authorities also regulate a variety of matters, including, but not limited to, health, safety and permitting in addition to the environmental matters discussed above. New legislation and regulations may require us to make material changes to our operations, resulting in significant increases to the cost of production.

Our manufacturing process will have hazards such as but not limited to hazardous materials, machines with moving parts, and high voltage and/or high current electrical systems typical of large manufacturing equipment and related safety incidents. There may be safety incidents that damage machinery or product, slow or stop production, or harm employees. Consequences may include litigation, regulation, fines, increased insurance premiums, mandates to temporarily halt production, workers’ compensation claims, or other actions that impact our company brand, finances, or ability to operate.

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Our failure to timely and effectively implement controls and procedures required by Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We will be required to provide management’s attestation on internal controls. The standards required for a public company under Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are significantly more stringent than those required of Legacy QuantumScape as a privately-held company. Management may not be able to effectively and timely implement controls and procedures that adequately respond to the increased regulatory compliance and reporting requirements. If we are not able to implement the additional requirements of Section 404(a) in a timely manner or with adequate compliance, we may not be able to assess whether our internal controls over financial reporting are effective, which may subject us to adverse regulatory consequences and could harm investor confidence and the market price of our securities.

We qualify as an “emerging growth company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies, this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.

We qualify as an “emerging growth company” as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are be eligible for and intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, including (i) the exemption from the auditor attestation requirements with respect to internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) the exemptions from say-on-pay, say-on-frequency  and say-on-golden parachute voting requirements and (iii) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements. As a result, the stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which the market value of the Common Stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of June 30 of that fiscal year, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of $1.07 billion or more during such fiscal year (as indexed for inflation), (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in the prior three-year period or (iv) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of units in Kensington’s initial public offering. In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the exemption from complying with new or revised accounting standards provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act as long as we are an emerging growth company. An emerging growth company can therefore delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period and, therefore, we may not be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. Investors may find our Class A Common Stock less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions, which may result in a less active trading market for our Class A Common Stock and its price may be more volatile.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock and Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws Provisions

Our business model of manufacturing solid-state batteries is capital-intensive, and we may not be able to raise additional capital on attractive terms, if at all, which could be dilutive to stockholders. If we cannot raise additional capital when needed, our operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

The development, design, manufacture and sale of batteries is a capital-intensive business, which we currently finance through joint venture arrangements and other third-party financings. As a result of the capital-intensive nature of our business, we can be expected to continue to sustain substantial operating expenses without generating sufficient revenues to cover expenditures. Over time, we expect that we will need to raise additional

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funds, including through entry into new or extending existing joint venture arrangements, through the issuance of equity, equity-related or debt securities or through obtaining credit from financial institutions to fund, together with our principal sources of liquidity, ongoing costs such as research and development relating to our batteries, the construction of large factories, any significant unplanned or accelerated expenses, and new strategic investments. We cannot be certain that additional capital will be available on attractive terms, if at all, when needed, which could be dilutive to stockholders, and our financial condition, results of operations, business and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the continued listing standards of the NYSE.

In connection with the Closing, we listed our Class A Common Stock and Public Warrants on the NYSE under the symbols “QS” and “QS.WS”, respectively. If, after the Business Combination, the NYSE delists our securities from trading on its exchange for failure to meet the listing standards and we are not able to list such securities on another national securities exchange, we expect such securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we and our stockholders could face significant material adverse consequences including:

The dual class structure of our Common Stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with the current holders of Class B Common Stock. This will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters, including the outcome of important transactions, including a change in control.

Shares of Class B Common Stock have 10 votes per share, while shares of Class A Common Stock have one vote per share. Although no one holder or group of holders has control of more than 30% of the voting power of our capital stock, as of December 23, 2020 the holders of the Class B Common Stock control approximately 88.3% of the voting power of our capital stock and collectively are to control matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors, amendments of our organizational documents and any merger, consolidation, sale of all or substantially all of our assets or other major corporate transactions. Even though these holders are not party to any agreement that requires them to vote together, they may have interests that differ from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and which may be adverse to your interests. This concentrated control may have the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change in control of us, could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their capital stock as part of a sale of us, and might ultimately affect the market price of shares of our Class A Common Stock. For information about our dual class structure, see the section titled “Description of Securities” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

Anti-takeover provisions in our Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws and Delaware law could make an acquisition of us more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management and limit the market price of our Class A Common Stock.

Our Certificate of Incorporation, amended and restated Bylaws (the “Bylaws”) and Delaware law contain provisions which could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by our Board. These provisions include:

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These provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our Board, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”), which generally prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any “interested” stockholder for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an “interested” stockholder.

Our Bylaws provide, subject to limited exceptions, that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the federal district courts of the United States will be the sole and exclusive forum for certain stockholder litigation matters, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a chosen judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders.

Our Bylaws provide that, unless otherwise consented to by us in writing, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, another State court in Delaware or the federal district court for the District of Delaware) shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company; (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by, or otherwise wrongdoing by, any of our directors, officers, or other employees to us or our stockholders; (iii) any action arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws; (iv) any action to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws; or (v) any other action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in all cases subject to the court having jurisdiction over indispensable parties named as defendants. This provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the U.S. federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. The Bylaws further provide that, unless otherwise consented to by the Company in writing, the federal district courts of the United States will be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act.

Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to this provision. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum of its choosing for disputes with the Company or any of our directors, officers, other employees or stockholders, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. There is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provisions, and the enforceability of similar choice of

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forum provisions in other companies’ charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings. It is possible that a court could find these types of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable, and if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in the Bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

Our dual class structure may depress the trading price of the Class A Common Stock.

We cannot predict whether our dual class structure will result in a lower or more volatile market price of the Class A Common Stock or in adverse publicity or other adverse consequences. For example, certain index providers have announced restrictions on including companies with multiple-class share structures in certain of their indexes. S&P Dow Jones and FTSE Russell have announced changes to their eligibility criteria for inclusion of shares of public companies on certain indices, including the S&P 500, pursuant to which companies with multiple classes of shares of common stock are excluded. In addition, several stockholder advisory firms have announced their opposition to the use of multiple class structures. As a result, the dual class structure of our Common Stock may cause stockholder advisory firms to publish negative commentary about our corporate governance practices or otherwise seek to cause us to change our capital structure. Any such exclusion from indices or any actions or publications by stockholder advisory firms critical of our corporate governance practices or capital structure could adversely affect the value and trading market of the Class A Common Stock.

We do not expect to declare any dividends in the foreseeable future.

We do not anticipate declaring any cash dividends to holders of our Common Stock in the foreseeable future. Consequently, investors may need to rely on sales of their shares after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment.

If the Business Combination’s benefits do not meet the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the market price of our securities may decline.

Following the Business Combination, fluctuations in the price of our securities could contribute to the loss of all or part of your investment. Prior to the Business Combination, there has not been a public market for Legacy QuantumScape’s capital stock. Accordingly, the valuation ascribed to Legacy QuantumScape in the Business Combination may not be indicative of the price that will be implied in the trading market for our securities following the Business Combination. If an active market for our securities develops and continues after the Business Combination, the trading price of such securities could be volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. Any of the factors listed below could have a material adverse effect on your investment in our securities and our securities may trade at prices significantly below the price you paid for them or that were implied by the conversion of the Legacy QuantumScape securities you owned into our securities as a result of the Business Combination. In such circumstances, the trading price of our securities may not recover and may experience a further decline.

Factors affecting the trading price of our securities may include:

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Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our securities irrespective of our operating performance. The stock market in general, and the NYSE in particular, have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. The trading prices and valuations of these stocks, and of our securities, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for retail stocks or the stocks of other companies which investors perceive to be similar to the Company could depress our share price regardless of our business, prospects, financial conditions or results of operations. A decline in the market price of our securities also could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and our ability to obtain additional financing in the future.

Risks Related to Our Warrants

We may redeem your unexpired Warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your Warrants worthless.

We have the ability to redeem outstanding Warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per Warrant, provided that the last reported sales price of Class A Common Stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date we send the notice of redemption to Warrant holders and provided certain other conditions are met. If and when the Warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption rights even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. As a result, we may redeem the Warrants as set forth above even if the holders are otherwise unable to exercise the Warrants. Redemption of the outstanding Warrants could force you (i) to exercise your Warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your Warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your Warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding Warrants are called for redemption, we expect would be substantially less than the market value of your Warrants. None of the Private Warrants will be redeemable by us so long as they are held by the Sponsor or its permitted transferees.

In addition, we have the ability to redeem outstanding Warrants ninety days after they become exercisable for $0.10 per Warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their Warrants prior to redemption for a number of Class A Common Stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of Class A Common Stock and provided certain other

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conditions are met. We would redeem the Warrants in this manner when we believe it is in our best interest to update our capital structure to remove the Warrants and pay fair market value to the Warrant holders. We can also redeem the Warrants for Class A Common Stock when the Class A Common Stock is trading at a price starting at $10.00, which is below the exercise price of $11.50, because it will provide certainty with respect to our capital structure and cash position while providing our Warrant holders with fair market value in the form of shares of our Class A Common Stock. If we choose to redeem our Warrants when the Class A Common Stock is trading at a price below the exercise price of our Warrants, this could result in our Warrant holders receiving fewer shares of our Class A Common Stock than they would have received if they had chosen to wait to exercise their Warrants for shares of Class A Common Stock if and when the Class A Common Stock trades at a price higher than the exercise price of $11.50. Any such redemption may have similar consequences to a cash redemption described above. In addition, such redemption may occur at a time when our Warrants are “out-of-the-money,” in which case you would lose any potential embedded value from a subsequent increase in the value of the Class A Common Stock had your Warrants remained outstanding. Finally, this redemption feature provides a ceiling to the value of your Warrants since it locks in the redemption price in the number of Class A Common Stock to be received if we choose to redeem the Warrants for Class A Common Stock.

There is uncertainty regarding the federal income tax consequences of the redemption to the holders of our Class A Common Stock.

There is some uncertainty regarding the federal income tax consequences to holders of our Class A Common Stock who exercise their redemption rights. The uncertainty of tax consequences relates primarily to the individual circumstances of the taxpayer and include whether the redemption results in a dividend, taxable as ordinary income, or a sale, taxable as capital gain. Whether the redemption qualifies for sale treatment, resulting in taxation as capital gain rather than ordinary income, will depend largely on whether the holder owns (or is deemed to own) any shares of our Class A Common Stock following the redemption, and if so, the total number of shares of our Class A Common Stock held by the holder both before and after the redemption relative to all shares of our Class A Common Stock outstanding both before and after the redemption. The redemption generally will be treated as a sale, rather than a dividend, if the redemption (i) is “substantially disproportionate” with respect to the holder, (ii) results in a “complete termination” of the holder’s interest in us or (iii) is “not essentially equivalent to a dividend” with respect to the holder. Due to the personal and subjective nature of certain of such tests and the absence of clear guidance from the Internal Revenue Services (“IRS”), there is uncertainty as to whether a holder who elects to exercise his, her or its redemption rights will be taxed on any gain from the redemption as ordinary income or capital gain. See the section titled “Background of QuantumScape—Business Combination” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus for more information.

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The Company makes forward-looking statements in this prospectus and in documents incorporated herein by reference. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included in or incorporated by reference in this prospectus, regarding the Company’s future financial performance, as well as the Company’s strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues, and losses, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. When used in this prospectus, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would” the negative of such terms and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations, assumptions, hopes, beliefs, intentions and strategies regarding future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. The Company cautions you that these forward-looking statements are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the Company, incident to its business.

These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this prospectus, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements in this prospectus and in any document incorporated herein by reference should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any subsequent date, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, the Company’s actual results or performance may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include:

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BACKGROUND OF QUANTUMSCAPE

Business Combination

On November 25, 2020 (the “Closing Date”), QuantumScape Corporation, a Delaware corporation (f/k/a Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. (“Kensington”)) (the “Company”), consummated the previously announced merger pursuant to that certain Business Combination Agreement, dated September 2, 2020 (the “Business Combination Agreement”), by and among Kensington, Kensington Merger Sub Corp., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of Kensington (“Merger Sub”), and QuantumScape Subsidiary, Inc., a Delaware corporation (f/k/a QuantumScape Corporation) (“Legacy QuantumScape”).

Pursuant to the terms of the Business Combination Agreement, a business combination between the Kensington and Legacy QuantumScape was effected through the merger of Merger Sub with and into Legacy QuantumScape, with Legacy QuantumScape surviving as the surviving company and as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kensington (the “Merger” and, collectively with the other transactions described in the Business Combination Agreement, the “Business Combination”). On the Closing Date, the Company changed its name from Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. to QuantumScape Corporation.

At the effective time of the Merger (the “Effective Time”), and subject to the terms and conditions of the Business Combination Agreement, each share of Legacy QuantumScape Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and each share of the Legacy QuantumScape Preferred Stock that was convertible into a share of Legacy QuantumScape Class A common stock, was canceled and converted into the right to receive the number of shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share (the “Class A Common Stock”) equal to 4.02175014920 (the “Exchange Ratio”), and each share of Legacy QuantumScape Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and each share of the Legacy QuantumScape Preferred Stock that was convertible into a share of Legacy QuantumScape Class B common stock was canceled and converted into the right to receive the number of shares of the Company’s Class B Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share (the “Class B Common Stock,” and, together with the Class A Common Stock, the “Common Stock”) equal to the Exchange Ratio.

At the Effective Time, each outstanding and unexercised warrant (“Legacy QuantumScape Warrant”) to purchase shares of Legacy QuantumScape capital stock was automatically converted into a warrant to purchase a number of shares of the applicable class of Common Stock (such warrant, the “Exchanged Warrant”) equal to the product (rounded down to the nearest whole number) of (i) the number of shares of Legacy QuantumScape common stock subject to such Legacy QuantumScape Warrant immediately prior to the Effective Time multiplied by (ii) the Exchange Ratio, at an exercise price per share (rounded up to the nearest whole cent) equal to (A) the exercise price per share of such Legacy QuantumScape Warrant immediately prior to the Effective Time divided by (B) the Exchange Ratio. Except as specifically provided above, following the Effective Time, each Exchanged Warrant continued to be governed by the same terms and conditions (including vesting and exercisability terms) as were applicable to the corresponding former Legacy QuantumScape Warrant immediately prior to the Effective Time.

Each option to purchase shares of Legacy QuantumScape common stock (a “Legacy QuantumScape Option”) that was outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time, whether vested or unvested, was converted into an option to purchase a number of shares of the applicable class of Common Stock that the Legacy QuantumScape Option covered (such option, an “Exchanged Option”) equal to the product (rounded down to the nearest whole number) of (i) the number of shares of Legacy QuantumScape Common Stock subject to such Legacy QuantumScape Option immediately prior to the Effective Time and (ii) the Exchange Ratio, at an exercise price per share (rounded up to the nearest whole cent) equal to (A) the exercise price per share of such Legacy QuantumScape Option immediately prior to the Effective Time, divided by (B) the Exchange Ratio. Except as specifically provided in the Business Combination Agreement, following the Effective Time, each Exchanged Option continued to be governed by the same terms and conditions (including vesting and

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exercisability terms) as were applicable to the corresponding former Legacy QuantumScape Option immediately prior to the Effective Time.

Each share of restricted stock granted under Legacy QuantumScape’s option plans or acquired via the early exercise of Legacy QuantumScape’s options, immediately prior to the Closing (“Legacy QuantumScape Restricted Stock”) that was outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into restricted shares of the applicable class of Common Stock that the pre-conversion Legacy QuantumScape Restricted Stock covered (such share of restricted Common Stock, an “Exchanged Restricted Stock”) equal to the product (rounded down to the nearest whole number) of (i) the number of shares subject to a Legacy QuantumScape Restricted Stock immediately prior to the Effective Time multiplied by (ii) the Exchange Ratio. Except as specifically provided above, following the Effective Time, each Exchanged Restricted Stock continued be governed by the same terms and conditions (including transfer restrictions and repurchase right terms) as were applicable to the corresponding former Legacy QuantumScape Restricted Stock immediately prior to the Effective Time.

Each outstanding restricted stock unit granted by Legacy QuantumScape, immediately prior to the Closing under Legacy QuantumScape option plans or otherwise (“Legacy QuantumScape RSU”) that was outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time was converted into a restricted stock unit of the applicable class of Common Stock that the pre-conversion Legacy QuantumScape RSU covered (such restricted stock unit award covering Common Stock, an “Exchanged RSU”) equal to the product (rounded down to the nearest whole number) of (i) the number of shares of Legacy QuantumScape RSU immediately prior to the Effective Time multiplied by (ii) the Exchange Ratio. Except as specifically provided above, following the Effective Time, each Exchanged RSU continued to be governed by the same terms and conditions (including transfer restrictions and repurchase right terms) as were applicable to the corresponding former Legacy QuantumScape RSU immediately prior to the Effective Time.

Immediately prior to the Effective Time, the obligation to purchase shares of Legacy QuantumScape’s Series F Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock”), upon satisfaction of certain milestones, if still outstanding, became an obligation to purchase, upon satisfaction of the milestones, shares of Class A Common Stock equal in number to the shares of Class A Common Stock that would have been issued in the Merger in exchange for such shares of Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock if such shares of Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock had been outstanding prior to the Merger. On December 1, 2020, the Company issued 15,221,334 shares of Class A Common Stock to VGA for an aggregate purchase price of $100 million. This does not take into account 15,221,334 shares of Class A Common Stock that are issuable to VGA for $100 million by the end of the first quarter of 2021, subject to completion of a certain technical milestone.

On November 25, 2020, a number of subscribers (each, a “Subscriber”) purchased from the Company an aggregate of 50,000,000 shares of Class A Common Stock (the “PIPE”), for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and an aggregate purchase price of $500.0 million (the “PIPE Shares”), pursuant to separate subscription agreements (each, a “Subscription Agreement”) entered into effective as of September 2, 2020. Pursuant to the Subscription Agreements, the Company gave certain registration rights to the Subscribers with respect to the PIPE Shares. The sale of PIPE Shares was consummated concurrently with the Closing.

As of the open of trading on November 27, 2020, the Class A Common Stock and Public Warrants of the Company, formerly those of Kensington, began trading on NYSE under the symbols “QS” and “QS.WS”, respectively.

The Business Combination is accounted for as a reverse recapitalization. Legacy QuantumScape is deemed the accounting predecessor and the combined entity is the successor SEC registrant, meaning that Legacy QuantumScape’s financial statements for previous periods will be disclosed in the registrant’s future periodic reports filed with the SEC. Under this method of accounting, Kensington is treated as the acquired company for financial statement reporting purposes. The most significant change in the successor’s future

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reported financial position and results are expected to be an estimated $957 million net increase in cash and cash equivalents (as compared to Legacy QuantumScape’s consolidated balance sheet at September 30, 2020) and an estimated $1.7 billion net increase in total stockholders’ equity (as compared to Legacy QuantumScape’s consolidated balance sheet at September 30, 2020) – both of which include, $230 million cash in Kensington’s trust account, $500 million in gross proceeds from the issuance of PIPE Shares and $288 million in gross proceeds from the sale of Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock on November 25, 2020 and the sale of the Class A Common Stock to VGA on December 1, 2020. Total transaction costs are estimated at approximately $52 million. The foregoing description of the Business Combination does not take into account the equity investment by VGA of $100 million that is subject to completion of a certain technical milestone by the end of the first quarter of 2021.

