In January, a Finnish-Estonian startup proclaimed it had developed a very stable state battery, a holy grail for the know-how trade. Donut Labs’ cell wasn’t simply stable state, nonetheless. It claimed it was created from low cost and simply accessible supplies, would cost to full in a couple of minutes and final for a whole bunch of years. If actual, such a tool would change the face of the world, which is why loads of individuals don’t assume it’s. And, as the corporate makes extra effort to display it’s telling the reality, the extra holes persons are discovering to poke their fingers into. So, what the hell is happening with Donut Labs’ battery? After many weeks of analysis, I’m throwing my palms within the air, uninterested in the countless canine and pony present the corporate is placing on.
Strong state batteries
Standard batteries have improved rather a lot in the previous couple of a long time however stay imperfect in some ways. Cells present in electronics and EVs generally use liquid or gel polymer as an electrolyte. These electrolytes are the reason for thermal runaway, the place the warmth of a battery will increase exponentially, and might turn out to be a major explanation for battery failure and hearth. Plus, they’re fairly fussy, requiring a constant temperature for peak efficiency and to be handled fairly delicately. It’s why the trade has raced to develop a stable state battery that eliminates the liquid or gel polymer.
Due to their larger vitality density, stable state batteries must be lighter and smaller per watt than standard batteries. These advantages could be loved extensively however are important for an EV the place weight and dimension dictate a lot of the way it operates. Strong state batteries are at far much less threat of thermal runaway, and may work in a a lot wider temperature window. Now, we’re already seeing loads of semi-solid batteries coming into the market, with fully-solid cells anticipated within the close to future. Chinese language battery big CATL informed BatteriesNews on the finish of 2025 that its first small-scale manufacturing of stable state batteries is anticipated to start in 2027. Nevertheless, these first manufacturing runs are prone to be restricted reasonably than international rollouts.
Donut Lab
Enter Donut Lab. The startup is a subsidiary of Finnish motorbike maker Verge Bikes, well-known for its Tron-style hubless (in-wheel) rear-wheel motor. Verge says it has constructed the “world’s strongest electrical motor household,” and that it made “all of the parts wanted to construct an electrical car.” Verge’s motors have since been integrated into Longbow Motors’ lately introduced Speedster EV.
At CES 2026, Donut Lab introduced it had constructed the world’s “first full all-solid-state battery.” It mentioned this wasn’t only a prototype, however was “able to energy up manufacturing autos now.” In a shiny promotional video, the corporate mentioned it had solved the problems the entire trade had been working to resolve for many years. There was nothing however upside, with not one of the trade-offs its rivals had been pressured to make whereas growing their very own stable state batteries. And, it was able to be integrated into EVs beginning right now. Verge Bikes introduced it might add the battery into its TS Professional, with shipments anticipated to start Q1 2026.
Donut Labs’ battery
The corporate’s in depth listing of claims begins by saying the cell has an vitality density of 400Wh per kilogram, roughly twice the vitality density of the most effective lithium ion battery available on the market. Proper now, you must anticipate to get round 1,000 cost and discharge cycles out of any half-decent battery. Donut Labs is promising its cell will final for a whopping 100,000 cycles, even if you happen to’re fast-charging the cell. The corporate guarantees customers will have the ability to attain an 80 p.c cost from zero in round 5 minutes, and get to full in beneath six. Donut mentioned the cell provides a “clay-like” freedom of design, adapting to the particular wants of a selected product, reasonably than the opposite means round.
Naturally, pumping all of that energy into such a small cell will imply it’ll want quite a lot of babying, proper? Not in accordance with Donut Lab, which says its battery will function in temperatures as little as -30 levels Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) or as sizzling as 100 levels Celsius (212 Fahrenheit). And, to high it off, it’s created from frequent, easily-available and low cost supplies that are “geopolitically protected,” reasonably than from rare-earth minerals typically held by rival nations. All of which means the cell might be cheaper to supply than the equal lithium ion cell and, better of all, Donut mentioned the battery is prepared for scaled manufacturing.
