Colorado based Solid Power has signed a licensing deal with BMW Group with an up-front payment of $20 million for its solid state battery technology. BMW will build its own pilot plant in Germany and Solid Power will provide a sulfide-based electrolyte. It has been saying it will make batteries ahead of market leader QuantumScape, which will have a factory in 2024. But the Solid schedule has slipped twice. It has had a deal with both Ford and BMW since 2019, and has taken several rounds of funding from them both. To us this is not so much a sign of confidence as impatience that it the battery has not materialized, and BMW thinking it can do better. QuantumScape took…