In the first quarter of 2026, the global energy storage market is no longer a playground for visionaries... it is a graveyard for the undercapitalized. The data is rough. As of March 2025, QuantumScape (NYSE: QS) sat on $860 million in cash against a trailing twelve-month burn rate of $331 million. This 2.6-year window is the "valley of death" made manifest in a ledger. While the early 2020s were fueled by the speculative highs of SPAC mergers and theoretical energy density, the 2026 market has pivoted to "Balance Sheet Engineering." Success…