As a result of the Business Combination, the Company became the successor to an SEC-registered and NYSE-listed company, which will require the Company to hire additional personnel and implement procedures and processes to address public company regulatory requirements and customary practices. The Company expects to incur additional annual expenses as a public company for, among other things, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, director fees, and additional internal and external accounting, legal, and administrative resources, including increased personnel costs, audit and other professional service fees.

As of December 23, 2020, there were approximately 207,696,594 shares of our Class A Common Stock and 156,263,710 shares of our Class B Common Stock issued and outstanding.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

All of the Securities offered by the selling securityholders pursuant to this prospectus will be sold by the selling securityholders for their respective accounts. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the Securities hereunder. We will receive up to an aggregate of approximately $208,724,873.50 from the exercise of the Warrants assuming the exercise in full of all of the Warrants for cash. We expect to use the net proceeds from the exercise of the Warrants for general corporate purposes.

With respect to the registration of the shares of our Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants, the selling securityholders will pay any underwriting discounts and commissions incurred by them in disposing of the Securities. We will bear all other costs, fees and expenses incurred in effecting the registration of the Securities covered by this prospectus, including, without limitation, all registration and filing fees, NYSE listing fees, and fees of our counsel and our independent registered public accountants, expenses incurred by the selling securityholders for brokerage, accounting, tax or legal services or any other expenses incurred by the selling securityholders in disposing of the Securities.

With respect to the registration of all other shares of Class A Common Stock and Warrants offered by the selling securityholders pursuant to this prospectus, the selling securityholders will pay any underwriting discounts and commissions and expenses incurred by them for brokerage, accounting, tax or legal services or any other expenses incurred by them in disposing of the Securities. We will bear all other costs, fees and expenses incurred in effecting the registration of the Securities covered by this prospectus, including, without limitation, all registration and filing fees, NYSE listing fees, and fees of our counsel and our independent registered public accountants.

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MARKET PRICE OF AND DIVIDENDS ON THE REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

Market Information and Holders

The Common Stock, Kensington warrants and Kensington units (consisting of one share of Common Stock and one-half of one warrant, the “Units”) were historically quoted on the NYSE under the symbols “KCAC”, “KCAC WS” and “KCAC.U”, respectively. At the Effective Time, the Units automatically separated into the component securities and, as a result, no longer trade as a separate security. On November 27, 2020, the Class A Common Stock and Public Warrants began trading on the NYSE under the new trading symbols “QS” and “QS.WS”, respectively.

As of the Closing Date, the Company had approximately 189,469,223 shares of Class A Common Stock issued and outstanding held of record by 135 holders, approximately 158,271,287 shares of Class B Common Stock held of record by 50 holders, approximately 18,149,989 warrants, each exercisable for one share of Class A Common Stock at a price of $11.50 per share, held of record by 19 holders, approximately 521,693 warrants, each exercisable for one share of Class A Common Stock at a price of $2.5877 per share, held of record by 1 holder and approximately 501,047 warrants, each exercisable for one share of Class B Common Stock at a price of $0.5473 per share, held of record by 1 holder.

Dividends

On June 25, 2020, Kensington effected a stock dividend of 718,750 shares of Common Stock, resulting in the Sponsor holding an aggregate of 5,750,000 Sponsor Shares. The Company has not paid any cash dividends on the Class A Common Stock to date. The Company may retain future earnings, if any, for future operations, expansion and debt repayment and has no current plans to pay cash dividends for the foreseeable future. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of the Board and will depend on, among other things, the Company’s results of operations, financial condition, cash requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors that the Board may deem relevant. In addition, the Company’s ability to pay dividends may be limited by covenants of any existing and future outstanding indebtedness the Company or its subsidiaries incur. The Company does not anticipate declaring any cash dividends to holders of the Class A Common Stock in the foreseeable future.

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis provides information that Legacy QuantumScape’s management believes is relevant to an assessment and understanding of the Legacy QuantumScape’s consolidated results of operations and financial condition. The discussion should be read together with the historical consolidated financial statements and related notes and unaudited pro forma condensed financial information that are included elsewhere or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. This discussion may contain forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. Legacy QuantumScape’s actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those set forth in the section titled “Risk Factors” as set forth in this prospectus. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this “Legacy QuantumScape’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” to “Legacy QuantumScape”, “the Company”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to the business and operations of Legacy QuantumScape and its consolidated subsidiaries prior to the Business Combination and to QuantumScape Corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries, following the Closing.

Overview

Legacy QuantumScape is developing next generation battery technology for electric vehicles (“EVs”) and other applications. It believes that its technology will enable a new category of battery that meets the requirements for broader market adoption. The lithium-metal solid-state battery technology that Legacy QuantumScape is developing is being designed to offer greater energy density, longer life, faster charging, and greater safety when compared to today’s conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Legacy QuantumScape is a development stage company with no revenue to date that has incurred a net loss of approximately $405.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and an accumulated deficit of approximately $701.1 million from its inception through September 30, 2020.

The Business Combination

The Business Combination is accounted for as a reverse recapitalization. Legacy QuantumScape is deemed the accounting predecessor and the combined entity will be the successor SEC registrant, meaning that Legacy QuantumScape’s financial statements for previous periods will be disclosed in the registrant’s future periodic reports filed with the SEC. Under this method of accounting, Kensington is treated as the acquired company for financial statement reporting purposes. The most significant change in the successor’s future reported financial position and results are expected to be an estimated $957 million net increase in cash and cash equivalents (as compared to Legacy QuantumScape’s consolidated balance sheet at September 30, 2020) and an estimated $1.7 billion net increase in total stockholders’ equity (as compared to Legacy QuantumScape’s consolidated balance sheet at September 30, 2020) – both of which include, $230 million cash in Kensington’s trust account, $500 million in gross proceeds from the issuance of PIPE, Shares and $288 million in gross proceeds from the sale of Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock on November 25, 2020 and the sale of the Class A Common Stock to VGA on December 1, 2020. Total transaction costs are estimated at approximately $52 million. See the section titled “Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined Financial Information” as set forth in this prospectus. The foregoing description of the Business Combination does not take into account the equity investment by VGA of $100 million that is subject to completion of a certain technical milestone by the end of the first quarter of 2021.

As a result of the Business Combination, Legacy QuantumScape became the successor to an SEC-registered and NYSE-listed company, which will require Legacy QuantumScape to hire additional

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personnel and implement procedures and processes to address public company regulatory requirements and customary practices. Legacy QuantumScape expects to incur additional annual expenses as a public company for, among other things, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, director fees, and additional internal and external accounting, legal, and administrative resources, including increased personnel costs, audit and other professional service fees.

The disclosure set forth in the section titled “Background of QuantumScape—Business Combination” as set forth in in this prospectus is incorporated by reference into this section.

Litigation Relating to the Business Combination

On October 2, 2020, a putative class action lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York by a purported Kensington stockholder in connection with the Business Combination: Sanchez v. Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp., et al., Index No. 654941/2020 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty.). The complaint names Kensington and certain current and former members of Kensington’s board of directors as defendants. The complaint alleges, among other things, breach of fiduciary duty claims against Kensington’s board of directors in connection with the Business Combination. Legacy QuantumScape as the surviving company inherited this litigation as a result of the Closing.

Key Trends, Opportunities and Uncertainties

We are pre-revenue company; we believe that our performance and future success depend on several factors that present significant opportunities for us but also pose risks and challenges, including those discussed below and in the section titled “Risk Factors” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

Product Development

Major remaining development activities include, but are not limited to:

Our team of over 275 scientists, engineers, technicians, and other staff is highly motivated and committed to solving these challenges ahead. However, any delays in the completion of these tasks will require additional cash use and delay market entry. For reference, we are forecasted to spend approximately $21 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 on research and development and general and administrative expenses; accordingly, a six-month delay at this rate of spending would utilize approximately $42 million. As we grow our team, size of engineering pilot line, and materials consumption, the rate of cash utilization as a function of time will also increase significantly.

Process Development

Our architecture depends on our proprietary solid-state ceramic separator which we will manufacture ourselves. Though our separator’s design is unique, its manufacturing relies on well-established, high-volume production processes currently deployed globally in other industries at large scale.

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The solid-state separator is being designed to enable our ‘anode-free’ architecture. As manufactured, the cell has no anode; the lithium-metal anode is formed during the first charge of the cell; 100% of the lithium that forms the anode comes from the cathode material we purchase. Eliminating the anode bill of materials and associated manufacturing costs found in conventional lithium-ion cells could result in a meaningful cost of goods sold advantage for us. In addition, our solid-state battery cell is being designed to reduce the time and capital-intensity of the formation process step as compared to conventional lithium-ion manufacturing.

We are focused on both the continued expansion of the throughput and capability of our San Jose engineering line as well as the planning and execution of our initial 1GWh pilot facility (the “Pilot Facility,”) our first commercial manufacturing facility.

Continued expansion of the throughput and capability of our San Jose engineering line serves two purposes. First, the engineering line provides a sufficient quantity of solid-state separators and cells for internal development and for customer sampling. And second, our San Jose engineering line provides the basis for continued manufacturing process development and helps inform tool selection and specifications for equipment for our Pilot Facility. Delays in the successful buildout of our San Jose engineering line may impact both our development and the Pilot Facility timelines.

Capturing our forecasted cost advantage at scale as compared to conventional lithium-ion cells will require our team to continue process development to achieve rates of throughput, use of electricity and consumables, yield, and rate of automation demonstrated of mature battery, battery material, and ceramic manufacturing processes. Notably, heat treatment of ceramic parts is a process step in ceramic manufacturing critical to both quality and product cost. We believe achieving required process cost advances is possible; our processes are designed around tools which are already used at scale in the battery or ceramics industries. In addition, we are investigating alternative processing methods that may further increase the capital efficiency of the process. However, delay or failure on these fronts, and in particular with respect to ceramic heat treatment, would result in a higher cost of goods sold, which may limit our ability to profitably sell our batteries.

Commercialization

We will continue developing our battery technology with the goal of enabling commercial production in 2024. We have validated the performance capabilities of our solid-state separator and battery technology in single-layer cells. We are now working to develop multi-layer cells, to continue improving yield and performance and to optimize all components of the cell. We will continue to work to further develop the volume manufacturing processes to enable high volume manufacturing and minimize manufacturing costs. We will continue to work on increasing the yield of our separators to reduce scrappage and to increase utilization of manufacturing tools. The funds available upon the Closing will enable us to expand and accelerate research and development activities and undertake additional initiatives. Finally, we will continue to use our engineering line in San Jose, California to prepare for high volume manufacturing and plan our first commercial production Pilot Facility through our joint venture partnership with Volkswagen.

The joint venture partnership with Volkswagen is described in the section titled “Business” and the sub-section titled “Joint Venture Relationship” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

The Pilot Facility to be built and run by QSV Operations LLC (“QSV”), the joint venture between Legacy QuantumScape and Volkswagen and the 20GWh expansion of the Pilot Facility (the “20GWh Expansion Facility”) would represent a small fraction of Volkswagen’s demand for batteries and implies vehicle volumes under 2% of Volkswagen’s total production in 2019, assuming a 100KWh pack size. Our goal is to significantly expand the production capacity of the joint venture, in partnership with Volkswagen, to meet more of their projected demand. While we expect Volkswagen will be the first to commercialize vehicles using our battery technology, we intend to work closely with other automotive original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) to make our solid-state battery cells widely available over time. We are focused on automotive EV applications,

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which has the most stringent set of requirements for batteries. However, we recognize that our solid-state battery technology has applicability in other large and growing markets including stationary storage and consumer electronics such as smartphones and wearables.

Our technology enables a variety of business models. In addition to joint ventures, such as the one with Volkswagen, we may operate solely-owned manufacturing facilities or license technology to other manufacturers. Where appropriate, we may build and sell separators rather than complete battery cells. We intend to continue to invest in research and development to improve battery cell performance, improve manufacturing processes, and reduce cost.

Market Focus

We are focused on automotive EV applications, which has the most stringent set of requirements for batteries. However, we recognize that our solid-state battery technology has applicability in other large and growing markets including stationary storage and consumer electronics such as smartphones and wearables.

Access to Capital

Following the Business Combination and assuming we experience no significant delays in the research and development of our solid-state battery cells, we believe that our cash resources are sufficient to fund our start of production, including our share of contributions to our Pilot Facility with Volkswagen.

Regulatory Landscape

We operate in an industry that is subject to many established environmental regulations, which have generally become more stringent over time, particularly in hazardous waste generation and disposal and pollution control. Regulations in our target markets include economic incentives to purchasers of EVs, tax credits for EV manufacturers, and economic penalties that may apply to a car manufacturer based on its fleet-wide emissions which may indirectly benefit us in that the regulations will expand the market size of EVs. While we expect environmental regulations to provide a tailwind to our growth, it is possible for certain regulations to result in margin pressures. Trade restrictions and tariffs, while historically minimal between the European Union and the United States where most of our production and sales are expected, are subject to unknown and unpredictable change that could impact our ability to meet projected sales or margins.

Basis of Presentation

We currently conduct our business through one operating segment. As a pre-revenue company with no commercial operations, our activities to date have been limited and were conducted primarily in the United States. Our historical results are reported under GAAP and in U.S. dollars. Upon commencement of commercial operations, we expect to expand our global operations substantially, including in the United States and the European Union, and as a result we expect our future results to be sensitive to foreign currency transaction and translation risks and other financial risks that are not reflected in our historical financial statements. As a result, we expect that the financial results we report for periods after we begin commercial operations will not be comparable to the financial results included in this prospectus.

Components of Results of Operations

We are a research and development stage company and our historical results may not be indicative of our future results for reasons that may be difficult to anticipate. Accordingly, the drivers of our future financial results, as well as the components of such results, may not be comparable to our historical or projected results of operations.

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Research and Development Expense

To date, our research and development expenses have consisted primarily of personnel-related expenses for scientists, experienced engineers and technicians as well as costs associated with the expansion and ramp up of our engineering facility in San Jose, California, including the material and supplies to support the product development and process engineering efforts. As we ramp up our engineering operations to complete the development of our solid-state, lithium-metal batteries and required process engineering to meet automotive cost targets, we anticipate that research and development expenses will increase significantly for the foreseeable future as we expand our hiring of scientists, engineers, and technicians and continue to invest in additional plant and equipment for product development (e.g. multi-layer cell stacking, packaging engineering), building prototypes, and testing of battery cells as our team works to meet the full set of automotive product requirements.

General and Administrative Expense

General and administrative expenses consist mainly of personnel-related expenses for our executive, sales and marketing and other administrative functions and expenses for outside professional services, including legal, accounting and other advisory services. We are rapidly expanding our personnel headcount, in anticipation of planning for and supporting the ramping up of commercial manufacturing operations and being a public company. Accordingly, in addition to the non-recurring transaction costs discussed above, we expect our general and administrative expenses to increase significantly in the near term and for the foreseeable future. Upon commencement of commercial operations, we also expect general and administrative expenses to include facilities, marketing and advertising costs.

Other Income (Expense)

Our other income (expense) consists of interest income from marketable securities, sublease income, interest expense related to fair value adjustments for outstanding convertible preferred stock warrants, and other expense related to fair value adjustment for the convertible preferred stock tranche liabilities. We expect to incur an incremental expense for the fair value adjustments for the outstanding convertible preferred stock warrants at the end of each reporting period or through the exercise of the warrants. We also expect to incur an incremental expense for the fair value adjustments for the outstanding convertible preferred stock tranche liabilities through the close of the Business Combination.

Income Tax Expense / Benefit

Our income tax provision consists of an estimate for U.S. federal and state income taxes based on enacted rates, as adjusted for allowable credits, deductions, uncertain tax positions, changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities, and changes in the tax law. We maintain a valuation allowance against the full value of our U.S. and state net deferred tax assets because we believe the recoverability of the tax assets is not more likely than not.

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Results of Operations

Comparison of the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020 to the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2019

The following table sets forth our historical operating results for the periods indicated:

Research and Development

Research and development expenses increased by $9.3 million, or 28%, from $33.1 million in the nine months of 2019 to $42.4 million in the nine months of 2020. The increase primarily resulted from the $3.5 million increase in personnel cost due to the growth in research and development headcount to support the increase of technology development and an increase of $1.1 million in material supplies to support the increase of research and development cell builds in commercial form factor. Additionally, non-cash stock-based compensation expense increased $2.7 million from $2.8 million for the nine months of 2019 to $5.5 million for the nine months of 2020 due to the effect of refresh option grants in June 2019 and retention restricted stock unit (“RSU”) grants to employees in August 2020.

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General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses increased by $0.8 million, or 11%, from $7.6 million in the nine months of 2019 to $8.5 million in the nine months of 2020, primarily due to the increase of $1.7 million for stock-based compensation in the nine months of 2020 due to the effect of employee refresh option grants in June 2019, option grants to Legacy QuantumScape directors in December 2019 and retention RSU grants to employees in August 2020, offset by reduced professional services fees of $0.7 million.

Interest Expense

Interest expense of $8.9 million represents the non-cash mark to market fair value adjustment of the Legacy QuantumScape Preferred Series A and Preferred Series C warrants. The increase in the fair value of the warrants is due to the accretion in the valuation of the underlying convertible preferred stock in contemplation of the Business Combination as of September 30, 2020.

Interest Income

Interest income decreased $2.0 million in the nine months of 2020 compared to the nine months of 2019. The decrease was due to reduction of market interest rate and due to the decrease of our marketable securities balance.

Other Income

Other income for the nine months of 2020 consisted of the receipt for a legal settlement compared to other income for the nine months of 2019 was related to sublease income.

Other Expense

Other expense of $347.1 million represents the non-cash fair value adjustment of the preferred stock tranche liabilities. In May 2020 and August 2020, we entered into the commitment to sell, and investors commitment to buy, the Preferred Series F redeemable convertible stocks totaling up to $388 million in gross proceeds. Approximately $288.0 million closed on December 1, 2020 and an additional $100.0 million is expected to close by March 31, 2021, contingent on QuantumScape meeting a certain technical milestone. The commitments are considered free standing financial instruments and are subject to fair value measurement at issuance and at each reporting period. Kensington’s stock price is a key input into the valuation model of the fair value of the convertible preferred stock tranche liabilities. Kensington’s stock price increased significantly during the quarter ended September 30, 2020 resulting in the increase in the fair value of the liabilities of $347.1 million as of September 30, 2020.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Since inception, we have financed our operations primarily from the sales of redeemable convertible preferred stock. As of September 30, 2020, our principal sources of liquidity were our cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities in the amount of $80.0 million. Our cash equivalents are invested primarily in U.S. Treasury money market funds and our marketable securities are primarily invested in U.S. Treasury notes and bonds.