A battery that promised some of those options could be world-changing; one providing all of them could be world-shattering. It will upend provide chains, shift the worldwide stability of energy, probably remove reliance on so-called uncommon earth minerals and supercharge EV adoption. However Donut Lab provided no proof for its claims, no trace as to what its course of was primarily based upon, and no signal it had the manufacturing capability to ship on its guarantees. Naturally, lots of people simply didn’t imagine what they had been seeing and listening to, and referred to as BS.
Individuals are suspicious
Yang Hongqin, CEO of Chinese language battery maker Svolt, was quoted by CarNewsChina as saying “any particular person with even a fundamental understanding of the know-how would assume it’s a rip-off.” Finnish newspaper Iltalehti reported that CATL’s enterprise capital head Ulderico Ulissi described the matter as “clearly pretend.” That remark prompted Donut CEO Marko Lehtimäki to reply on LinkedIn, saying that Ulissi would “remorse the conceitedness.” Tom Bötticher, CEO of battery startup Litona, posted on LinkedIn his perception Donut’s know-how is definitely tied to an organization Donut invested in, Nordic Nano. Bötticher discovered a pitch deck, which is not accessible (however is right here on the Web Archive) which described Nordic’s vitality storage know-how as a supercapacitor.
Some have identified that Lehtimäki has a monitor report of constructing robust claims about his merchandise. On Might 15, 2025, he introduced an AI startup, ASILAB, and mentioned in a equally shiny launch video that his crew had created a “artificial counterpart” to the human mind. Its first product, ASINOID, Lehtimäki mentioned, is a “dynamic self-developing organism designed to develop in functionality and in consciousness.” The corporate mentioned it might open up entry to ASINOID, however I’ve been unable to seek out any proof that any such entry has been granted. ASILAB has not responded to our request for remark.
Equally salty write-ups may be present in ElectronicDesign, MIT Tech Evaluation, Fascinating Engineering, InsideEVs and nearly each Reddit, YCombinator and Hacker Information thread discussing the know-how.
I Donut Imagine.com
In response to the minor social media backlash, Donut Labs went on the offensive. It launched the web site IDonutBelieve.com promising a weekly drop of so-called proof to assist its claims. In a cultured video introduction, Lehtimäki mentioned the criticism comes from events with vested pursuits, equivalent to rivals. He addressed the above assault strains instantly, saying individuals have been assembling theories from scraps of on-line knowledge to create an unfaithful image. He additionally denied claims the battery was a supercapacitor.
In the identical video, Lehtimäki mentioned the media has amplified “so-called specialists” from the battery trade, taking their opinions at “face worth.” Naturally, rival researchers who would stand to achieve by taking down a possible challenger have a pure want to garbage Donut’s claims. However as a result of a lot of them are credentialled specialists within the area, their authority was elevated above his personal.
Crucially, Lehtimäki mentioned Donut didn’t publish validation checks on the time of announcement as it might have been equally dismissed by those self same biased voices. By holding the proof again, he mentioned it pressured Donut’s rivals to primarily present their hand, making it simpler to refute them. To take action, Donut engaged VTT Finland, a government-owned analysis group which provides testing providers to 3rd events. VTT has performed particular checks on cells provided by Donut, the outcomes of which the corporate has launched piecemeal over a number of weeks.
It’s necessary to notice that VTT’s experiences do not make any statements which might be seen to assist Donut’s claims. As an illustration, it says it was requested to “conduct unbiased charging efficiency checks on the vitality storage gadgets provided by the shopper, which the shopper recognized as solid-state battery cells.”
The checks
Donut Lab revealed a take a look at for 5 weeks, every one every one designed to indicate off one key characteristic of the battery. Take a look at One noticed VTT quick cost a cell past the restrict of an everyday battery, after which it nonetheless had near 100% of its cost accessible to be used. In Take a look at Two, VTT charged the cell to full, after which discharged it in high-temperature environments. As soon as that was completed, the cell was charged once more at a standard temperature, however researchers famous that the pouch misplaced vacuum. Donut Lab later mentioned the vacuum loss was brought on by the packaging supplies not with the ability to stand up to the temperature, reasonably than a problem with the battery itself.
