- Donut Lab will release evidence that its solid-state battery is the real deal next week.
- The pack has been independently tested by a state-owned research firm, the company claims.
- If the claims are true, the battery world could see a massive disruption.
Donut Lab, the Finnish startup that stunned the auto industry at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show with bold claims of a production-ready all-solid-state battery, says it’s now ready to show its work. In a newly released video, the company said it will publish independent evidence backing up its technology, after weeks of skepticism and backlash from the industry.
According to the startup, its battery has been independently tested by the state-owned VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The results will be rolled out in a video series starting Monday, February 23 and will also be published on a new website created specifically to address critics called idonutbelieve.com.
“We are making this series to put measurable evidence in public view so people can separate what’s asserted from what’s verified,” Donut Lab CEO Marko Lehtimaki said in a YouTube video released Friday. “It’s a mind-blowingly big breakthrough that we’re bringing to the market,” he added.
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Source: Patrick George
For years, some of the world’s largest battery manufacturers have been trying to develop solid-state batteries, widely regarded as the holy grail of battery technology. In theory, the batteries promise more driving range than today’s lithium-ion packs, faster charging speeds, better extreme weather performance and immunity to explosive thermal runaway. But nearly everyone in the industry agrees on one thing: the tech isn’t ready yet and likely won’t be for several more years.
This broad consenses among solid-state battery startups and established battery makers alike is why the Donut Lab claims went viral. The startup said its all-solid-state battery will be installed in a Verge Motorcycles production vehicle in the first quarter of this year. The battery is claimed to have 400 watt-hours per kilogram of energy density, much higher than 200-300 Wh/kg of today’s lithium-ion packs.
It can apparently charge in under 10 minutes, and last 100,000 cycles, significantly more than today’s lithium-ion batteries, which last around 1,500-3,000 cycles. No toxic or rare earth materials are involved in its production either. And the company says it works in temperatures ranging from -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) to 100C (212F).
Photo by: Patrick George
But at CES, no hard evidence, live demonstrations, patent disclosures, or academic research accompanied those claims. The industry response was swift and unforgiving, including skepticism from experts I spoke to. In the new video, Lehtimaki acknowledged that the skepticism has real consequences, saying louder doubts make it harder to raise capital needed to scale the technology. That’s one of the reasons the company is now going public with its test data.
He also took direct aim at established battery makers who dismissed Donut Lab outright. “Some of the world’s largest battery manufacturers have already publicly called Donut battery a scam, saying that the specifications cannot be true,” Lehtimaki said. “Is that somehow surprising? If years, or even decades of their work, haven’t produced the winning technology, somebody has to explain why. And sometimes denial is the easiest way out,” he added.
Photo by: Patrick George
Lehtimaki went further, arguing that incumbents rarely welcome rapid disruption and that Donut Lab’s technology represents a clear threat to the status quo. “It’s human to resist the idea that a group of outsiders changed the game,” he said.
For its part, Verge Motorcycles told InsideEVs earlier this month that production and deliveries of its motorcycle equipped with the solid-state battery remain on track for the first quarter of this year. However, the company cautioned that new orders won’t be delivered until late this year, or possibly next year, due to extremely limited initial production.
“No, it’s not a scam. And yes, it will change the industry,” Lehtimaki said.
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