As of the date of this prospectus, Legacy QuantumScape has yet to generate any revenue from its business operations. To date, Legacy QuantumScape has funded its capital expenditure and working capital requirements through equity as further discussed below. Legacy QuantumScape’s ability to successfully develop its products, commence commercial operations and expand its business will depend on many factors, including its working capital needs, the availability of equity or debt financing and, over time, its ability to generate cash flows from operations.

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As of September 30, 2020, Legacy QuantumScape’s cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities amounted to $80.0 million. On a pro forma basis, assuming the stockholder approval, the Closing and the closings of Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock financing, Legacy QuantumScape’s cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities would have amounted to approximately $1,037 million on September 30, 2020, net of $52 million transaction expenses and $0.2 million redemptions by Kensington’s stockholders. From May 2020 to August 2020, Legacy QuantumScape entered into agreements with existing and new investors to issue 14.7 million shares of Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock for an aggregate amount of $388 million in cash. Of this amount, $100 million was funded on December 1, 2020, $188 million was funded on the date the Business Combination closed, and the remaining $100 million is subject to completion of a certain technical milestone by the end of the first quarter of 2021. Since the second tranche will be funded after the Closing, QuantumScape has reserved shares of Class A Common Stock to be issued in lieu of Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock.

Legacy QuantumScape expects its capital expenditures and working capital requirements to increase materially in the near future, as it seeks to accelerate its research and development efforts and scale up the phase 1 pilot production operations with its joint venture partner. QuantumScape believes that its cash on hand following the Closing, including the net proceeds from Kensington’s cash in trust, the PIPE and Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock financing will be sufficient to meet its working capital and capital expenditure requirements for a period of at least twelve months from the date of this prospectus and sufficient to fund its operations until it commences production of the Legacy QuantumScape solid-state battery through the first commercial sales, assuming Legacy QuantumScape is able to do so as currently contemplated. Legacy QuantumScape may, however, need additional cash resources due to changed business conditions or other developments, including unanticipated delays in negotiations with OEMs and tier-one automotive suppliers or other suppliers, supply chain challenges, disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, competitive pressures, and regulatory developments, among other developments. To the extent that Legacy QuantumScape’s current resources are insufficient to satisfy its cash requirements, Legacy QuantumScape may need to seek additional equity or debt financing. If the financing is not available, or if the terms of financing are less desirable than Legacy QuantumScape expects, Legacy QuantumScape may be forced to decrease its level of investment in product development or scale back its operations, which could have an adverse impact on its business and financial prospects.

Cash Flows

The following table provides a summary of Legacy QuantumScape’s cash flow data for the periods indicated:

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

Legacy QuantumScape’s cash flows used in operating activities to date have been primarily comprised of payroll, material and supplies, facilities expense, and professional service related to research and development and general and administrative activities. As Legacy QuantumScape continues to ramp up hiring for technical headcounts to accelerate its engineering efforts ahead of starting the pilot line operations, Legacy QuantumScape expects its cash used in operating activities to increase significantly before it starts to generate any material cash flows from its business.

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Net cash used in operating activities was $34.1 million in the nine months of 2020. The most significant component of Legacy QuantumScape’s cash used during the nine month period ended September 30, 2020 was a net loss of $405.2 million, which included non-cash expenses of $5.2 million related to depreciation and amortization, $9.3 million related to stock based compensation, $8.9 million for the change in the fair value of outstanding convertible preferred stock warrants, and $347.1 million for the issuance and change in the fair value of the Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock tranche liabilities.

Net cash used in operating activities was $30.6 million in the nine months of 2019. The most significant component of Legacy QuantumScape’s cash used during the nine months period ended September 30, 2019 was a net loss of $37.0 million, which included non-cash expenses of $3.8 million related to depreciation and amortization and $4.8 million related to stock-based compensation.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Legacy QuantumScape’s cash flows from investing activities, to date, have been comprised of purchases of property and equipment and purchases and maturities of our marketable securities. Legacy QuantumScape expects the costs to acquire property and equipment to increase substantially in the near future as it needs to fully build out its engineering lines as well as acquire the property and equipment for the pilot line of the separator and cell manufacturing operations.

Legacy QuantumScape net cash provided by investing activities was $23.5 million in the nine months of 2020 compared to $26.1 million for the nine months of 2019. Cash used for property and equipment purchases in the nine months of 2020 was $13.9 million, a significant increase over the $5.7 million of cash used for equipment purchases in the nine months of 2019.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

Through September 30, 2020, Legacy QuantumScape has financed its operations primarily through the sale of equity securities. In addition, Legacy QuantumScape has entered into agreements for the sale of Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock for $388 million (before fees and expenses) in gross proceeds, of which $288 million (before fees and expenses) of the purchase commitment has been sold, and $100 million of the purchase commitment is subject to completion of a certain technical milestone by the end of the first quarter of 2021.

Net cash used in financing activities was $2.2 million in the nine months of 2020 compared to $0.3 million provided in the nine months 2019. The net cash used during the nine months of 2020 was due the payment of fees associated with the Business Combination and Legacy QuantumScape’s Preferred Series F financing of $2.5 million.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

Legacy QuantumScape currently leases its headquarters space in the San Jose, California area under a single lease classified as an operating lease expiring on January 23, 2023. The lease contains provision for an extension of 60 months. Legacy QuantumScape has not commenced the lease extension negotiation yet and expects to do so prior to the expiration of its existing lease. However, as the exercise of the option was reasonably certain, the option period has been included in the calculation of right of use and lease liability at the adoption date of January 1, 2019 as well as the obligations table below.

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The following table summarizes Legacy QuantumScape’s contractual obligations and other commitments for cash expenditures as of September 30, 2020 and the years in which these obligations are due:

There have been no material changes since December 31, 2019.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

QuantumScape is not a party to any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined under SEC rules.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Legacy QuantumScape’s financial statements have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. In the preparation of these financial statements, Legacy QuantumScape is required to use judgment in making estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported expenses incurred during the reporting periods.

Legacy QuantumScape considers an accounting judgment, estimate or assumption to be critical when (1) the estimate or assumption is complex in nature or requires a high degree of judgment and (2) the use of different judgments, estimates and assumptions could have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements. Legacy QuantumScape’s significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 to its audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. Legacy QuantumScape has the critical accounting policies and estimates which are described below.

Stock-Based Compensation and Common Stock Valuation

Legacy QuantumScape recognizes the cost of share-based awards granted to employees and directors based on the estimated grant-date fair value of the awards. Cost is recognized on a straight-line basis over the service period, which is generally the vesting period of the award. Legacy QuantumScape reverses previously recognized costs for unvested options in the period that forfeitures occur. Legacy QuantumScape determines the fair value of stock options using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which is impacted by the following assumptions:

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Common Stock Valuations

The grant date fair value of Legacy QuantumScape common stock was typically determined by Legacy QuantumScape’s board of directors with the assistance of management and a third-party valuation specialist. Given its pre-revenue stage of development, Legacy QuantumScape management believed that an Option Pricing Model (“OPM”) was the most appropriate method for allocating enterprise value to determine the estimated fair value of Common Stock prior to the Business Combination. Application of the OPM involves the use of estimates, judgment, and assumptions that are highly complex and subjective, such as those regarding Legacy QuantumScape’s expected future revenue, expenses, and cash flows, discount rates, market multiples, the selection of comparable companies, and the probability of future events. The deemed fair value for common stock for options and restricted stock units granted in August 2020 and September 2020 (prior to the announcement of the Business Combination) were based on the accreted estimated Business Combination price per the Business Combination Agreement. There were no grants of options to purchase common stock or restricted stock units subsequent to September 2, 2020 for Legacy QuantumScape. Subsequent to the Business Combination the Board intends to determine the fair value of the common stock based on the closing market price on or around the date of grant.

Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock Warrant Liabilities

Warrants to purchase shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock are classified as liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets at fair value upon issuance because the underlying shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock are redeemable outside of the control of Legacy QuantumScape. The initial liability recorded is adjusted for changes in the fair value at each reporting date and recorded as interest expense in the accompanying statements of operations and comprehensive loss. Legacy QuantumScape will continue to adjust the convertible preferred stock warrant liability for changes in fair value until the earlier of the exercise of the warrants, at which time the liability will be reclassified to redeemable convertible preferred stock, or the expiration of the warrants, at which time the entire amount would be reversed and reflected in the accompanying statements of operations and comprehensive loss. The redeemable convertible preferred stock warrant liabilities will increase or decrease each period based on the fluctuations of the fair value of the underlying security. We expect the fair value of the warrants to increase leading up to the Business Combination.

Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock Tranche Liabilities

Firm commitments to purchase shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock are classified as liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets at fair value upon issuance because the underlying shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock are redeemable outside of the control of Legacy QuantumScape. The initial liability recorded is adjusted for changes in the fair value at each reporting date and recorded as other expense in the accompanying statements of operations and comprehensive loss. Legacy QuantumScape will continue to adjust the convertible preferred stock tranche liability for changes in fair value until the exercise of the commitments, at which time the liability will be reclassified to redeemable convertible preferred stock. The redeemable convertible preferred stock tranche liabilities will increase or decrease each period based on the fluctuations of the fair value of the underlying security. The fair value of the liability as of September 30, 2020 is based on the probability weighting of the closing of the Business Combination and the related fair value of the convertible preferred stock in each scenario. The probability weighting is considered a significant unobservable input (Level 3). The Company assumed a 75% probability of the Business Combination closing at September 30, 2020 and a 25% probability of the Business Combination not occurring.

Emerging Growth Company Status

Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can choose not to take advantage of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies, and any such election to not take advantage of the extended transition period is irrevocable.

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The Company is an “emerging growth company” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and has elected to take advantage of the benefits of the extended transition period for new or revised financial accounting standards. The Company expects to remain an emerging growth company at least through the end of the 2020 fiscal year and expects to continue to take advantage of the benefits of the extended transition period, although it may decide to early adopt such new or revised accounting standards to the extent permitted by such standards. This may make it difficult or impossible to compare our financial results with the financial results of another public company that is either not an emerging growth company or is an emerging growth company that has chosen not to take advantage of the extended transition period exemptions because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 3 to the audited consolidated financial statements beginning on page F-39 of this prospectus for more information about recent accounting pronouncements, the timing of their adoption, and Legacy QuantumScape’s assessment, to the extent it has made one, of their potential impact on Legacy QuantumScape’s financial condition and its results of operations and cash flows.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Legacy QuantumScape is exposed to a variety of markets and other risks including the effects of change in interest rates, inflation and foreign currency translation and transaction risks as well as risks to the availability of funding sources, hazard events and specific asset risks.

Interest Rate Risk

The market interest risk in our financial instruments and our financial positions represents the potential loss arising from adverse changes in interest rates. As of September 30, 2020, we had cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities of $80.0 million, consisting of interest-bearing money market accounts and marketable securities for which the fair market value would be affected by change in the general level of U.S. interest rates. However, due to the short-term maturities and the low-risk profile of our investments, an immediate 10% change in the interest rate would not have a material effect on the fair market value of our cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities.

Foreign Currency Risk

Legacy QuantumScape’s functional currency is the U.S. dollar, while certain of Legacy QuantumScape’s current and future subsidiaries will be expected to have other functional currencies, reflecting their principal operating markets. Once Legacy QuantumScape commences phase 1 pilot operations, it expects to be exposed to both currency transaction and translation risk. To date, Legacy QuantumScape has not had material exposure to foreign currency fluctuations and has not hedged such exposure, although it may do so in the future.

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BUSINESS

Overview

QuantumScape is developing next generation battery technology for EVs and other applications.

We are at the beginning of a forecasted once-in-a-century shift in automotive powertrains, from internal combustion engines to clean EVs. While current battery technology has demonstrated the benefits of EVs, principally in the premium passenger car market, there are fundamental limitations inhibiting widespread adoption of battery technology. As a result, today, approximately 2% of global light-vehicles are electrified. We believe a new battery technology represents the most promising path to enable a mass market shift.

After 30 years of gradual improvements in conventional lithium-ion batteries we believe the market needs a step change in battery technology to make mass market EVs competitive with the fossil fuel alternative.

We have spent the last decade developing a proprietary solid-state battery technology to meet this challenge. We believe that our technology enables a new category of battery that meets the requirements for broader market adoption. The lithium-metal solid-state battery technology that we are developing is being designed to offer greater energy density, longer life, faster charging, and greater safety when compared to today’s conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Over the last eight years we have been fortunate to have developed a strong partnership with Volkswagen. Volkswagen is one of the largest car companies in the world and intends to be a leader in EVs. Volkswagen has announced plans to launch more than 70 new EV models and build more than 25 million vehicles on electric platforms by the end of the decade. Over the last eight years Volkswagen has invested and committed to invest, subject, in certain cases, to certain closing conditions that have not yet been satisfied, a total of more than $300 million in QuantumScape and has established a 50-50 joint venture with Legacy QuantumScape to enable an industrial level of production of our solid-state batteries. As 50-50 partners in the joint venture with Volkswagen, we expect to share equally in the revenue and profit from the joint venture. Over the course of our relationship, Volkswagen has successfully tested multiple generations of certain of our single-layer, laboratory cells at industry-accepted automotive rates of power (power is the rate at which a battery can be charged and discharged). We believe no other lithium-metal battery technology has demonstrated the capability of achieving automotive rates of power with acceptable battery life.

While we expect Volkswagen will be the first to commercialize vehicles using our battery technology, over the next few years as we build our Pilot Facility, we intend to work closely with other automotive OEMs to make our solid-state battery cells widely available over time. As part of our joint venture agreement we have agreed that the Pilot Facility will be the first facility to manufacture our battery technology for automotive applications, but, subject to the other terms of the joint venture arrangements, we are not limited from working in parallel with other automotive OEMs to commercialize our technology.

Our development uses earth-abundant materials and processes suitable for high volume production. Our processes use tools which are already used at scale in the battery or ceramics industries. Outside of the separator, our battery is being designed to use many of the materials and processes that are standard across today’s battery manufacturers. As a result, we expect to benefit from the projected industry-wide cost declines for these materials that result from process improvements and economies of scale. We believe that the manufacturing of our solid-state battery cells provides us with a structural cost advantage because our battery cells are manufactured without an anode.

There are government regulations pertaining to battery safety, transportation of batteries, use of batteries in cars, factory safety, and disposal of hazardous materials. We will ultimately have to comply with these regulations to sell our batteries into the market. The license and sale of our batteries abroad is likely to be subject to export controls in the future.

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Our investor relations website is located at https://ir.quantumscape.com and our Chief Executive Officer’s Twitter account is located at https://twitter.com/startupjag. We use our investor relations website and our Chief Executive Officer’s Twitter account to post important information for investors, including news releases, analyst presentations, and supplemental financial information, and as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor our investor relations website and our Chief Executive Officer’s Twitter account, in addition to following press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. We also make available, free of charge, on our investor relations website under “Financials—SEC Filings,” our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports as soon as reasonably practicable after electronically filing or furnishing those reports to the SEC.

Industry Background

Shift to EVs

We believe that evolving consumer preferences coupled with growing government incentives and regulations are driving a once-in-a-century shift to EVs.

Countries around the world are promoting EVs. The dependence on gasoline-powered internal combustion engine (“ICE”) vehicles has heightened environmental concerns, created reliance among industrialized and developing nations on large oil imports, and exposed consumers to unstable fuel prices and health concerns related to heightened emissions. Many national and regional regulatory bodies have adopted legislation to incentivize or require a shift to lower-emission and zero-emission vehicles. For example, countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, and France have announced intentions to either increase applicable environmental targets or outright ban the sale of new ICE vehicles in the next two decades. More recently, California passed regulations requiring half of trucks sold in the state to be zero-emissions by 2035 and 100% by 2045. This global push to transition from ICE vehicles, aided by favorable government incentives and regulations, is accelerating the growth in lower- and zero-emission vehicle markets.

Furthermore, consumers are increasingly considering EVs for a variety of reasons including better performance, growing EV charging infrastructure, significantly lighter environmental impact, and lower maintenance and operating costs. Automakers such as Tesla, Inc. have demonstrated that premium EVs can deliver a compelling alternative to fossil fuels. As EVs become more competitive and more affordable, we believe that they will continue to take market share from ICE vehicles. We believe that this shift will occur across vehicle types and market segments. However, some of the inherent limitations of lithium-ion battery technology remain an impediment to meaningful improvements in EV competitiveness and cost.

Current Battery Technology Will Not Meet the Requirements for Broad Adoption of EVs

Despite the significant progress in the shift to EVs, the market remains dominated by ICE vehicles. According to the International Energy Association, approximately 2% of light vehicles are EVs. For EVs to be adopted at scale across market segments batteries need to improve. In particular, we believe there are five key requirements to drive broad adoption of EVs:

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Since these requirements have complex interlinkages, most manufacturers of conventional lithium-ion batteries used in today’s cars are forced to make trade-offs. For example, conventional batteries can be fast-charged, but at the cost of significantly limiting their battery life.

We believe that a battery technology that can meet these requirements will enable an EV solution that is much more broadly competitive with internal combustion engines. With more than 90 million ICE vehicles produced in 2019 across the auto industry, there is significant untapped demand for a battery that meets these goals – a potential market opportunity in excess of $450 billion annually.

Limitations of Conventional Lithium-ion Battery Technologies

The last significant development in battery technology was the commercialization of lithium-ion batteries in the early 1990s which created a new class of batteries with higher energy density. Lithium-ion batteries have enabled a new generation of mobile electronics, efficient renewable energy storage, and the start of the transition to electrified mobility.

Since the 1990s, conventional lithium-ion batteries have seen a gradual improvement in energy density. Most increases in cell energy density have come from improved cell design and incremental improvements in cathode and anode technology. However, there is no Moore’s law in batteries – it has taken conventional lithium-ion batteries at least 10 years to double in energy density and it has been approximately 30 years since the introduction of a major new chemistry. As the industry approaches the theoretical limit of achievable energy density for lithium-ion batteries involving carbon or carbon/silicon anodes, we believe a new architecture is required to deliver meaningful gains in energy density.

Batteries have a cathode (the positive electrode), an anode (the negative electrode), a separator which prevents contact between the anode and cathode, and an electrolyte which transports ions but not electrons. A conventional lithium-ion battery uses a liquid electrolyte, a polymer separator, and an anode made principally of carbon (graphite) or a carbon/silicon composite. Lithium ions move from the cathode to the anode when the battery is charged and vice versa during discharge.

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The energy density of conventional lithium-ion batteries is fundamentally limited by the anode, which provides a host material to hold the lithium ions, preventing them from binding together into pure metallic lithium. Metallic lithium, when used with conventional liquid electrolytes and porous separators, can form needle-like crystals of lithium known as dendrites, which can penetrate through the separator and short-circuit the cell.

While using a host material is an effective way to prevent dendrites, this host material adds volume and mass to the cell, it adds cost to the battery, and it limits the battery life due to side reactions at the interface with the liquid electrolyte. The rate at which lithium diffuses through the anode also limits the maximum cell power.