A VTT spokesperson informed me “throughout the remaining stage of producing, all gases are faraway from the cell, and the cell is sealed tightly beneath vacuum situations. The cell feels agency. If the cell loses its vacuum, it often turns into barely gentle and swollen.” Primarily, if a battery loses its vacuum, it means it’s began swelling, which is seen within the pictures from the report. Swelling is deadly to a conventional lithium ion battery and, probably, the gadget it’s linked to.
Take a look at Three presupposed to disprove the concept that Donut was secretly promoting a supercapacitor, so VTT charged the cell to full and let it sit idle for 10 days. On the finish of that point, the cost stage of the battery appeared to carry regular, with a small drop generally seen in all batteries. Which appeared to substantiate the cell was a battery, reasonably than a capacitor which can wrestle to carry its cost over longer durations of time. Take a look at 4 was performed by Donut Lab itself, taking a prototype of its battery in a Verge motorbike to a quick charger. The cell had a rated capability of 18kWh and it was charged from 9 p.c to 80 p.c — round 14.5kWh — in 12 minutes.
Take a look at 5 targeted on the cell from Take a look at Two which misplaced its vacuum, to show it was not damaged. VTT’s report says it cycled the damaged cell 50 occasions (as much as 90 p.c of its full cost) to see what occurred. VTT’s researchers mentioned it was attainable to cycle the cell, however that its capability started to degrade after the primary few, and by the top of the method, it had fallen to just about half of its unique determine. The cell itself had swelled, nonetheless, with VTT saying “the cell thickness had elevated by 17 p.c, and the cell pouch was agency.” Donut Lab boasted that whereas a lithium ion battery on this situation would probably explode, its personal cell nonetheless labored.
When contacted, VTT mentioned it did full an task for Donut Lab however declined to make any particular touch upon confidential consumer assignments.
On March 31, Verge Bikes posted a video claiming the TS Professional Gen 2, the primary to hold Donut’s stable state battery, was able to ship. Given March 31 is the final day of Q1, it’s the most recent attainable day the corporate might announce this and say it has honored its promise. The accompanying write-up mentioned the bike will ship with both a standard-range 20kWh battery with a spread of 350km (217 miles) or a long-range 33kWh battery that ought to run for 600km (372 miles).
April 1
Then, on April 1, the corporate posted a video starting with a fakeout scene of Lehtimäki admitting the entire thing had been a rip-off. One laborious minimize later, and the clip pivots right into a Q&A, with an off-screen interviewer asking why anybody would imagine Lehtimäki on April Fools Day. He dryly responded that folks don’t imagine him the remainder of the time, however that the paradox offered by the event was a profit. He would have the ability to communicate extra freely with much less concern of censure, or so he claimed.
Lehtimäki mentioned the collection of I Donut Imagine checks already revealed had been one other a part of his “3D chess” technique to get battery rivals to indicate their hand. And that the checks undertaken by VTT had been on a first-generation battery whereas the corporate was already engaged on the second. He did concede that the claims round cycle life had been primarily based on estimates, and that in the event that they wished to show it, they’d have wanted to start out testing a decade or extra in the past. However he batted away questions on vitality density, weight and dimension, saying you “wouldn’t ask a girl her age, and also you by no means ask a battery its weight.” He added these questions could be answered in future, in additional episodes of the I Donut Imagine “full multimedia expertise.”
Donut Lab (YouTube)
Consequently, the weekly video collection will proceed till the complete particulars of the primary technology battery have been revealed. Lehtimäki then teased that this cell could be delivery, and the movies will shift focus to the second-generation cell with much better specs. However producing the I Donut Imagine collection — which, it’s price mentioning is a advertising and marketing perform of the corporate making an attempt to promote us a brand new product — was pricey, and had run over funds, which has led the corporate to open its personal merch retailer, together with $70 t-shirts and $141 hoodies.
