Solid Power sells the material inside a solid state battery to BMW, Samsung SDI and SK On, rather than building the battery itself

A material, not a finished battery

Solid Power does not build a finished car battery. It makes a sulfide based solid electrolyte, the material inside a solid state battery that carries charge between the 2 electrodes, the parts that store and release energy. In its second quarter 2026 results, the company states its business model plainly, selling that electrolyte to cell manufacturers and licensing its cell designs and manufacturing process to them, a model it says sets it apart from competitors planning to build batteries themselves.

3 partners named

The company names 3 partners running that model today. Samsung SDI receives electrolyte samples under a joint evaluation agreement, an agreement to test the material together before committing to it, that it shares with BMW. SK On finished installing and testing a pilot cell manufacturing line, a small factory line used to prove a product before building at full scale, built around the electrolyte from Solid Power. That triggered a milestone payment, a payment tied to finishing a set task, in the second quarter of 2026, though the company states no dollar figure for it. BMW develops the battery pack and modules around cells Samsung SDI makes from the electrolyte, according to Electrek, which independently reported the 3 way arrangement.

BMW already road tested it

The relationship with BMW goes beyond a sampling agreement on paper. In May 2025, independently reported by Electrek, BMW road tested a modified i7 sedan using solid state battery cells from Solid Power, months before the 3 way partnership with Samsung SDI was announced in October 2025. BMW has stated it expects to launch all solid state batteries in production vehicles around 2030.

We advanced our electrolyte technology and executed on our roadmap toward scalable production.

John Van Scoter, President and Chief Executive Officer of Solid Power. Source 3.

The business is small and expensive to run

Solid Power reported 21.7 million dollars in revenue and grant income in 2025, up from 20.1 million dollars in 2024, while losing 93.4 million dollars the same year. Revenue and grant income briefly turned negative in the second quarter of 2026, at negative 0.3 million dollars, which the company ties to a 1.2 million dollar accounting reversal on a changed milestone assumption. Net loss, the amount by which spending exceeded what came in, grew to 23.8 million dollars that quarter.

Cash still on hand

Solid Power expects to spend 85 million to 100 million dollars more in 2026 finishing a continuous electrolyte production pilot line, according to its own guidance. It carried 419.3 million dollars in total liquidity, cash plus investments the company can quickly turn into cash, at the end of June 2026, after raising 130 million dollars in a January 2026 stock offering, a sale of new shares to raise cash.