The addition of silicon to a carbon anode provides a modest boost to energy density relative to a pure carbon anode. However, silicon is also a host material that not only suffers from the limitations of carbon as discussed above, but also introduces cycle life challenges as a result of the repeated expansion and contraction of the silicon particles, since silicon undergoes significantly more expansion than carbon when hosting lithium ions. Furthermore, the voltage of the lithium-silicon reaction subtracts from the overall cell voltage, reducing cell energy.

Lithium-Metal Anode Required to Unlock Highest Energy Density

We believe that a lithium-metal anode is the most promising approach that can break out of the current constraints inherent in conventional lithium-ion batteries and enable significant improvements in energy density.

In a lithium-metal battery, the anode is made of metallic lithium; there is no host material. Eliminating the host material reduces the size and weight of the battery cell and eliminates the associated materials and manufacturing costs. This results in the highest theoretical gravimetric energy density for a lithium-based battery system. Lithium-ion batteries currently used in the auto industry have energy densities of less than 300 Wh/kg. We believe lithium-metal batteries have the potential to significantly increase this energy density.

Lithium-metal anodes are compatible with conventional cathode materials, and lithium-metal batteries will benefit from continued improvement in conventional cathodes. Moreover, lithium-metal anodes may enable

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future generations of higher energy cathodes that cannot achieve energy density gains when used with lithium-ion anodes, as shown in the figure below.

Simulated cell specific energy is based on traditional cell designs and architectures. Source: Andre et al, J Mater Chem A, (2015) 6709.

Although the industry has understood for 40 years the potential benefits of lithium-metal anodes, the industry has not been able to develop a separator that makes a lithium-metal anode practical.

Solid-State Separator Required to Enable Lithium-Metal Anode

We believe that a lithium-metal battery requires that the porous separators used in current lithium-ion batteries be replaced with a solid-state separator capable of conducting lithium ions between the cathode and anode at rates comparable to conventional liquid electrolyte while also suppressing the formation of lithium dendrites. While various solid-state separators have been shown to operate at low power densities, such low power densities are not useful for most practical applications. To our knowledge, we are the only company that has been able to demonstrate a solid-state separator for lithium-metal batteries that reliably prevents dendrite formation at higher power densities, such as those required for automotive applications and fast-charging.

We believe that our ability to develop this proprietary solid-state separator will enable the shift from lithium-ion to lithium-metal batteries.

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Our Technology

Our proprietary solid-state lithium-metal cell represents the next-generation of battery technology.

Our battery cells have none of the host materials used in conventional anodes. In fact, when our cells are manufactured there is no anode; lithium is present only in the cathode. When the cell is first charged, lithium moves out of the cathode, diffuses through our solid-state separator and plates in a thin metallic layer directly on the anode current collector, forming an anode. When the battery cell is discharged, the lithium diffuses back into the cathode.

Eliminating the anode host material found in conventional lithium-ion cells substantially increases the volumetric energy density. A pure lithium-metal anode also enables the theoretically highest gravimetric energy density for a lithium battery system.

Our proprietary solid-state separator is the core technology breakthrough that enables reliable cycling of the lithium-metal anode battery. Without a working solid-state separator, the lithium would form dendrites which would grow through a traditional porous separator and short circuit the cell.

An effective solid-state separator requires a solid material that is as conductive as a liquid electrolyte, chemically stable next to lithium–one of the most reactive elements–and able to prevent the formation of dendrites. Our team worked almost ten years to develop a composition that meets these requirements and to develop the techniques necessary to manufacture the separator material at scale using a continuous process. We have a number of patents covering both the composition of this material and key steps of the manufacturing process.

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Our solid-state separator is a dense, entirely inorganic ceramic. It is made into a film that is thinner than a human hair and then cut into pieces about the length and width of a playing card. Our solid-state separator is flexible because it has a low defect density and is thin. In contrast, typical household ceramics are brittle and can break due to millions of microscopic defects which reduce structural integrity.

The separator is placed between a cathode and anode current collector to form a single battery cell layer. These single layers will be stacked together into a multi-layer cell, about the size of a deck of cards, that will be the commercial form factor for EV batteries.

Our cathodes use a combination of conventional cathode active materials (NMC) with an organic gel made of an organic polymer and organic liquid catholyte. In the future, we may use other compositions of cathode active materials, including cobalt-free compositions. We have an ongoing research and development investigation into inorganic catholyte that could replace the organic gel made of an organic polymer and organic liquid catholyte currently used.

Our single-layer solid-state cells have been extensively tested for power density, cycle life, and temperature performance. This is the only solid-state cell we are aware of that has been validated to run at automotive power densities by a leading automotive OEM. In addition, we believe our battery technology may provide significant improvements in energy density compared to today’s conventional lithium-ion batteries, as shown in the figure below.

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Benefits of Our Technology

We believe our battery technology will enable significant benefits across battery capacity, life, safety, and fast charging while minimizing cost. We believe these benefits will provide significant value to automotive OEMs by enabling greater customer adoption of their EVs. By solving key pain-points such as 15-minute fast charging, we believe our battery technology will enable the delivery of an EV experience that is significantly more competitive with fossil fuel vehicles than what today’s EVs can achieve with conventional batteries.

Our battery technology is intended to meet the five key requirements we believe will enable mass market adoption of EVs:

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Our Competitive Strengths

Only proven lithium-metal battery technology for automotive applications. We have built and tested over one hundred thousand single-layer battery cells and have demonstrated that our technology meets automotive requirements for power, cycle life, and temperature range. In 2018, Volkswagen announced it had successfully tested certain of our single-layer, laboratory battery cells at automotive rates of power.

Partnership with one of the world’s largest automotive OEMs. We are partnered with Volkswagen, one of the largest automakers in the world. Volkswagen has been a collaboration partner and major investor since 2012 and has invested or committed to invest, subject, in certain cases, to certain closing conditions that have not yet been satisfied, a total of more than $300 million in QuantumScape and has committed additional capital to fund our joint venture. Volkswagen plans to launch more than 70 new electric models and build more than 25 million vehicles on electric platforms by the end of the decade. Together with Volkswagen, we have established a joint venture to enable an industrial level of production of our solid-state batteries for use in Volkswagen vehicles. As 50-50 partners in the joint venture with Volkswagen, we expect to share equally in the revenue and profit from the joint venture.

High barriers to entry with extensive patent and intellectual property portfolio. Over the course of 10 years, we have generated more than 200 U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications – including broad fundamental patents around our core technology. Our proprietary solid-state separator uses the only material we know of that can cycle lithium at automotive current densities without forming dendrites. Our battery technology is protected by a range of patents, including patents that cover:

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In addition, as of December 14, 2020, we had approximately 100 trade secrets covering non-discoverable aspects of critical manufacturing processes.

Significant development focused on next-gen technology for automotive applications. We have spent ten years and over $260 million developing our battery technology. We have run over 2 million tests on over 600,000 cells and cell components. Our technical team comprises more than 200 employees, many of whom have worked at large battery manufacturers and automotive OEMs. Our team has deep technical know-how and is supported by extensive facilities and equipment, development infrastructure, and data analytics.

Designed for volume production. Our development uses earth-abundant materials and processes suitable for high volume production. Our processes use tools which are already used at scale in the battery or ceramics industries. While preparing for scale production, we have purchased or tested production-intent tools from the world’s leading vendors. In particular, we expect to produce our proprietary separator using scalable continuous processing. Although our separator material is proprietary, the inputs are readily available and can be sourced from multiple suppliers across geographies.

Structural cost advantage leveraging industry cost trends. Outside of the separator, our battery is being designed to use many of the materials and processes that are standard across today’s battery manufacturers. As a result, we expect to benefit from the projected industry-wide cost declines for these materials that result from process improvements and economies of scale. We believe that the manufacturing of our solid-state battery cells provides us with a structural cost advantage because our battery cells are manufactured without an anode.

Our Growth Strategy

Continue to develop our commercial battery technology. We will continue developing our battery technology with the goal of enabling commercial production in 2024. We have validated capabilities of our solid-state separator and battery technology in single-layer cells. We are now working to develop multi-layer cells, to continue improving yield and performance and to optimize all components of the cell. We will continue to work to further develop the volume manufacturing processes to enable high volume manufacturing and minimize manufacturing costs. We will continue to work on increasing the yield of our separators to reduce scrappage and to increase utilization of manufacturing tools. The funds available upon the Closing will enable us to expand and accelerate research and development activities and undertake additional initiatives. Finally, we will continue to use our engineering line in San Jose, California to prepare for high volume manufacturing and plan our first commercial production Pilot Facility through our joint venture partnership with Volkswagen.

Meet Volkswagen battery demand. The initial 1GWh Pilot Facility to be built and run by QSV Operations LLC (“QSV”) and the subsequent 20GWh Expansion Facility would represent a small fraction of Volkswagen’s demand for batteries and implies vehicle volumes under 2% of Volkswagen’s total production in 2019, assuming a 100KWh pack size. Our goal is to significantly expand the production capacity of the joint venture, in partnership with Volkswagen, to meet more of their projected demand.

Expand partnerships with other automotive OEMs. While we expect Volkswagen will be the first to commercialize vehicles using our battery technology, over the next few years as we build our Pilot Facility, we intend to work closely with other automotive OEMs to make our solid-state battery cells widely available over time. As part of our joint venture agreement we have agreed that the Pilot Facility will be the first facility to

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manufacture our battery technology for automotive applications, but, subject to the other terms of the joint venture arrangements, we are not limited from working in parallel with other automotive OEMs to commercialize our technology.

Expand target markets. We are focused on automotive EV applications, which has the most stringent set of requirements for batteries. However, we recognize that our solid-state battery technology has applicability in other large and growing markets including stationary storage and consumer electronics such as smartphones and wearables.

Expand commercialization models. Our technology is being designed to enable a variety of business models. In addition to joint ventures, such as the one with Volkswagen, we may operate solely-owned manufacturing facilities or license technology to other manufacturers. Where appropriate, we may build and sell separators rather than complete battery cells.

Continued investment in next-gen battery innovation. We intend to continue to invest in research and development to improve battery cell performance, improve manufacturing processes, and reduce cost.

Manufacturing and Supply

Our battery manufacturing process is being designed to be very similar to that of conventional lithium-ion battery manufacturing, with a few exceptions:

Our architecture depends on our proprietary separator, which we will manufacture ourselves. Though our separator design is unique, its manufacturing relies on well-established, high-volume production processes currently deployed globally in other industries.

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We plan to source our input materials from industry leading suppliers to the lithium-ion battery industry, and we already have strategic relationships in place with the industry’s leading vendors of cathode material, the most critical purchased input to our cell, along with leading vendors of other less critical inputs. Our separator is made from abundant materials produced at industrial scale in multiple geographies. We do not anticipate any unique supply constraints for the foreseeable future.

Partnerships

Volkswagen Collaboration

QuantumScape has had a strong collaborative relationship with Volkswagen since 2012. Our collaboration initially focused on the testing and evaluation of QuantumScape’s battery technology. Volkswagen engineers worked closely with our engineering team and oversaw the progress on our technology development efforts and battery testing. Volkswagen has made several rounds of equity investments in QuantumScape, and senior executives of Volkswagen joined the Board, including two successive heads of group research for the Volkswagen Group. During the early part of this collaboration Legacy QuantumScape worked closely with members of Volkswagen’s global research and development team, and now the QuantumScape team works closely with the Volkswagen Battery Center of Excellence, which is tasked with commercializing battery technologies within Volkswagen. The Head of Volkswagen’s Battery Center of Excellence, Frank Blome, is a member of the Board.

Joint Venture Relationship

In June 2018, Legacy QuantumScape and Volkswagen formed a 50-50 joint venture entity, named QSV, to facilitate the commercialization of Legacy QuantumScape’s solid-state battery technology and enable Volkswagen to be the first automotive OEM to utilize this technology. In 2018, the parties collectively made an initial equity investment in the joint venture of approximately $3 million in total. Upon the occurrence of certain development milestones and subject to the entry by QuantumScape, Volkswagen and QSV into certain related agreements, QuantumScape and Volkswagen have agreed to commit additional capital on a 50-50 basis to QSV to fund the buildout of the Pilot Facility and the 20GWh Expansion Facility. As 50-50 partners in the joint venture with Volkswagen, we expect to share equally in the revenue and profit from the joint venture, including from the Pilot Facility and the 20GWh Expansion Facility.

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The joint venture agreements were amended in 2020 in connection with a further $200 million investment commitment by Volkswagen in QuantumScape (subject to certain closing conditions). $100 million of this equity investment by Volkswagen was paid on December 1, 2020 and the second $100 million equity investment is subject to completion of a certain technical milestone by the end of the first quarter of 2021. As part of the first tranche of this equity investment, Volkswagen has the right to increase its representation on the Board from one member to two members.

The joint venture agreements provide for the commercialization of QuantumScape’s solid-state battery cells to occur in two phases. The first phase is the construction of the Pilot Facility with an annual capacity of 1GWh. QSV will begin construction of the Pilot Facility when certain delivery and validation milestones are met for QuantumScape’s solid-state battery cells. The second phase is the 20GWh Expansion Facility.

We believe the joint venture structure will enable Volkswagen to benefit from early access to QuantumScape’s solid-state battery cells, but also protect the intellectual property of QuantumScape. For example, certain key battery technology will continue to be owned by QuantumScape and will be provided to the joint venture through a limited license for purposes of the Pilot Facility. The parties will agree on the license terms for a high-volume manufacturing facility for this battery technology license. The joint venture terminates upon the earliest to occur of (i) Volkswagen exercising specified put rights in the event of, amongst others, (a) a change of control of QuantumScape, or (b) the failure by QuantumScape to meet specified development milestones within certain timeframes, (ii) QuantumScape or Volkswagen exercising specified call or put rights in the event of, amongst others, if the parties cannot agree to commercial terms for the Pilot Facility or 20GWh Expansion Facility within certain timeframes, (iii) a certain date after commencement of production of a Volkswagen series production vehicle using QuantumScape battery cells (or an alternative end date if no such production was commenced after certain technical milestones with respect to QuantumScape battery cell technology were reached) and (iv) December 31, 2028.

Volkswagen committed to purchase a certain portion of the output capacity of the Pilot Facility at a price for the solid-state battery cells that is comparable to those of lithium-ion batteries, but with a premium for the outperformance of these battery cells based on certain key technical parameters. QuantumScape will sell separators to the joint venture at a price to be agreed by the parties based on the provisions of the joint venture agreements. The joint venture agreements provide the framework for the commercial relationship. At the appropriate time, the parties will negotiate agreements covering the details of these purchase commitments.

The 20GWh Expansion Facility is subject to meeting additional technical milestones and agreement on commercial terms, including pricing for the battery cells, agreement on the terms of purchase or license for the separators, and agreement on terms of the license to our battery technology for the 20GWh Expansion Facility. As 50-50 partners in the joint venture with Volkswagen, we expect to share equally in the capital contributions required for the 20GWh Expansion Facility and in the revenue and profit from the 20GWh Expansion Facility. We have agreed that the pricing for the battery cells sold by the 20GWh Expansion Facility and the separators purchased by the 20GWh Expansion Facility may be different from the pricing set for the Pilot Facility, and we will need to agree on pricing at the appropriate time. In addition, we will need to agree to the terms of the license to our battery technology.

Volkswagen is expected to have a significant role in the manufacturing ramp-up of QSV, and we have agreed that certain technology that is developed by QSV will be owned by the joint venture and licensed to each of QuantumScape and Volkswagen on a royalty-free basis. None of this intellectual property has been developed to date. Although the parties have not commenced operations on the Pilot Facility, Volkswagen has offered to assist QuantumScape with supply chain, manufacturing ramp-up planning, and automation. In addition, the parties have collaborated on enabling QuantumScape to develop stronger relationships with battery component supply companies, such as cathode manufacturers and equipment supply companies.

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Research and Development

We conduct research and development at our headquarters facility in San Jose, California. Research and development activities concentrate on making further improvements to our battery technology, including improvements to battery performance and cost.

Our research and development currently includes programs for the following areas:

Intellectual Property

The success of our business and technology leadership is supported by our proprietary battery technology. We rely upon a combination of patent, trademark and trade secret laws in the United States and other jurisdictions, as well as license agreements and other contractual protections, to establish, maintain and enforce rights in our proprietary technologies. In addition, we seek to protect our intellectual property rights through nondisclosure and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants and through non-disclosure agreements with business partners and other third parties. We regularly file applications for patents and have a significant number of patents in the United States and other countries where we do business. Our patent portfolio is deepest in the area of solid-state separators with additional areas of strength in anodes, next-generation cathode materials, and cell, module, and pack design specific to lithium-metal batteries. Our trade secrets primarily cover manufacturing methods.

As of December 14, 2020, we owned or licensed, on an exclusive basis, 80 issued U.S. patents and 42 U.S. pending or allowed patent applications, 102 foreign patents and applications, and 3 registered U.S. trademark applications. Our issued patents start expiring in 2033.

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Competition

The EV market, and the battery segment in particular, is evolving and highly competitive. With the introduction of new technologies and the potential entry of new competitors into the market, we expect competition to increase in the future, which could harm our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

QuantumScape’s prospective competitors include major manufacturers currently supplying the industry, automotive OEMs and potential new entrants to the industry. Major companies now supplying batteries for the EV industry include Panasonic Corporation, Samsung SDI, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited, and LG-Chem Ltd. They supply conventional lithium-ion batteries and in many cases are seeking to develop solid-state batteries, including potentially lithium-metal batteries. In addition, because of the importance of electrification, most automotive OEMs are researching and investing in solid-state battery efforts and, in some cases, in battery development and production. For example, Tesla, Inc. is building multiple battery gigafactories and potentially could supply batteries to other automotive OEMs, and Toyota Motors and a Japanese consortium have a multi-year initiative pursuing solid-state batteries.

A number of development-stage companies are also seeking to improve conventional lithium-ion batteries or to develop new technologies for solid-state batteries, including lithium-metal batteries. Potential new entrants are seeking to develop new technologies for cathodes, anodes, electrolytes and additives. Some of these companies have established relationships with automotive OEMs and are in varying stages of development.

We believe our ability to compete successfully with lithium-ion battery manufacturers and with other companies seeking to develop solid-state batteries will depend on a number of factors including battery price, safety, energy density, charge rate and cycle life, and on non-technical factors such as brand, established customer relationships and financial and manufacturing resources.

Many of the incumbents have, and future entrants may have, greater resources than we have and may also be able to devote greater resources to the development of their current and future technologies. They may also have greater access to larger potential customer bases and have and may continue to establish cooperative or strategic relationships amongst themselves or with third parties (including automotive OEMs) that may further enhance their resources and offerings.

Government Regulation and Compliance

There are government regulations pertaining to battery safety, transportation of batteries, use of batteries in cars, factory safety, and disposal of hazardous materials. We will ultimately have to comply with these regulations to sell our batteries into the market. The license and sale of our batteries abroad is likely to be subject to export controls in the future.