When you’re already going through credible accusations of perpetuating a rip-off, and your massive reveal is to double down on misdirection, it’s not look. Lehtimäki ended the video by speaking about how a lot better Donut Labs’ second-generation battery was, with a staged outtake displaying a notepad itemizing the specs for a third-generation battery with 1,000 Wh/kg vitality density, 100C cost pace and sturdiness for one million cycles — because of be introduced at a future CES.
Evaluation
The discharge of those checks has seen components of the web have interaction in a near-Zapruder stage of interrogation. Folks have pored over each aspect of the experiences and movies making an attempt to work out what precisely is inside Donut Lab’s battery. A variety of distinguished YouTubers have produced deep dives on the matter, every one claiming the cell is actual, or not. There are numerous Reddit threads the place persons are choosing aside the voltage graphs and claims within the experiences. And it appears each week there’s a new revelation about what Donut’s know-how is and the place it got here from. Loads of individuals on-line are chasing down threads tied to vitality know-how firms like Holyvolt and CT-Coating, or inspecting the cost graphs in opposition to a nickel manganese cobalt cell. I’ll spare you the small print (for now). Finnish newspaper Kauppalehti decried the outcomes of the fifth take a look at, saying the cell didn’t lose its vacuum. It quoted Finnish battery knowledgeable Juho Heiska, who mentioned the corporate has simply used a conventional cell that’s sufficiently hardy to resist this abuse within the brief time period.
Donut Labs (YouTube)
Even to a non-expert, there’s clearly a niche between what Donut promised and what its checks are displaying. As an illustration, the corporate mentioned it might have the ability to quick cost a Verge TS to full in lower than 10 minutes. However, in Take a look at 4, it took 12 minutes to get from 9 p.c to 80 p.c — not a nasty charging time, however actually not as swift as the corporate pledged. That mentioned, if we take the corporate’s claims at face worth, then with the ability to quick cost a battery at that kind of pace with simply air cooling is noteworthy. At the least, it is going to be if you are able to do that commonly, and one or two journeys to the charger don’t go away you with what Reddit likes to name a Spicy Pillow afterward.
Sadly, it’s been troublesome to seek out battery researchers prepared to go on the report about Donut Labs. I sought out specialists in academia who weren’t tied to trade backing, and so wouldn’t be accused of getting a vested curiosity within the matter. However all of them refused to go on the report. A couple of I contacted mentioned they had been nicely conscious of the saga, and had loads of emotions in regards to the matter. However they had been unwilling to show themselves to the possibly intensive social media scrutiny that comes from weighing in.
I’m Donut skeptical
Personally, I’ve been suspicious of how Donut Labs has gone about demonstrating its know-how. In spite of everything, if you happen to had been really assured about your product and its know-how, you’d absolutely have the ability to share fundamental details about it. Desk stakes stuff, like the load and dimension of the battery cell you handed over for testing. As ElectronicDesign notes, knowledge like that might assist us all see if its vitality density claims maintain water. As an alternative, the corporate has engaged in an ornate kabuki which solely serves to additional undermine its case. You’ll be able to go a great distance on the again of little or no belief, however the grander the guarantees get and the much less keen you might be to share proof, the quicker that belief evaporates.
And, you understand how somebody spends quite a lot of time speaking round one thing, in order to not be caught in a deliberate lie? Donut Labs’ movies can really feel rather a lot like that, since there are such a lot of issues it’s deliberately not making clear. Fairly than taking the prospect to supply even a small quantity of substantive proof to assist its preliminary claims, it has as an alternative moved the goalposts. So, reasonably than speaking in regards to the efficacy of its first-generation product, it’s dangling the second and third in entrance of us to hopefully distract us.
Look, I need to be even-handed, and provides the corporate the fairest shake that I can, and clearly if the cell can ship on its guarantees, I’ll be overjoyed. However we’ve all seen scams earlier than, and till Donut Lab begins providing up much more knowledge, it hasn’t earned something near the good thing about the doubt.
