QuantumScape loses manufacturing chief over management style mismatch – TechCrunch

Celina Mikolajczak, who has held senior roles at Tesla and Panasonic, resigned from QuantumScape fewer than a 12 months right after using the chief manufacturing officer placement at the reliable-condition battery business, in accordance to a regulatory filing.

Mikolajczak and QuantumScape are parting ways around “differing management models concerning the get-togethers,” the submitting with the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee states. Mikolajczak will go to an advisory function on the company’s scientific advisory board.

She intends to emphasis her career on the advancement of a entirely U.S.-based mostly battery source chain, according to the submitting.

Shares of QuantumScape fell 7.7% to shut at $10.15, close to its 52-week low of $10.

The departure wraps up a quickly and furious partnership amongst the corporation and Mikolajczak.

A small in excess of a year in the past, Mikolajczak took a board seat at QuantumScape. She was nonetheless vice president of battery engineering at Panasonic Strength of North America when she joined the board, telling TechCrunch at the time that her employer “graciously permitted her” to choose the appointment.

A thirty day period later, QuantumScape declared Mikolajczak would join the organization as vice president of manufacturing engineering, starting in July. She resigned from the board in connection with accepting the offer. In her new function, Mikolajczak was charged with top the changeover of the company’s instruments and production procedures from investigation and improvement to manufacturing, QuantumScape explained in a regulatory filing at the time.

The choosing appeared to be a boon for each functions.

QuantumScape, which had risen to buzzy prominence just after Volkswagen Group invested far more than $500 million, struck a offer in September 2020 to merge with a particular goal acquisition firm, Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. The capital lifted by the community markets would give QuantumScape the boost it necessary to commercialize sound-point out batteries for electric powered motor vehicles.

Meanwhile, Mikolajczak had the kind of knowledge QuantumScape would will need to scale.

Mikolajczak has a lengthy record of exploring and building superior lithium-ion batteries. Her specialized consulting observe at Exponent targeted on lithium-ion mobile and battery security and quality. She then took a senior management situation at Tesla that was focused on cell good quality and elements engineering. All through her time at Tesla, Mikolajczak created the battery cells and packs for Tesla’s Design S, Model X, Model 3 and Roadster Refresh.

Following leaving Tesla, Mikolajczak went on to serve as director of engineering, focusing on battery growth for rideshare vehicles at Uber Technologies. And in 2019, she joined Panasonic Power of North The us, where she was vice president of battery technological innovation. Even though at Panasonic, Mikolajczak led a crew concentrated on bettering lithium-ion cell producing and bringing the hottest cell systems to mass creation for Tesla at the Gigafactory facility in Sparks, Nevada.