Employees

We pride ourselves on the quality of our world-class team and seek to hire only employees dedicated to our strategic mission. Our employees typically have significant experience working with large battery manufacturers and automotive OEMS. As of December 14, 2020, we employed 275 full-time employees and ten temporary employees, based primarily in our headquarters in San Jose, California. Over 200 of our employees are engaged in research and development and related functions, and more than half of these employees hold engineering and scientific degrees, including many from the world’s top universities.

We seek team members who want to help solve a significant problem that will positively impact the world. We value diversity and recognize the importance of fostering a positive, inclusive culture. As such, we have actively taken steps towards eliminating unconscious bias in our hiring and promotion processes while enabling us to add and promote team members who demonstrate behaviors aligned with our values (“What we promote when we promote”).

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We are committed to maintaining equitable compensation programs. We offer market-competitive salaries and strong equity compensation aimed at attracting and retaining team members capable of making exceptional contributions to our success. Our compensation decisions are guided by the external market, role criticality, and the contributions of each team member.

To date, QuantumScape has not experienced any work stoppages and considers its relationship with its employees to be good. None of QuantumScape’s employees are either represented by a labor union or subject to a collective bargaining agreement.

Facilities

Our corporate headquarters, and our only facility, is in San Jose, California, where we lease approximately 87,125 square feet under a lease that expires in January 2023. Most of the facility is used for our research and development and prototype manufacturing. We believe this facility is adequate to meet our current ongoing needs. However, in order to accommodate growth, including anticipated growth associated with our joint venture activities with Volkswagen, we will need to seek additional facilities.

Legal Proceedings

On October 2, 2020, a putative class action lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York by a purported Kensington stockholder in connection with the Business Combination: Sanchez v. Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp., et al., Index No. 654941/2020 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty.). The complaint names Kensington and certain current and former members of Kensington’s board of directors as defendants. The complaint alleges, among other things, breach of fiduciary duty claims against Kensington’s board of directors in connection with the Business Combination. Legacy QuantumScape as the surviving company of the Business Combination inherited this litigation as a result of the Closing.

Additionally, on December 11, 2020, a putative class action lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York by a purported QuantumScape warrantholder: Jeffrey Jakubiak v. QuantumScape Corporation and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, Index No. 656963/2020 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty.). The complaint names QuantumScape and Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company as defendants. The complaint alleges, among other things, that the plaintiff is entitled to exercise warrants within 30 days of Closing. The complaint also alleges that the proxy statement/prospectus/information statement dated September 21, 2020 and November 12, 2020 is misleading and/or omits material information concerning the exercise of the warrants. The complaint generally seeks, among other things, the ability to exercise the warrants within 30 days of Closing.

On December 18, 2020, the plaintiff filed a motion for injunctive relief, seeking to require us to allow the warrants to be exercised when our current Registration Statement filed with the SEC becomes effective. On December 22, 2020, we removed the case to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

We believe we have meritorious defenses to such claims. We intend to vigorously defend against the complaint.

Also, on December 24, 2020, a lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York by three purported QuantumScape warrantholders, Michael Assante, John Wilschke, and Headwaters Holdings LLC: Assante et al. v. QuantumScape Corporation, Index No. 657256/2020 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty.). The complaint names QuantumScape as the defendant. The complaint alleges, among other things, that the plaintiffs are entitled to exercise warrants within 30 days of Closing. The complaint also alleges that the proxy statement/prospectus/information statement dated September 21, 2020 and November 12, 2020 is misleading and/or omits material information concerning the exercise of the warrants. The complaint generally seeks, among other things, the ability to exercise the warrants within 30 days of Closing.

On December 24, 2020, the plaintiffs filed a motion for injunctive relief, seeking to require us to allow the warrants to be exercised when our current Registration Statement filed with the SEC becomes effective.

We believe we have meritorious defenses to such claims. We intend to vigorously defend against the complaint.

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MANAGEMENT

Executive Officers and Directors

The following table sets forth the names, ages, and positions of our executive officers and directors as of December 14, 2020:

Letter Agreements on Board and Committee Representation

On September 2, 2020, the Company, Legacy QuantumScape, and VGA entered into a letter agreement (the “Original Letter Agreement”) pursuant to which the Company would nominate one designee of VGA for election to our Board, from and after the First Closing (as defined under the Series F Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement between Legacy QuantumScape and VGA, dated May 14, 2020), a second designee of VGA. On December 7, 2020, the parties amended and restated the Original Letter Agreement to provide that (i) in connection with any annual or special meeting of stockholders of the Company, the Company nominate for election to our Board two designees of VGA (each, a “VW Director”), with such designation rights terminating upon certain circumstances and (ii) the Company shall cause one VW Director to be appointed to the nominating and corporate governance committee of the Board, provided that such VW Director fulfills the independence requirements under applicable NYSE rules.

Executive Officers

Jagdeep Singh has served as our Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of our Board since November 2020. Mr. Singh co-founded Legacy QuantumScape and has served as its Chief Executive Officer and on Legacy QuantumScape’s board of directors since its incorporation in May 2010. Prior to joining Legacy QuantumScape, he was the founder and Chief Executive Officer at Infinera Corporation (NASDAQ: INFN), a telecommunications company, from 2001 to 2009. Mr. Singh holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland College Park, an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, and a M.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University.

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We believe Mr. Singh is qualified to serve on our Board because of the perspective and experience he brings as Legacy QuantumScape’s Chief Executive Officer, his leadership experience in the energy storage industry, his educational background and his strong scientific knowledge.

Dr. Timothy Holme has served as our Chief Technology Officer since November 2020. Dr. Holme served as Legacy QuantumScape’s Chief Technology Officer from January 2011 to November 2020. Prior to joining Legacy QuantumScape, he was a Research Associate at Stanford University from June 2008 to January 2011. Dr. Holme holds a B.S. in Physics, a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.

Dr. Mohit Singh has served as our Chief Development Officer since November 2020. Dr. Singh served as Legacy QuantumScape’s Chief Development Officer from June 2015 to November 2020. Prior to this, Dr. Singh served as Legacy QuantumScape’s Vice President, Research and Development and Engineering from April 2014 to June 2015. From 2004 to 2007, Dr. Singh conducted post doctorate research in Chemical Engineering at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Singh holds a B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Tulane University.

Kevin Hettrich has served as our Chief Financial Officer since November 2020. Mr. Hettrich served as Legacy QuantumScape’s Chief Financial Officer and head of Business Operations from September 2018 to November 2020. Prior to this, Mr. Hettrich served as Legacy QuantumScape’s Vice President of Business Operations from March 2016 to March 2018, as Senior Director of Finance and Product Management from March 2014 to March 2016, as a Director of Product Management from March 2013 to March 2014, and as a Manager of Product Management from January 2012 to March 2013. Prior to joining Legacy QuantumScape, Mr. Hettrich served as a Private Equity Associate of Bain Capital, an investment firm, from September 2007 to July 2009. Mr. Hettrich also served as a Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, from September 2004 to July 2007. Mr. Hettrich holds a B.A. in Economics from Pomona College, a M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a M.S. in Environment and Resources from Stanford University.

Howard Lukens has served as our Chief Sales Officer since November 2020. Mr. Lukens served as Legacy QuantumScape’s Chief Sales Officer from March 2012 to November 2020. Prior to joining Legacy QuantumScape, Mr. Lukens served as Vice President, Strategic Sales at Infinera Corporation from January 2005 to January 2011 and as Vice President, Worldwide Sales from September 2002 to December 2004. Previously he served as Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Lightera Corporation and Vice President of Strategic Sales at Ciena Corporation. Mr. Lukens holds a B.S. in Management from George Mason University.

Michael McCarthy has served as our Chief Legal Officer and Head of Corporate Development since November 2020. Mr. McCarthy has served as Legacy QuantumScape’s Chief Legal Officer since March 2013 and also currently serves on the board of QSV Operations LLC. Prior to joining Legacy QuantumScape, he was the Chief Administrative Officer at Infinera Corporation from April 2003 to March 2013. From September 1997 to April 2003, Mr. McCarthy served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Ciena Corporation, a network strategy and technology company. Mr. McCarthy currently serves as a member of the boards of several privately-held companies. Mr. McCarthy holds a B.A. in Mathematical Economics from Colgate University and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School.

Non-Employee Directors

Frank Blome has served on our Board since November 2020, and on Legacy QuantumScape’s board of directors since September 2020. Mr. Blome has also served on the board of QSV Operations LLC since September 2020. Mr. Blome has 25 years of professional experience in the automotive industry, with a particular focus on alternative powertrain technologies and battery cell technology. Since January 2018, Mr. Blome has

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served as the Head of the Battery Center of Excellence of Volkswagen AG. Prior to this, Mr. Blome served from May 2016 to June 2016 as Chief Executive Officer at Mercedes-Benz Energy GmbH, a subsidiary of the Daimler Group active in the EV battery storage space. From July 2013 to June 2017, Mr. Blome served as Chief Executive Officer of LiTec Battery GmbH, a battery cell manufacturing company started as a joint venture between Daimler Group and Evonik Industries AG, a specialty chemicals company. In addition to these roles, Mr. Blome served from June 2009 to June 2017 as the Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Accumotive GmbH & Co KG, a subsidiary of Daimler Group, producing batteries for hybrid and EVs, after which Mr. Blome was on garden leave until January 2018 when he started in his current position at Volkswagen. Mr. Blome holds a diploma in electrical engineering from the University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld.

We believe Mr. Blome is qualified to serve on our Board due to his vast experience in the automotive and alternative powertrain industries.

Brad Buss has served on our Board since November 2020, and on Legacy QuantumScape’s board of directors since August 2020. From August 2014 until his retirement in February 2016, Mr. Buss served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of SolarCity Corporation, a solar energy company acquired by Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), a high-performance electric vehicle company. Mr. Buss also served as the Executive, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: CY), a semiconductor design and manufacturing company, from August 2005 to June 2014. Mr. Buss has served on the boards of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE: AAP) (“Advance”), an automotive parts and accessories provider, since March 2016, Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) (“Marvell”), a semiconductor company, since July 2018, and AECOM (NYSE: ACM), an engineering firm, since August 2020. Mr. Buss serves as Chair of the Audit Committee of Advance, Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a member of the Audit Committee of Marvell, and a member of the Nominating and Governance Committee and Compensation and Organization Committee of AECOM. Mr. Buss previously served on the boards of Tesla, Inc. from November 2009 to June 2019, Cavium, Inc., a semiconductor company, from July 2016 until its acquisition by Marvell in July 2018, and CafePress Inc., an e-commerce company, from October 2007 to July 2016. He served on the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and Disclosure Committee of Tesla, the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee of Cavium, Inc., and the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee of CafePress Inc. Mr. Buss holds a B.A. in Economics from McMaster University and a Honors Business Administration degree from University of Windsor.

We believe Mr. Buss is qualified to serve on our Board because of his vast leadership expertise and experience on the boards of major automotive companies.

John Doerr has served on our Board since November 2020, and on Legacy QuantumScape’s board of directors since December 2010. Mr. Doerr currently serves as Chairman at Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm, and previously served as a Partner from August 1980 to March 2016. Mr. Doerr currently serves on the boards of Amyris, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRS), a biotechnology company, since May 2006, Bloom Energy Corporation (NYSE: BE), an energy solutions company, since April 2002, and Alphabet, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL), a multinational technology company, since May 1999. He serves as Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of Amyris, Inc., a member of the Compensation and Organizational Development Committee of Bloom Energy Corporation, and Chair of the Leadership Development and Compensation Committee of Alphabet, Inc. Mr Doerr previously served on the boards of Zynga, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA), a social game developer, from March 2013 to May 2017, and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a multinational technology company, from June 1996 to May 2010. Mr. Doerr holds a B.S. and an M.E.E. in Electrical Engineering from Rice University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

We believe Mr. Doerr is qualified to serve on our Board because of his extensive investment experience in the technology industry and extensive expertise and skills in strategy, finance and management.

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Leohold has served on our Board since November 2020, and on Legacy QuantumScape’s board of directors since May 2015. From October 2012 to December 2017, Prof. Dr. Leohold served as the Head

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of the Volkswagen AutoUni, an advanced training and research institution for Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, a German automobile manufacturer. He continued to serve as a consultant for Volkswagen AutoUni’s research and development group from January 2018 until retiring in May 2019. He also served as the Executive Director of Group Research at Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft from April 2006 to July 2016. Prof. Dr. Leohold holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Hannover, a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a doctoral degree from the University of Hannover.

We believe Prof. Dr. Leohold is qualified to serve on our Board because of his leadership experience and his expertise in the energy technology and automotive fields.

Justin Mirro has served on our Board since November 2020, and as Kensington’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from April 2020 to November 2020. Mr. Mirro has over 25 years of operating, mergers and acquisitions and financing experience in the automotive and automotive-related sector. He began his career at General Motors Company (“GM”) as a Tool and Die Manufacturing Engineer, with successive positions at Car and Driver Magazine, Toyota Motor Corporation and Itochu International Inc. prior to transitioning to automotive investment banking at Schroder & Co. Inc./Salomon Smith Barney, Inc./ABN Amro Inc. in 1996. In 1999, Mr. Mirro formed Kensington Capital Partners, LLC, where he has served as President since 2015, to invest in automotive and automotive-related sector businesses. In 2005, Mr. Mirro transitioned to Jefferies & Company, Inc. as Head of Automotive Investment Banking, and later served as the Head of Automotive Investment Banking at Moelis & Company, LLC (“Moelis”) and RBC Capital Markets, LLC (“RBC Capital Markets”) from 2008 to 2011 and 2011 to 2014, respectively. In his role, Mr. Mirro played a key role in leading and executing all aspects of capital raising, mergers and acquisitions and restructurings, and has advised on over 70 transactions totaling more than $60 billion of value for OEMs, suppliers and automotive-related industries. From 2016 to 2019, Mr. Mirro served as Chairman of the board of directors and audit committee of Pure Power Technologies, Inc. (“Pure Power”) one of the largest aftermarket suppliers of diesel fuel injectors, which was later sold to Stanadyne LLC (“Stanadyne”). In his role, Mr. Mirro focused on deal sourcing, structuring, capital raising, executive recruitment and the eventual sale process. Mr. Mirro has sat on the boards of Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. (“Cooper-Standard Holdings”) and Transtar Industries, Inc., since 2015 and 2017, respectively, where he has focused on mergers and acquisitions, capital structuring and public market strategy.

We believe Mr. Mirro is qualified to serve on our Board due to his experience serving as Kensington’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, as well as his extensive skills in strategy, finance and management.

Prof. Fritz Prinz has served on our Board since November 2020, and on Legacy QuantumScape’s board of directors since December 2010. Prof. Prinz has served as Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy since September 2010. He has also served as the Finmeccanica Professor at the School of Engineering at Stanford University since September 1994. Prof. Prinz holds a Ph.D. in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Vienna, Austria.

We believe Prof. Prinz is qualified to serve on our Board because of his in-depth educational expertise and his broad insight and research into energy conservation.

Dipender Saluja has served on our Board since November 2020, and on Legacy QuantumScape’s board of directors since August 2012. Mr. Saluja has served as Managing Director of Capricorn Investment Group, an investment firm, since 2006. Prior to Capricorn Investment Group, he served in various positions from 1990 to 2006 at Cadence Design Systems, an electronic design company. Mr. Saluja also currently serves as a Commissioner of the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing electricity services to under-served communities, and also on the boards of several private companies.

We believe Mr. Saluja is qualified to serve on our Board because of his extensive investment experience in the technology industry and extensive expertise and skills in strategy, finance and management.

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J.B. Straubel has served on our Board since November 2020, and on Legacy QuantumScape’s board of directors since December 2019. Mr. Straubel has served as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Redwood Materials Inc., an electronic recycling and development company, since May 2017. Prior to joining Legacy QuantumScape, Mr. Straubel also co-founded and served as the Chief Technology Officer of Tesla, Inc. from May 2005 to July 2019. Mr. Straubel previously served on the board of SolarCity Corporation and as a member of its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee from August 2006 until its acquisition by Tesla, Inc. in November 2016. Mr. Straubel holds a B.S. in Energy Systems Engineering and a M.S. in Engineering, with an emphasis on energy conversion, from Stanford University.

We believe Mr. Straubel is qualified to serve on our Board because of his technical and manufacturing expertise along with his leadership experience in electronic companies.

Board Composition

Our business and affairs are organized under the direction of our Board, which currently consists of nine members. Mr. Singh serves as Chairman of our Board. The primary responsibilities of our Board are to provide oversight, strategic guidance, counseling and direction to our management. Our Board meets on a regular basis and additionally as required.

In accordance with the terms of our Bylaws, each director, including a director elected to fill a vacancy, shall hold office until the expiration of the term for which elected and until such director’s successor is elected and qualified or until such director’s earlier death, resignation or removal.

Any director may be removed from office by our stockholders as provided in Section 141(k) of the DGCL.

Director Independence

Our Board has determined that each of our directors other than Messrs. Singh and Prinz qualify as independent directors, as defined under the rules of the NYSE, and our Board consists of a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the rules of the SEC and the NYSE relating to director independence requirements. In addition, we are subject to the rules of the SEC and the NYSE relating to the membership, qualifications, and operations of the audit committee, as discussed below. Mr. Mirro is our lead independent director under the NYSE rules.

Role of our Board in Risk Oversight/Risk Committee

One of the key functions of our Board is informed oversight of our risk management process. Our Board does not currently have or anticipate having a standing risk management committee, but instead administers this oversight function directly through our Board as a whole, as well as through various standing committees of our Board that address risks inherent in their respective areas of oversight. In particular, our Board is responsible for monitoring and assessing strategic risk exposure and our audit committee has the responsibility to consider and discuss our major financial risk exposures and the steps our management will take to monitor and control such exposures, including guidelines and policies to govern the process by which risk assessment and management is undertaken. The audit committee also monitors compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Our compensation committee assesses and monitors whether our compensation plans, policies and programs comply with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Board Committees

Our Board has three standing committees—an audit committee, a compensation committee, and a nominating and corporate governance committee. Copies of the charters for each committee are available on our website.

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Audit Committee

Our audit committee consists of Messrs. Buss, Saluja and Mirro. Our Board has determined that each of the members of the audit committee satisfy the independence requirements of the NYSE and Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act and are able to read and understand fundamental financial statements in accordance with the NYSE audit committee requirements. In arriving at this determination, our Board examined each audit committee member’s scope of experience and the nature of their prior and/or current employment.

Mr. Buss serves as the chair of the audit committee. Our Board has determined that Mr. Buss qualifies as an audit committee financial expert within the meaning of SEC regulations and meets the financial sophistication requirements of the NYSE rules. In making this determination, our Board considered Mr. Buss’ formal education and previous experience in financial roles. Both our independent registered public accounting firm and management will periodically meet privately with our audit committee.

The functions of this committee include, among other things:

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The composition and function of the audit committee comply with all applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and all applicable SEC rules and regulations. We will comply with future requirements to the extent they become applicable.

Compensation Committee

Our compensation committee consists of Messrs. Straubel, Leohold and Buss. Mr. Straubel serves as the chair of the compensation committee. Our Board has determined that each of the members of the compensation committee is a non-employee director, as defined in Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act and satisfies the independence requirements of the NYSE.

The functions of this committee include, among other things:

The composition and function of the compensation committee comply with all applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and all applicable SEC and the NYSE rules and regulations. We will comply with future requirements to the extent they become applicable.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

Our nominating and corporate governance committee consists of Messrs. Mirro, Doerr and Blome. Our Board has determined that each of the members of our nominating and corporate governance committee satisfy

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the independence requirements of the NYSE. Mr. Mirro serves as the chair of our nominating and corporate governance committee.

The functions of this committee include, among other things:

The composition and function of the nominating and corporate governance committee complies with all applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and all applicable SEC and the NYSE rules and regulations. We will comply with future requirements to the extent they become applicable.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

None of the members of our compensation committee have ever been an executive officer or employee of the Company. None of our executive officers currently serves, or has served during the last completed fiscal year, on the compensation committee or board of directors of any other entity that has one or more executive officers that serve on our Board or compensation committee.

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification of Directors and Officers

Our Certificate of Incorporation limits our directors’ liability to the fullest extent permitted under the DGCL. The DGCL provides that directors of a corporation will not be personally liable for monetary damages for breach of their fiduciary duties as directors, except for liability:

If the DGCL is amended to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the personal liability of directors, then the liability of our directors will be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, as so amended. The DGCL and our Bylaws provide that we will, in certain situations, indemnify our directors and officers and may indemnify other employees and other agents, to the fullest extent permitted by law. Any indemnified person is also entitled, subject to certain limitations, to advancement, direct payment, or reimbursement of reasonable expenses (including attorneys’ fees and disbursements) in advance of the final disposition of the proceeding.

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In addition, we have entered into separate indemnification agreements with our directors and officers. These agreements, among other things, require us to indemnify our directors and officers for certain expenses, including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, and settlement amounts incurred by a director or officer in any action or proceeding arising out of their services as one of our directors or officers or any other company or enterprise to which the person provides services at our request.

We maintain a directors’ and officers’ insurance policy pursuant to which our directors and officers are insured against liability for actions taken in their capacities as our directors and officers. We believe the provisions in our Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws, and indemnification agreements are necessary to attract and retain qualified persons as directors and officers.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers, or control persons, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for Employees, Executive Officers, and Directors

Our Board has adopted a code of business conduct and ethics, or the Code of Conduct, applicable to all of our employees, executive officers and directors. The Code of Conduct is available on our website.

Information contained on or accessible through our website is not a part of this prospectus. The nominating and corporate governance committee of our Board is responsible for overseeing the Code of Conduct and must approve any waivers of the Code of Conduct for employees, executive officers and directors. We expect that any amendments to the Code of Conduct, or any waivers of its requirements, will be disclosed on our website.

Non-Employee Director Compensation

Our Board expects to review director compensation periodically to ensure that director compensation remains competitive such that we are able to recruit and retain qualified directors. We intend to develop a non-employee director compensation program that is designed to align compensation with our business objectives and the creation of stockholder value, while enabling us to attract, retain, incentivize and reward directors who contribute to our long-term success.

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

To achieve QuantumScape’s goals, QuantumScape has designed, and intends to modify as necessary, its compensation and benefits program to attract, retain, incentivize and reward deeply talented and qualified executives who share its philosophy and desire to work towards achieving these goals.

QuantumScape believes its compensation program should promote the success of the company and align executive incentives with the long-term interests of its stockholders. QuantumScape’s current compensation programs reflect its startup origins in that they consist primarily of salary and stock option awards. As QuantumScape’s needs evolve, QuantumScape intends to continue to evaluate its philosophy and compensation programs as circumstances require.

This section provides an overview of QuantumScape’s executive compensation programs, including a narrative description of the material factors necessary to understand the information disclosed in the summary compensation table below.

Legacy QuantumScape’s board of directors, with input from its Chief Executive Officer, has historically determined the compensation for QuantumScape’s named executive officers. For the year ended December 31, 2019, Legacy QuantumScape’s named executive officers were:

Summary Compensation Table

The following table sets forth information concerning the compensation of the named executive officers for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Narrative Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table

For 2019, the compensation program for Legacy QuantumScape’s named executive officers consisted of base salary and incentive compensation delivered in the form of stock option awards.

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Base Salary

Base salary is set at a level that is commensurate with the executive’s duties and authorities, contributions, prior experience and sustained performance.

Cash Bonus

Legacy QuantumScape and QuantumScape do not have any arrangements with its named executive officers providing for annual cash bonus awards.

Stock Option Awards

Stock options were granted to Legacy QuantumScape’s named executive officers under Legacy QuantumScape’s 2010 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2010 Plan”).

Legacy QuantumScape 2010 Equity Incentive Plan

The 2010 Plan allowed Legacy QuantumScape to provide incentive stock options, within the meaning of Section 422 of the Code, nonstatutory stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards and restricted stock units (each, an “award” and the recipient of such award, a “participant”) to eligible employees, directors, and consultants of Legacy QuantumScape and any parent or subsidiary of Legacy QuantumScape. The 2010 Plan was terminated in connection with the Business Combination and QuantumScape will not grant any additional awards under the 2010 Plan hereafter. However, the 2010 Plan will continue to govern the terms and conditions of the outstanding awards previously granted under the 2010 Plan.

Plan Administration

The 2010 Plan was administered by the board of directors of Legacy QuantumScape or one or more of its committees and will continue to be administered by the Board or one or more of its committees. Different committees administered the 2010 Plan with respect to different service providers. The administrator has all authority and discretion necessary or appropriate to administer the 2010 Plan and to control its operation, including the authority to construe and interpret the terms of the 2010 Plan and the awards granted under the 2010 Plan. The administrator’s decisions are final and binding on all participants and any other persons holding awards.

The administrator’s powers include the power to institute an exchange program under which (i) outstanding awards are surrendered or cancelled in exchange for awards of the same type (which may have higher or lower exercise prices and different terms), awards of a different type or cash, (ii) participants would have the opportunity to transfer any outstanding awards to a financial institution or other person or entity selected by the administrator or (iii) the exercise price of an outstanding award is increased or reduced. The administrator’s powers also include the power to prescribe, amend and rescind rules and regulations relating to the 2010 Plan, to modify or amend each award and to make all other determinations deemed necessary or advisable for administering the 2010 Plan.

Eligibility

Employees, directors and consultants of Legacy QuantumScape or its parent or subsidiary companies were eligible to receive awards, provided such consultants render bona fide services not in connection with the offer and sale of securities in a capital-raising transaction and did not directly promote or maintain a market for Legacy QuantumScape securities. Only employees of Legacy QuantumScape or its parent or subsidiary companies were eligible to receive incentive stock options.

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Stock Options

Stock options were granted under the 2010 Plan. Subject to the provisions of the 2010 Plan, the administrator determined the term of an option, the number of shares and the class of shares subject to an option, and the time period in which an option may be exercised.

The term of an option is stated in the applicable award agreement, but the term of an option may not exceed 10 years from the grant date. The administrator determined the exercise price of options, which generally was not less than 100% of the fair market value of Legacy QuantumScape’s common stock on the grant date, unless expressly determined in writing by the administrator on the option’s grant date. However, an incentive stock option granted to an individual who directly or by attribution owned more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all of Legacy QuantumScape’s classes of stock or of any of Legacy QuantumScape’s parent or subsidiary had a term of no longer than 5 years from the grant date and have an exercise price of at least 110% of the fair market value of Legacy QuantumScape’s common stock on the grant date. In addition, to the extent that the aggregate fair market value of the shares with respect to which incentive stock options are exercisable for the first time by an employee during any calendar year (under all QuantumScape’s plans and any parent or subsidiary) exceeds $100,000, such options will be treated as nonstatutory stock options.

The administrator determines how a participant may pay the exercise price of an option, and the permissible methods are generally set forth in the applicable award agreement. If a participant’s status as a “service provider” (as defined in the 2010 Plan) terminates, that participant may exercise the vested portion of his or her option for the period of time stated in the applicable award agreement. Vested options generally will remain exercisable for three months or such longer or shorter period of time as set forth in the applicable award agreement if a participant’s status as a service provider terminates for a reason other than death or disability. If a participant’s status as a service provider terminates due to death or disability, vested options generally will remain exercisable for twelve months from the date of termination (or such other longer or shorter period as set forth in the applicable award agreement). In no event will an option remain exercisable beyond its original term. If a participant does not exercise his or her option within the time specified in the award agreement, the option will terminate. Except as described above, the administrator has the discretion to determine the post-termination exercisability periods for an option.

Non-Transferability of Awards

Unless determined otherwise by the administrator, awards may not be sold, pledged, assigned, hypothecated or otherwise transferred in any manner other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution. In addition, during an applicable participant’s lifetime, only that participant may exercise their award. In the case of awards issued to California residents, if the administrator makes an award transferable, such award may only be transferred (i) by will, (ii) by the laws of descent and distribution or (iii) as permitted by Rule 701 of the Securities Act.

Certain Adjustments

If there was a dividend or other distribution (whether in the form of cash, shares, other securities or other property), recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, repurchase, exchange of shares or Legacy QuantumScape’s other securities or other change in Legacy QuantumScape’s corporate structure affecting the shares, the administrator, in order to prevent diminution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits intended to be made available under the 2010 Plan, would adjust the number and class of shares that could be delivered under the 2010 Plan and/or the number, class, and price of shares covered by each outstanding award. In the case of awards issued to California residents, the administrator would make such adjustments to an award required by Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code to the extent Legacy QuantumScape was relying upon the exemption afforded thereby with respect to the award. The administrator’s determination regarding such adjustments was final, binding and conclusive.

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Dissolution or Liquidation

In the event of QuantumScape’s proposed dissolution or liquidation, the administrator will notify each participant as soon as practicable prior to the effective date of such proposed transaction. To the extent it has not been previously exercised, an award will terminate immediately prior to the consummation of such proposed action.

Merger and Change of Control

In the event of a merger or a “change in control” (as defined in the 2010 Plan), each outstanding award will be treated as the administrator determines, including, without limitation, that (i) awards will be assumed, or substantially equivalent awards will be substituted, by the acquiring or succeeding corporation (or an affiliate thereof) with appropriate adjustments as to the number and kind of shares and prices; (ii) upon written notice to a participant, the participant’s awards will terminate upon or immediately prior to the consummation of such merger or change in control; (iii) outstanding awards will vest and become exercisable, realizable or payable, or restrictions applicable to an award will lapse, in whole or in part, prior to or upon consummation of such merger or change in control, and, to the extent the administrator determines, terminate upon or immediately prior to the effectiveness of such merger or change in control; (iv) (A) the termination of an award in exchange for an amount of cash or property, if any, equal to the amount that would have been attained upon the exercise of such award or realization of the participant’s rights as of the date of the occurrence of the transaction (and, for the avoidance of doubt, if as of the date of the occurrence of the transaction the administrator determines in good faith that no amount would have been attained upon the exercise of such award or realization of the participant’s rights, then such award may be terminated by us without payment) or (B) the replacement of such award with other rights or property selected by the administrator in its sole discretion; or (v) any combination of the foregoing. The administrator will not be obligated to treat all awards, all awards a participant holds or all awards of the same type, similarly.

In the event that the successor corporation does not assume or substitute for an award (or portion thereof), the participant will fully vest in and have the right to exercise all of his or her outstanding options and stock appreciation rights, including shares as to which such awards would not otherwise be vested or exercisable, all restrictions on restricted stock and restricted stock units will lapse, and, with respect to awards with performance-based vesting, all performance goals or other vesting criteria will be deemed achieved at 100% of target levels and all other terms and conditions met. In addition, if an option or stock appreciation right is not assumed or substituted in the event of a merger or change in control, the administrator will notify the participant in writing or electronically that the option or stock appreciation right will be exercisable for a period of time determined by the administrator in its sole discretion, and the option or stock appreciation right will terminate upon the expiration of such period.

Amendment and Termination

The board of directors of Legacy QuantumScape may, at any time, terminate or amend the 2010 Plan in any respect, including, without limitation, amendment of any form of award agreement or instrument to be executed pursuant to the 2010 Plan. To the extent necessary and desirable to comply with applicable laws, Legacy QuantumScape would obtain stockholder approval of any amendment to the 2010 Plan. No amendment or alteration of the 2010 Plan would impair the rights of a participant, unless mutually agreed otherwise between the participant and the administrator in writing. As noted above, as of the Closing Date, the 2010 Plan terminated and no further awards will be granted thereunder. All outstanding awards will continue to be governed by their existing terms.

QuantumScape 2020 Equity Incentive Plan

On November 25, 2020, the Company’s 2020 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2020 Plan”) became effective. The 2020 Plan was approved by the Company’s stockholders at the special meeting held on

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November 25, 2020 to approve the Business Combination (the “Special Meeting”). The purposes of the 2020 Plan are to attract and retain personnel for positions with QuantumScape, any parent or subsidiary, and any entity that is in control of, is controlled by or is under common control with QuantumScape (such entities are referred to herein as, the company group); to provide additional incentive to employees, directors, and consultants; and to promote the success of QuantumScape’s business. These incentives will be provided through the grant of stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, and performance awards as the administrator of the 2020 Plan may determine.

Authorized Shares

Subject to the adjustment provisions contained in the 2020 Plan and the evergreen provision described below, the maximum number of shares of Class A Common Stock that may be issued pursuant to awards under the 2020 Plan is (i) 41,500,000 shares of Class A Common Stock, plus (ii) any shares of Common Stock subject to stock options, restricted stock units or other awards that were assumed in the Merger and terminate as a result of being unexercised or are forfeited to or repurchased by QuantumScape, with the maximum number of shares to be added to the 2020 Plan pursuant to clause (ii) equal to 68,328,358 shares of Class A Common Stock. The 2020 Plan also includes an evergreen provision that provides for an automatic annual increase to the number of shares of Class A Common Stock available for issuance under the 2020 Plan on the first day of each fiscal year beginning with the 2021 fiscal year, equal to the least of:

The 2020 Plan provides that the evergreen provision will terminate following the increase on the first day of the 2030 fiscal year.

Generally, if an award expires or becomes unexercisable without having been exercised in full, is surrendered under an exchange program described below, or, with respect to restricted stock, restricted stock units or performance awards, is forfeited to or reacquired by us due to the failure to vest, the unpurchased shares (or for awards other than options or stock appreciation rights, the forfeited or repurchased shares) that were subject to such awards will become available for future grant or sale under the 2020 Plan (unless it has terminated). With respect to stock appreciation rights, only shares actually issued will cease to be available. Shares that actually have been issued under the 2020 Plan under any award will not be returned to the 2020 Plan and will not become available for future distribution under the 2020 Plan; provided, however, that if shares issued pursuant to awards of restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance shares or performance units are repurchased by QuantumScape or are forfeited to QuantumScape, such shares will become available for future grant under the 2020 Plan. Shares used to pay the exercise price of an award or to satisfy the tax withholding obligations related to an award will become available for future grant or sale. To the extent an award is paid out in cash rather than shares, such cash payment will not reduce the number of shares available for issuance. If the Board, or a committee appointed by the Board, grants awards in substitution for equity compensation awards outstanding under a plan maintained by an entity acquired by or that becomes a part of any member of the company group, the grant of those substitute awards will not decrease the number of shares available for issuance under the 2020 Plan.

If any extraordinary dividend or other extraordinary distribution (whether in cash, shares, other securities, or other property), recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, reclassification, repurchase, or exchange of shares or other securities of QuantumScape, issuance of warrants or other rights to acquire securities of QuantumScape, other change in the corporate structure of QuantumScape affecting the shares, or any similar equity restructuring

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transaction affecting the shares occurs, the administrator, to prevent diminution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits intended to be provided under the 2020 Plan, will adjust the number and class of shares that may be delivered under the 2020 Plan; the number, class, and price of shares covered by each outstanding award; and the numerical share limits contained in the 2020 Plan.

Plan Administration

The Board or a committee appointed by the Board will administer the 2020 Plan and are referred to as the administrator. Different administrators may administer the 2020 Plan with respect to different groups of service providers. The Board may retain the authority to concurrently administer the 2020 Plan and revoke the delegation of some or all authority previously delegated.

Subject to the terms of the 2020 Plan and applicable laws, the administrator generally will have the power in its sole discretion to make any determinations and perform any actions deemed necessary or advisable for administering the 2020 Plan. The administrator will have the power to administer the 2020 Plan, including but not limited to the power to construe and interpret the 2020 Plan and awards granted under the 2020 Plan, and determine the terms of awards, including but not limited to the exercise price (if any), the number of shares of Common Stock subject to each award, the time when awards may vest or be exercised (including the ability to accelerate the vesting and exercisability of awards), and the form of consideration payable upon exercise, if applicable. The administrator may select the service providers to whom awards may be granted and approve forms of awards agreements under the 2020 Plan. The administrator will also have the authority to amend awards (including but not limited to the discretionary authority to extend the post-termination exercisability period of awards and to extend the maximum term of an option) and to temporarily suspend the exercisability of an award if the administrator deems such suspension to be necessary or appropriate for administrative purposes, subject to the provisions of the 2020 Plan. The administrator may institute and determine the terms and conditions of an exchange program under which (i) outstanding awards are surrendered or cancelled in exchange for awards of the same type (which may have higher or lower exercise prices and different terms), awards of a different type, and/or cash, (ii) participants have the opportunity to transfer any outstanding awards to a financial institution or other person or entity selected by the administrator, (iii) and/or the exercise price of an outstanding award is increased or reduced. Unless a participant is on an approved leave of absence, the administrator will have sole discretion to determine the date on which a participant stops actively providing services to QuantumScape or the company group. The administrator’s decisions, determinations, and interpretations are final and binding on all participants and any other holders of awards.

Stock Options

Options may be granted under the 2020 Plan. Subject to the provisions of the 2020 Plan, the administrator will determine the terms and conditions of options, including when such options vest and become exercisable (and the administrator will have the discretion to accelerate the time at which such options will vest or become exercisable). The per share exercise price of any option generally must be at least 100% of the fair market value of a share on the date of grant, and the term of an incentive stock option may not be more than 10 years. However, with respect to any incentive stock option granted to an individual who owns 10% of the voting power of all classes of stock of QuantumScape or any of its parent or subsidiary corporations, the term of such option must not exceed 5 years, and the per share exercise price of such incentive stock option must be at least 110% of the fair market value of a share on the grant date. After a participant’s service terminates, he or she generally may exercise the vested portion of his or her option for the period of time stated in his or her option agreement. Generally, the fair market value of a share is the closing sales price of a share on the relevant date as quoted on the NYSE. In no event may an option be exercised later than the expiration of its term, except in certain circumstances where the expiration occurs during a period where exercise is not permitted under applicable law, as described more fully in the 2020 Plan. Subject to the provisions of the 2020 Plan, the administrator will determine the other terms of options, including but not limited to the acceptable forms of consideration for exercising an option.

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Stock Appreciation Rights

Stock appreciation rights may be granted under the 2020 Plan. Stock appreciation rights allow the recipient to receive the appreciation in the fair market value of Class A Common Stock between the exercise date and the date of grant. Subject to the provisions of the 2020 Plan, the administrator will determine the terms and conditions of stock appreciation rights, including when such rights vest and become exercisable (and the administrator will have the discretion to accelerate the time at which such rights will vest or become exercisable) and whether to pay any increased appreciation in cash, shares, or a combination of both. The per share exercise price of a stock appreciation right must be at least 100% of the fair market value a share on the date of grant with respect to United States taxpayers, and the term of a stock appreciation right will be 10 years. After a participant’s service terminates, he or she generally may exercise the vested portion of his or her stock appreciation right for the period of time stated in his or her option agreement. However, in no event may a stock appreciation right be exercised later than the expiration of its terms, except in certain circumstances where the expiration occurs during a period where exercise is not permitted under applicable law, as described more fully in the 2020 Plan.

Restricted Stock

Restricted stock may be granted under the 2020 Plan. Restricted stock awards are grants of shares that vest in accordance with terms and conditions established by the administrator. The administrator will determine the number of shares of restricted stock granted to any employee, director or consultant. The administrator may impose whatever conditions to vesting it determines to be appropriate (for example, the administrator may set restrictions based on the achievement of specific performance goals or continued service to us or members of the company group), and the administrator will have the discretion to accelerate the time at which any restrictions will lapse or be removed. Recipients of restricted stock awards generally will have voting but will not have dividend rights with respect to such shares upon grant without regard to the restriction, unless the administrator provides otherwise. Shares of restricted stock as to which the restrictions have not lapsed are subject to QuantumScape’s right of repurchase or forfeiture.

Restricted Stock Units

Restricted stock units may be granted under the 2020 Plan. Restricted stock units are bookkeeping entries representing an amount equal to the fair market value of one Share. The administrator will determine the terms and conditions of restricted stock units including the vesting criteria (which may include accomplishing specified performance criteria or continued service to us) and the form and timing of payment. The administrator will have the discretion to accelerate the time at which any restrictions will lapse or be removed and to settle earned restricted stock units in cash, shares, or a combination of both.

Performance Awards

Performance awards may be granted under the 2020 Plan. Performance awards are awards that will result in a payment to a participant only if objectives established by the administrator are achieved or the awards otherwise vest. The administrator will establish organizational or individual performance objectives in its discretion, which, depending on the extent to which they are met, will determine the value of the payout for the performance awards to be paid out to participants. The administrator will have the discretion to reduce or waive any performance objectives or other vesting provisions for performance awards. Performance awards will have a threshold, target, and maximum payout value established by the administrator on or before to the grant date. The administrator will have the discretion to pay earned performance awards in the form of cash, shares, or in some combination of both.

Non-Employee Directors

The 2020 Plan provides that any non-employee director, in any fiscal year, may not be paid, issued or granted cash compensation and equity awards under the 2020 Plan with an aggregate value of more than

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$750,000, increased to $1,000,000 in connection with the non-employee director’s initial service, with the value of each equity award based on its grant date fair value. For purposes of this limitation, the grant date fair value is determined in accordance with GAAP. Any cash compensation or equity awards granted under the 2020 Plan to a non-employee director for his or her services as an employee, or for his or her services as a consultant (other than as a non-employee director), will not count for purposes of the limitation. The maximum limit does not reflect the intended size of any potential compensation or equity awards to QuantumScape’s non-employee directors.

Non-Transferability of Awards

Unless the administrator provides otherwise, the 2020 Plan generally does not allow for the transfer or disposal of awards and only the recipient of an award may exercise an award during his or her lifetime. Any unauthorized transfer will be void.

Dissolution or Liquidation

If there is a proposed liquidation or dissolution of QuantumScape, the administrator will notify participants at such time before the effective date of such event as the administrator determines and all awards, to the extent that they have not been previously exercised, will terminate immediately before the consummation of such event.

Merger or Change in Control

The 2020 Plan provides that if there is a merger or a “change in control” (as defined under the 2020 Plan) of QuantumScape, each outstanding award will be treated as the administrator determines (subject to the following paragraph) without a participant’s consent, including that an award be continued by the successor corporation or that vesting of awards may accelerate automatically upon consummation of the transaction. The administrator will not be required to treat all awards, portions of awards or participants similarly and may modify awards, subject to the provisions of the 2020 Plan.

If the successor corporation does not continue an award (or some portion of such award), the participant will fully vest in (and have the right to exercise) 100% of the then-unvested shares subject to his or her outstanding options and stock appreciation rights, all restrictions on 100% of the participant’s outstanding restricted stock and restricted stock units will lapse, and, regarding 100% of participant’s outstanding awards with performance-based vesting, all performance goals or other vesting criteria will be treated as achieved at 100% of target levels and all other terms and conditions met. In no event will vesting of an award accelerate as to more than 100% of the award. If options or stock appreciation rights are not continued when a change in control or a merger of QuantumScape with or into another corporation or other entity occurs, the administrator will notify the participant in writing or electronically that the participant’s vested options or stock appreciation rights (after considering the foregoing vesting acceleration, if any) will be exercisable for a period of time determined by the administrator in its sole discretion and all of the participant’s options or stock appreciation rights will terminate upon the expiration of such period (whether vested or unvested).

With respect to awards held by a non-employee director, in the event of a change in control, the non-employee director will fully vest in and have the right to exercise his or her options and/or stock appreciation rights, all restrictions on his or her restricted stock and restricted stock units will lapse, and, with respect to awards with performance-based vesting, all performance goals or other vesting criteria will be deemed achieved at 100% of target levels and all other terms and conditions met, unless specifically provided otherwise under the applicable award agreement or other written agreement with the participant.

Forfeiture and Clawback

All awards granted under the 2020 Plan will be subject to recoupment under any clawback policy that QuantumScape is required to adopt under applicable law or listing standards. In addition, the administrator may

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provide in an award agreement that the recipient’s rights, payments, and benefits with respect to such award shall be subject to reduction, cancellation, forfeiture, or recoupment upon the occurrence of specified events. If QuantumScape is required to prepare an accounting restatement due to the material noncompliance of QuantumScape with any applicable securities laws as a result of a participant’s misconduct or if a participant is subject to forfeiture under applicable law, the participant must reimburse QuantumScape in the amount of any payment in settlement of an award earned or accrued during the 12-month period following the first public issuance or filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (whichever first occurred) of the financial document embodying such financial reporting requirement.

Amendment or Termination

The 2020 Plan became effective upon the consummation of the Business Combination and will continue in effect until terminated by the administrator, however no incentive stock options may be granted after the ten (10) year anniversary of the adoption of the 2020 Plan by the Board, and the evergreen feature of the 2020 Plan will terminate following the increase on the first day of the 2030 fiscal year. In addition, the Board will have the authority to amend, suspend, or terminate the 2020 Plan, but such action generally may not materially impair the rights of any participant without his or her written consent.

QuantumScape 2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan

On November 25, 2020, the Company’s 2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”) became effective. The ESPP Plan was approved by the Company’s stockholders at the Special Meeting. The purpose of the ESPP is to provide eligible employees with an opportunity to purchase shares of the Class A Common Stock through accumulated contributions, which generally will be made through payroll deductions. The ESPP permits the administrator (as discussed below) to grant purchase rights that qualify for preferential tax treatment under Section 423 of the Code. In addition, the ESPP authorizes the grant of purchase rights that do not qualify under Code Section 423 pursuant to rules, procedures or sub-plans adopted by the administrator that are designed to achieve desired tax or other objectives.

Shares Available for Issuance

The maximum number of shares of Class A Common Stock available for issuance under the ESPP is 7,600,000 shares. The shares may be authorized, but unissued, or reacquired Class A Common Stock. The number of shares of Class A Common Stock available for issuance under the ESPP will be increased on the first day of each fiscal year beginning with the 2021 fiscal year equal to the least of (i) 7,600,000 shares of Class A Common Stock, (ii) one percent (1%) of the outstanding shares of all classes of Common Stock on the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year, or (iii) an amount determined by the administrator.

QuantumScape is currently unable to determine how long this share reserve may last because the number of shares that will be issued in any year or offering period depends on a variety of factors that cannot be predicted with certainty, including, for example, the number of employees who elect to participate in the ESPP, the level of contributions made by participants and the future price of shares of Class A Common Stock.

Administration

The ESPP will be administered by the Board or a committee appointed by the Board that is constituted to comply with applicable laws (including the compensation committee). QuantumScape expects the compensation committee to be the administrator of the ESPP. Subject to the terms of the ESPP, the administrator will have full and exclusive discretionary authority to construe, interpret and apply the terms of the ESPP, to delegate ministerial duties to any of QuantumScape’s employees, to designate separate offerings under the ESPP, to designate subsidiaries and affiliates as participating in the Section 423 Component and the Non-Section 423 Component, to determine eligibility, to adjudicate all disputed claims filed under the ESPP and to establish such

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procedures that it deems necessary or advisable for the administration of the ESPP. The administrator is authorized to adopt rules and procedures in order to: determine eligibility to participate, determine the definition of compensation for the purposes of contributions to the ESPP, handle contributions to the ESPP, coordinate the making of contributions to the ESPP, establish bank or trust accounts to hold contributions to the ESPP, effect the payment of interest, effect the conversion of local currency, satisfy obligations to pay payroll tax, determine beneficiary designation requirements, implement and determine withholding procedures and determine procedures for the handling of stock certificates that vary with applicable local requirements. The administrator will also be authorized to determine that, to the extent permitted by applicable law, the terms of a purchase right granted under the ESPP or an offering to citizens or residents of a non-U.S. jurisdiction will be less favorable than the terms of options granted under the ESPP or the same offering to employees resident solely in the United States. Every finding, decision and determination made by the administrator will, to the full extent permitted by law, be final and binding upon all parties.

Eligibility

Generally, all of QuantumScape’s employees will be eligible to participate if they are customarily employed by us, or any participating subsidiary or affiliate, for at least 20 hours per week and more than five months in any calendar year. The administrator, in its discretion, may, prior to an enrollment date, for all options to be granted on such enrollment date in an offering, determine that an employee who (i) has not completed at least two years of service (or a lesser period of time determined by the administrator) since his or her last hire date, (ii) customarily works not more than 20 hours per week (or a lesser period of time determined by the administrator), (iii) customarily works not more than five months per calendar year (or a lesser period of time determined by the administrator), (iv) is a highly compensated employee within the meaning of Section 414(q) of the Code, or (v) is a highly compensated employee within the meaning of Section 414(q) of the Code with compensation above a certain level or is an officer or subject to disclosure requirements under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act, is or is not eligible to participate in such offering period.

However, an employee may not be granted rights to purchase shares of Class A Common Stock under the ESPP if such employee:

Offering Periods

The ESPP will include a component that allows us to make offerings intended to qualify under Section 423 of the Code and a component that allows us to make offerings not intended to qualify under Section 423 of the Code to designated companies, as described in the ESPP. Offering periods will begin and end on such dates as may be determined by the administrator in its discretion, in each case on a uniform and nondiscriminatory basis, and may contain one or more purchase periods. The administrator may change the duration of offering periods (including commencement dates) with respect to future offerings so long as such change is announced prior to the scheduled beginning of the first offering period affected. No offering period may last more than 27 months.

Contributions

The ESPP will permit participants to purchase shares of Class A Common Stock through contributions (in the form of payroll deductions or otherwise to the extent permitted by the administrator) of up to 15% of their

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eligible compensation, or such other limit established by the administrator from time to time in its discretion and on a uniform and nondiscretionary basis for all options to be granted on an enrollment date in an offering, which includes a participant’s base straight time gross earnings but excludes payments for commissions, incentive compensation, bonuses, payments for overtime and shift premium, equity compensation income and other similar compensation. Unless otherwise determined by the administrator, during any offering period, a participant may not increase the rate of his or her contributions and may only decrease the rate of his or her contributions (including to 0%) one time.

Exercise of Purchase Right

Amounts contributed and accumulated by the participant will be used to purchase shares of Class A Common Stock at the end of each purchase period. A participant may purchase a maximum number of shares of Class A Common Stock during a purchase period as determined by the administrator in its discretion and on a uniform and nondiscriminatory basis. The purchase price of the shares will be determined by the administrator from time to time, in its discretion and on a uniform and nondiscriminatory basis for all options to be granted on an enrollment date, provided that in no event may the purchase price be less than 85% of the lower of the fair market value of Class A Common Stock on the first trading day of the offering period or on the exercise date, which is generally the last trading day of a purchase period. Participants may end their participation at any time during an offering period and will be paid their accrued contributions that have not yet been used to purchase shares of Class A Common Stock. Participation ends automatically upon termination of employment with us.

Termination of Participation

Participation in the ESPP generally will terminate when a participating employee’s employment with us or a designated company ceases for any reason, the employee withdraws from the ESPP or QuantumScape terminates or amends the ESPP such that the employee no longer is eligible to participate. An employee may withdraw his or her participation in the ESPP at any time in accordance with procedures, and prior to any applicable deadline, specified by the administrator. Upon withdrawal from the ESPP, in general the employee will receive all amounts credited to his or her account without interest (unless otherwise required under applicable law) and his or her payroll withholdings or contributions under the ESPP will cease.

Non-Transferability

Neither contributions credited to a participant’s account nor rights to purchase shares of Class A Common Stock and any other rights and interests under the ESPP may be assigned, transferred, pledged or otherwise disposed of (other than by will, the laws of descent and distribution or beneficiary designation in the event of death). Any attempt at such prohibited disposition will be without effect, except that QuantumScape may treat such act as an election to withdraw participation.

Certain Transactions

In the event that any dividend or other distribution (whether in the form of cash, Class A Common Stock, other securities, or other property), recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, reclassification, repurchase, or exchange of shares of Class A Common Stock or QuantumScape’s other securities, or other change in QuantumScape’s corporate structure affecting the Class A Common Stock occurs (other than any ordinary dividends or other ordinary distributions), the administrator, in order to prevent diminution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits intended to be made available under the ESPP in such manner it may deem equitable, will adjust the number and class of Class A Common Stock that may be delivered under the ESPP, the purchase price per share, the number of shares of Class A Common Stock covered by each purchase right under the ESPP that has not yet been exercised, and the numerical limits of the ESPP.

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In the event of QuantumScape’s proposed dissolution or liquidation, any ongoing offering periods will be shortened and will terminate immediately before consummation of the proposed dissolution or liquidation following the purchase of shares of Class A Common Stock under the shortened offering periods, unless provided otherwise by the administrator. Prior to the new exercise date, the administrator will notify participants regarding the new exercise date and the exercise to occur on such date.

In the event of a merger or “change in control” (as defined in the ESPP), each outstanding option under the ESPP will be assumed or substituted for by the successor corporation or its parent or subsidiary. In the event that options are not assumed or substituted for, the offering period will be shortened by setting a new exercise date on which the offering period will end, which will occur prior to the closing of the merger or change in control. Prior to the new exercise date, the administrator will notify participants regarding the new exercise date and the exercise to occur on such date.

Amendment; Termination

The administrator will have the authority to amend, suspend or terminate the ESPP. The ESPP automatically will terminate in 2040, unless QuantumScape terminates it sooner. If the administrator determines that the ongoing operation of the ESPP may result in unfavorable financial accounting consequences, the administrator may modify, amend or terminate the ESPP to reduce or eliminate such accounting consequence. If the ESPP is terminated, the administrator in its discretion may terminate all outstanding offering periods either immediately or after consummation of the purchase of shares of Class A Common Stock under the ESPP (which may be adjusted to occur sooner than originally scheduled), or in accordance with their terms. If options are terminated prior to their expiration, then all amounts credited to participants that have not been used to purchase shares of Class A Common Stock will be returned, without interest (unless otherwise required under applicable law), as soon as administratively practicable.

Outstanding Equity Awards at 2019 Year End

The following table presents information regarding outstanding equity awards held by Legacy QuantumScape’s named executive officers as of December 31, 2019.

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Benefits and Perquisites

QuantumScape provides benefits to its named executive officers on the same basis as provided to all of its employees, including health, dental and vision insurance; life insurance; accidental death and dismemberment insurance; critical illness insurance; short-and long-term disability insurance; a health savings account; a wellness incentive; and a tax-qualified Section 401(k) plan for which no match by QuantumScape is provided. QuantumScape does not maintain any executive-specific benefit or perquisite programs.

Executive Letter Agreements

As a part of the Business Combination, QuantumScape did not enter into new executive employee agreements. Details of the current agreements are outlined below.

Agreements with Howard Lukens

On February 13, 2012, Howard Lukens entered into an offer letter with Legacy QuantumScape to initially serve as Vice President, Sales (the “Lukens Offer Letter”). The Lukens Offer Letter has no specific term and provides that Mr. Lukens is an at-will employee. It also provides for an $180,000 annual base salary, no annual target bonus and initial stock and option grants. The Lukens Offer Letter contains customary confidentiality, non-solicitation and intellectual property assignment provisions.

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Agreements with Michael McCarthy

On January 15, 2013, Michael McCarthy entered into an offer letter with Legacy QuantumScape to initially serve as General Counsel (the “McCarthy Offer Letter”). The McCarthy Offer Letter has no specific term and provides that Mr. McCarthy is an at-will employee. It also provides for a $225,000 annual base salary, no annual target bonus and initial stock and option grants. The McCarthy Offer Letter contains customary confidentiality, non-solicitation and intellectual property assignment provisions.

Retirement Benefits

QuantumScape provides a tax-qualified Section 401(k) plan for all employees, including the named executive officers. QuantumScape does not provide a match for participants’ elective contributions to the 401(k) plan, nor does QuantumScape provide to employees, including its named executive officers, any other retirement benefits, including but not limited to tax-qualified defined benefit plans, supplemental executive retirement plans and nonqualified defined contribution plans.

Potential Payments upon Termination or Change in Control

Prior to the Closing, Legacy QuantumScape did not have a formal plan with respect to severance benefits payable to its named executive officers and other key employees. From time to time, Legacy QuantumScape granted equity awards to, or entered into offer letters with, certain key employees, including its named executive officers, that provide for accelerated vesting of equity awards in the event such key employee’s employment was involuntarily terminated under certain circumstances related to a change in control.

Director Compensation

QuantumScape currently has no formal arrangements under which non-employee directors receive compensation for their service on the Board or its committees. QuantumScape’s policy is to reimburse non-employee directors for reasonable and necessary out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with attending Board and committee meetings or performing other services in their capacities as non-employee directors, and occasionally grants stock options to QuantumScape’s non-employee directors.

The table below summarizes the compensation of each person serving as a Legacy QuantumScape non-employee director for the year ended December 31, 2019. Jagdeep Singh, Legacy QuantumScape’s Chief Executive Officer, did not receive any additional compensation for his service as a director in 2019. The compensation of Mr. Singh as a named executive officer is set forth above under “Legacy QuantumScape’s Executive Compensation—Summary Compensation Table.”

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The following lists all outstanding equity awards held by non-employee directors of Legacy QuantumScape as of December 31, 2019:

The Board expects to review director compensation periodically to ensure that director compensation remains competitive such that QuantumScape is able to recruit and retain qualified directors. QuantumScape intends to develop a non-employee director compensation program that is designed to align compensation with QuantumScape’s business objectives and the creation of stockholder value, while enabling QuantumScape to attract, retain, incentivize and reward directors who contribute to the long-term success of QuantumScape.

Recent Developments

On August 7, 2020, Legacy QuantumScape granted the following restricted stock units, or RSUs, to its named executive officers: Mr. Singh, RSUs for 1,000,000 shares of Class A common stock; Mr. Lukens, RSUs for 100,000 shares of Class A common stock; and Mr. McCarthy, RSUs for 150,000 shares of Class A common stock. Each of the agreements governing these RSUs provide that in the event of a change in control, if the employment of the holder of the RSUs is terminated by QuantumScape without cause or if the holder of the RSUs is constructively terminated within six months following the change of control, then 50% of any unvested RSUs shall immediately vest. On September 2, 2020, Legacy QuantumScape also granted Brad Buss options to purchase 350,000 shares of Class A common stock in connection with Mr. Buss joining the Board.

Post-Business Combination Executive Compensation

QuantumScape intends to develop an executive compensation program that is designed to align compensation with QuantumScape’s business objectives and the creation of stockholder value, while enabling QuantumScape to attract, retain, incentivize and reward individuals who contribute to the long-term success of QuantumScape. Decisions on the executive compensation program will be made by QuantumScape’s compensation committee.

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS, RELATED PARTY AND OTHER TRANSACTIONS

In April 2020, Kensington Capital Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”) subscribed to purchase 5,031,250 shares of the 5,750,000 Class B Common Stock purchased by the Sponsor in a private placement prior to the initial public offering (the “Sponsor Shares”) for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000 and fully paid for these shares on May 1, 2020. On June 25, 2020, Kensington effected a stock dividend of 718,750 shares with respect to Class B Common Stock, resulting in the Sponsor holding an aggregate of 5,750,000 Sponsor Shares. Prior to the initial investment in Kensington of $25,000 by the Sponsor, Kensington had no assets, tangible or intangible. The number of Sponsor Shares issued was determined based on the expectation that such Sponsor Shares would represent 20% of the outstanding shares upon consummation of Kensington’s initial public offering. The Sponsor Shares (including the Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise thereof) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder.

The Sponsor purchased 6,575,000 Private Warrants simultaneously with the consummation of Kensington’s initial public offering. As such, the Sponsor’s interest in Kensington’s initial public offering was valued at $6,575,000. Each Private Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of Class A Common Stock at $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment as provided herein. The Private Warrants (including the warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans and the Class A Common Stock issuable upon exercise of such Private Warrants) may not, subject to certain limited exceptions, be transferred, assigned or sold by the holder. There are no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to the Sponsor Shares or Private Warrants.

Other than a payment to DEHC LLC, an affiliate of Daniel Huber, the Chief Financial Officer of Kensington, of service and administrative fees of $20,000 per month for up to 18 months, no compensation of any kind, including finder’s and consulting fees, were paid by Kensington to the Sponsor, executive officers and directors, or any of their respective affiliates, for services rendered prior to or in connection with the consummation the Business Combination.

On April 17, 2020, the Sponsor agreed to loan Kensington an aggregate of up to $300,000 to cover expenses related to Kensington’s initial public offering pursuant to a note (the “Note”). This loan was non-interest bearing and payable upon the consummation of Kensington’s initial public offering. Kensington borrowed a total of $75,000 under the Note and on November 25, 2020, the Sponsor converted the loan into 75,000 Working Capital Warrants on the same terms as the Private Warrants (as contemplated by the warrant agreement pursuant to which the Private Warrants were issued) upon the consummation of the Business Combination and such Working Capital Warrants were issued to Justin Mirro, who had advanced such amount to the Sponsor in order for the loan to be made.

Stockholder Support Agreements

On September 2, 2020, (i) Kensington and VGA entered into a stockholder support agreement (the “Volkswagen Support Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, VGA agreed, among other things, to vote its shares of preferred stock in favor of the Business Combination Agreement and the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement (the “Transactions”), and (ii) Kensington and certain Legacy QuantumScape stockholders entered into a stockholder support agreement (the “Key Stockholder Support Agreement”), pursuant to which, among other things, the certain Legacy QuantumScape stockholders agreed, among other things, to vote their shares of common stock and preferred stock in favor of the Business Combination Agreement and the Transactions.

Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement

On September 2, 2020, Kensington, Kensington Capital Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Sponsor”) and certain stockholders of Legacy QuantumScape (the “New Holders” and, collectively with the

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Sponsor, the “Holders”) entered into a Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement, which was effective as of the Closing. Pursuant to the terms of the Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement, QuantumScape is obligated to file a registration statement to register the resale of certain shares of Common Stock held by the Holders after the Closing. In addition, pursuant to the terms of the Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement and subject to certain requirements and customary conditions, including with regard to the number of demand rights that may be exercised, the Holders may demand at any time or from time to time, that QuantumScape file a registration statement on Form S-3 (or on Form S-1 if Form S-3 is not available) to register the securities of QuantumScape held by such Holders, and QuantumScape is separately required at all times to maintain an effective resale registration statement for the benefit of the Holders. The Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement will also provide the Holders with “piggy-back” registration rights, subject to certain requirements and customary conditions.

The Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement further provides for the securities of QuantumScape held by the Holders to be locked-up for a period of time following the Closing, subject to certain exceptions.

Subscription Agreements

In connection with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement, effective as of September 2, 2020, Kensington entered into separate subscription agreements (each, a “Subscription Agreement”) with a number of purchasers of the PIPE Shares, pursuant to which the Subscribers agreed to purchase, and Kensington agreed to sell to the Subscribers, the PIPE Shares, for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and an aggregate purchase price of $500 million. Pursuant to the terms of the Subscription Agreements and subject to certain requirements and customary conditions, QuantumScape is required to file and maintain an effective resale registration statement with respect to the PIPE Shares for the benefit of the Subscribers.

The closing of the sale of the PIPE Shares pursuant to the Subscription Agreements was contingent upon, among other customary closing conditions, the substantially concurrent Closing. The purpose of the PIPE was to raise additional capital for use by QuantumScape following the Closing.

Senior Employee Lock-Up Agreements

On September 2, 2020, Kensington entered into separate Senior Employee Lock-Up Agreements with certain senior level employees of Legacy QuantumScape (the “Senior Employees”), including Legacy QuantumScape’s executive officers. The Senior Employee Lock-Up Agreements provide that the securities of QuantumScape owned of record or beneficially by the Senior Employees (including certain securities that may be granted or issued to a Senior Employee after the Closing) (collectively, the “Lock-Up Shares”) may generally not be transferred for at least 180 days after the Closing (the “Initial Lock-Up Period”) and up to four years after the Closing, subject to certain exceptions. Following the Initial Lock-Up Period, Senior Employees may transfer Lock-Up Shares without restriction as follows: (i) during the first year after the Closing, up to 25% of the total number of Lock-Up Shares, (ii) following the first anniversary of the Closing until the earlier of four years after the Closing or the occurrence of an event described below, up to 50% of the total number of Lock-Up Shares (taking into account any transfers under clause (i) above), and (iii) up to an additional 50% of the total number of Lock-Up Shares following satisfaction of agreed delivery requirements between QuantumScape and VGA.

These transfer restrictions are subject to earlier release if (i) QuantumScape completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction after the Closing that results in all of QuantumScape’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of common stock for cash, securities or other property; (ii) VGA terminates for any reason the Amended and Restated Joint Venture Agreement, dated as of May 14, 2020, by and among QuantumScape and VGA; (iii) VGA issues a critical or negative statement regarding QuantumScape and its technology unless such statement is required to be made by VGA under applicable law and is truthful and accurate; or (iv) VGA transfers certain QuantumScape securities in excess of the amounts set forth in the Senior

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Employee Lock-Up Agreements. The Senior Employee Lock-Up Agreements also provide that, upon consummation of the Merger, Kensington or QuantumScape shall pay to each Senior Employee a one-time cash bonus equal to 20% of the Senior Employee’s then annual base salary.

Stockholder Lock-Up Agreements

In connection with the Transactions, on November 25, 2020, Legacy QuantumScape and certain stockholders of Legacy QuantumScape entered into a lock-up agreement, pursuant to which they agreed, subject to customary exceptions, not to transfer shares of Common Stock for a period of 180 days after the Closing Date.

These transfer restrictions are subject to earlier release if (i) the last consecutive trading day where the sale price of the Common Stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Closing or (ii) such date on which QuantumScape completes a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of QuantumScape’s stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of Common Stock for cash, securities or other property.

Indemnification Agreements

In connection with the Transactions, on November 25, 2020, QuantumScape entered into indemnification agreements with each of its directors and executive officers. These indemnification agreements provide the directors and executive officers with contractual rights to indemnification and advancement for certain expenses, including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines and settlement amounts incurred by a director or executive officer in any action or proceeding arising out of their services as one of QuantumScape’s directors or executive officers or as a director or executive officer of any other company or enterprise to which the person provides services at QuantumScape’s request.

The limitation of liability and indemnification provisions in the Certificate of Incorporation and the Bylaws may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against directors for breach of their fiduciary duties. They may also reduce the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though an action, if successful, might benefit QuantumScape and its stockholders. A stockholder’s investment may decline in value to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

First VGA Letter Agreement on Board Representation

On September 2, 2020, Kensington, Legacy QuantumScape and VGA entered into a letter agreement (the “First VGA Letter Agreement”) pursuant to which, subject to the terms of such letter agreement, QuantumScape will cause to be nominated one designee of VGA for election to the Board as part of QuantumScape’s slate and, from and after the First Closing (as defined under the Series F Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement between Legacy QuantumScape and VGA, dated May 14, 2020), a second designee of VGA.

Second VGA Letter Agreement on Board Representation

On December 7, 2020, QuantumScape, Legacy QuantumScape and VGA amended and restated the First VGA Letter Agreement to provide that (i) in connection with any annual or special meeting of stockholders of QuantumScape, QuantumScape nominate for election to the Board two designees of VGA (each, a “VW Director”), with such designation rights terminating upon certain circumstances and (ii) QuantumScape shall cause one VW Director to be appointed to the nominating and corporate governance committee of the Board, provided that such VW Director fulfills the independence requirements under applicable NYSE rules.

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VGA Letter Agreement on Earmarked Funds

On September 2, 2020, Kensington, Legacy QuantumScape and VGA entered into a letter agreement pursuant to which, subject to the terms of such letter agreement, Kensington and Legacy QuantumScape covenant that QuantumScape will reserve a certain portion of the proceeds from the Series F Preferred Stock financing and the capital obtained through the Merger (including any concurrent “PIPE” financing) in a separate account to fully fund QuantumScape’s future contributions to QSV pursuant to Section 3.6 of the LLCA (as defined below). The parties agreed that the amount to be held in the separate account was $134 million as of the date of the First VGA Letter Agreement.

Equity Financings

Series F Preferred Stock Financing

From May 14, 2020 through September 3, 2020, Legacy QuantumScape entered into several Series F Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements and related agreements and amendments thereto, pursuant to which it agreed to sell, and related persons, entities and their affiliates agreed to purchase, an aggregate of 14,041,437 shares of Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock for an aggregate purchase price of $371,000,040.17 as set forth below. The closing of these Series F Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements is subject to certain conditions including, with respect to VGA only, the achievement of a specified technical milestone by March 31, 2021, as set forth in such agreements. The Series F Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement with VGA (as amended) contains provisions pursuant to which, if the relevant closing of such Series F Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement (in whole or in part) were to occur only after effectiveness of the Merger, VGA has agreed to purchase, and Kensington has agreed to issue, instead of the relevant number of shares of Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock to be purchased at such closing, such number of shares of Class A Common Stock as would have been issued in the Merger in exchange for such shares of Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock if they had been outstanding prior to the Merger.

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Series E Preferred Stock Financing

From September 11, 2018 through December 7, 2018, Legacy QuantumScape sold an aggregate of 4,806,296 shares of its Series E Preferred Stock for an aggregate purchase price of $107,390,435.95 to related persons, entities and their affiliates as set forth below.

Series D Preferred Stock Financing

On February 15, 2017, Legacy QuantumScape sold an aggregate of 497,199 shares of its Series D Preferred Stock for an aggregate purchase price of $10,000,014.33 to VW Credit, Inc. Frank Blome was a member of the board of directors of Legacy QuantumScape and is a member of the Board and is an affiliate of VW Credit, Inc.

Commercial Agreements

Agreements with Volkswagen

Joint Venture Agreement

In June 2018, Legacy QuantumScape and VGA formed a 50-50 joint venture entity, QSV, to facilitate the commercialization of Legacy QuantumScape’s solid-state battery technology and enable Volkswagen to be the first automotive OEM to utilize this technology. In 2018, the parties made an initial equity investment to the joint venture of approximately $3 million in total. The joint venture agreements were amended in 2020 in connection with a further $200 million investment commitment by VGA in Legacy QuantumScape Series F Preferred Stock.

Limited Liability Company Agreement

In June 2018, in connection with the joint venture, QSV was organized in connection with entry into a Limited Liability Agreement (the “LLCA”), with Legacy QuantumScape and VGA designated as the members of QSV. In May 2020, the parties amended and restated the LLCA in connection with the amendment to the joint venture agreement.

Phase 1 License Agreement

In May 2020, in connection with the joint venture, Legacy QuantumScape entered into a license agreement with QSV (which amended and restated a license agreement entered into in September 2018) to license its battery technology. The battery technology that is licensed to the joint venture does not include the right to manufacture Legacy QuantumScape’s proprietary solid-state separator.

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Common IP License Agreements

In May 2020, in connection with the joint venture, Legacy QuantumScape entered into a license agreement with Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (which amended and restated a license agreement entered into in September 2018) to license certain intellectual property on a royalty free basis in connection with production and manufacturing of solid-state battery cells in the automotive space.

Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement

In January 2017, Legacy QuantumScape entered into, and in April 2018 amended, a mutual non-disclosure agreement with Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. to provide to each other certain proprietary, confidential and trade secret information in connection with discussion and negotiations regarding potential cooperation in connection with the development and production of battery cells and related components, including research and development regarding production process.

Employment Agreements

Legacy QuantumScape entered into employment agreements and offer letter agreements with certain of its executive officers. See the section titled “Executive Compensation—Executive Letter Agreements.”

Related Person Transactions Policy Following the Business Combination

Upon the Closing, the Board adopted a written Related Person Transactions Policy that sets forth QuantumScape’s policies and procedures regarding the identification, review, consideration and oversight of “related person transactions.” For purposes of QuantumScape’s policy only, a “related person transaction” is a transaction, arrangement or relationship (or any series of similar transactions, arrangements or relationships) in which QuantumScape or any of its subsidiaries are participants involving an amount that exceeds $120,000, in which any “related person” has a material interest.

Transactions involving compensation for services provided to QuantumScape as an employee, consultant or director will not be considered related person transactions under this policy. A related person is any executive officer, director, nominee to become a director or a holder of more than 5% of any class of QuantumScape’s voting securities (including Common Stock), including any of their immediate family members and affiliates, including entities owned or controlled by such persons.

Under the policy, the related person in question or, in the case of transactions with a holder of more than 5% of any class of QuantumScape’s voting securities, an officer with knowledge of a proposed transaction, must present information regarding the proposed related person transaction to QuantumScape’s audit committee (or, where review by QuantumScape’s audit committee would be inappropriate, to another independent body of the Board) for review. To identify related person transactions in advance, QuantumScape will rely on information supplied by QuantumScape’s executive officers, directors and certain significant stockholders. In considering related person transactions, QuantumScape’s audit committee will take into account the relevant available facts and circumstances, which may include, but are not limited to:

QuantumScape’s audit committee will approve only those transactions that it determines are fair to us and in QuantumScape’s best interests. All of the transactions described above were entered into prior to the adoption of such policy.

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PRINCIPAL SECURITYHOLDERS

The following table sets forth information regarding beneficial ownership of our Common Stock as of December 23, 2020 (unless otherwise specified), as adjusted to reflect the Class A Common Stock that may be sold from time to time pursuant to this prospectus, for:

Beneficial ownership is determined according to the rules of the SEC, which generally provide that a person has beneficial ownership of a security if he, she or it possesses sole or shared voting or investment power over that security, including options and warrants that are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days.

The beneficial ownership percentages set forth in the table below are based on 207,696,594 shares of our Class A Common Stock and 156,263,710 shares of our Class B Common Stock issued and outstanding as of December 23, 2020 and do not take into account the following:

Unless otherwise noted in the footnotes to the following table, and subject to applicable community property laws, the persons and entities named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to their beneficially owned common stock and preferred stock.

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Unless otherwise indicated, the address of each beneficial owner listed on the table below is c/o QuantumScape Corporation, 1730 Technology Drive, San Jose, California 95110.

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Please see the sections titled “Management,” “Executive Compensation” and “Certain Relationships, Related Party and Other Transactions” appearing elsewhere in this prospectus for information regarding material relationships with our selling securityholders within the past three years.

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SELLING SECURITYHOLDERS

The selling securityholders acquired the Class A Common Stock, Private Warrants, and Working Capital Warrants from us in private offerings pursuant to exemptions from registration under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act in connection with the PIPE and private placements concurrent with Kensington’s initial public offering and the Closing. Pursuant to the Registration Rights and Lock-Up Agreement and the Subscription Agreements, we agreed to file a registration statement with the SEC for the purposes of registering for resale the Private Warrants (and Class A Common Stock that may be issued upon exercise of the Private Warrants) and all of the shares of Class A Common Stock issued to the Subscribers.

The following table sets forth, based on written representations from the selling securityholders, certain information as of December 23, 2020 regarding the beneficial ownership of our Common Stock, Private Warrants, and Working Capital Warrants by the selling securityholders and the shares of Common Stock, Private Warrants, and Working Capital Warrants being offered by the selling securityholders as set forth below and do not reflect any other Company securities that the selling securityholder may own beneficially or otherwise:

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Unless specifically indicated in the footnotes therein, the shares of Common Stock offered by the selling securityholders hereunder do not include:

The applicable percentage ownership of Common Stock is based on approximately 207,696,594 shares of our Class A Common Stock and 156,236,710 shares of our Class B Common Stock outstanding as of December 23, 2020 unless otherwise noted. Information with respect to shares of Class A Common Stock, Private Warrants, and Working Capital Warrants owned beneficially after the offering assumes the sale of all of the shares of Class A Common Stock, Private Warrants, and Working Capital Warrants offered and no other purchases or sales of our Class A Common Stock, Private Warrants, and Working Capital Warrants. The selling securityholders may offer and sell some, all or none of their shares of Class A Common Stock, Private Warrants, or Working Capital Warrants, as applicable.

We have determined beneficial ownership in accordance with the rules of the SEC. Except as indicated by the footnotes below, we believe, based on the information furnished to us, that the selling securityholders have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of Class A Common Stock that they beneficially own, subject to applicable community property laws. Except as otherwise described below, based on the information provided to us by the selling securityholders, no selling securityholder is a broker-dealer or an affiliate of a broker-dealer.

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