What’s happening with Donut Lab?

In January, a Finnish-Estonian startup proclaimed it had developed a really strong state battery, a holy grail for the know-how trade. Donut Labs’ cell wasn’t simply strong state, nevertheless. It claimed it was constituted of low-cost and simply out there supplies, would cost to full in a couple of minutes and final for a whole lot 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 show it’s telling the reality, the extra holes individuals are discovering to poke their fingers into. So, what the hell is occurring with Donut Labs’ battery? After many weeks of analysis, I’m throwing my fingers within the air, uninterested in the infinite canine and pony present the corporate is placing on.

Strong state batteries

Standard batteries have improved loads in the previous few 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 may turn out to be a main reason 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 strong state battery that eliminates the liquid or gel polymer.

Due to their larger power density, strong state batteries ought to be lighter and smaller per watt than typical batteries. These advantages can be loved broadly however are very important for an EV the place weight and measurement 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 large CATL instructed on the finish of 2025 that its first small-scale manufacturing of strong 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 . 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 automobile.” Verge’s motors have since been included into lately introduced Speedster EV.

At CES 2026, Donut Lab it had constructed the world’s “first full all-solid-state battery.” It stated this wasn’t only a prototype, however was “able to energy up manufacturing automobiles now.” In a shiny promotional video, the corporate stated it had solved the problems the entire trade had been working to unravel for many years. There was nothing however upside, with not one of the trade-offs its opponents had been pressured to make whereas growing their very own strong state batteries. And, it was able to be included into EVs beginning right now. Verge Bikes introduced it will add the battery into its TS Professional, with shipments anticipated to start Q1 2026.

Donut Labs’ battery

The corporate’s begins by saying the cell has an power density of 400Wh per kilogram, roughly twice the density of one of the best lithium ion battery available on the market. Proper now, you need to 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 be capable of attain an 80 % cost from zero in round 5 minutes, and get to full in beneath six. Donut stated the cell gives a “clay-like” freedom of design, adapting to the precise wants of a selected product, reasonably than the opposite approach round.

Naturally, pumping all of that energy into such a small cell will imply it’ll want plenty of babying, proper? Not in keeping 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 prime it off, it’s constituted of frequent, easily-available and low-cost supplies that are “geopolitically secure,” reasonably than from rare-earth minerals typically held by rival nations. All of meaning the cell will likely be cheaper to provide than the equal lithium ion cell and, better of all, Donut stated the battery is prepared for scaled manufacturing.

A battery that promised some of those options can be world-changing; one providing all of them can be world-shattering. It will upend provide chains, shift the worldwide stability of energy, probably get rid of reliance on so-called uncommon earth minerals and supercharge EV adoption. However Donut Lab supplied 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 consider 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 as saying “any particular person with even a primary understanding of the know-how would assume it’s a rip-off.” Finnish newspaper reported that CATL’s enterprise capital head Ulderico Ulissi described the matter as “clearly faux.” 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 his perception Donut’s know-how is definitely tied to an organization Donut invested in, Nordic Nano. Bötticher discovered a pitch deck, which is now not out there (however is right here on the ) which described Nordic’s power storage know-how as a supercapacitor.

Some have identified that Lehtimäki has a observe report of constructing sturdy claims about his merchandise. On Could 15, 2025, he introduced an AI startup, ASILAB, and stated in a equally shiny launch video that his crew had created a “artificial counterpart” to the human mind. Its first product, ASINOID, Lehtimäki stated, is a “dynamic self-developing organism designed to develop in functionality and in consciousness.” The corporate stated it will 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 , , , 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 promising a weekly drop of so-called proof to help its claims. In a elegant video introduction, Lehtimäki stated the criticism comes from events with vested pursuits, resembling opponents. He addressed the above assault traces straight, 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 stated 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 need to garbage Donut’s claims. However as a result of a lot of them are credentialled specialists within the subject, their authority was elevated above his personal.

Crucially, Lehtimäki stated Donut didn’t publish validation checks on the time of announcement as it will have been equally dismissed by those self same biased voices. By holding the proof again, he stated it pressured Donut’s opponents to primarily present their hand, making it simpler to refute them. To take action, Donut engaged VTT Finland, a analysis group which gives to 3rd 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 essential to notice that do not make any statements which could possibly be seen to help Donut’s claims. As an example, it says it was requested to “conduct impartial charging efficiency checks on the power storage units provided by the shopper, which the shopper recognized as solid-state battery cells.”

The checks

Donut Lab revealed a check for 5 weeks, every one every one designed to point out off one key function of the battery. noticed VTT quick cost a cell past the restrict of a daily battery, after which it nonetheless had near 100% of its cost out there to be used. In , VTT charged the cell to full, after which discharged it in high-temperature environments. As soon as that was finished, the cell was charged once more at a standard temperature, however researchers famous that the pouch misplaced vacuum. Donut Lab later stated the vacuum loss was brought on by the packaging supplies not with the ability to stand up to the temperature, reasonably than a difficulty with the battery itself.

A VTT spokesperson instructed me “throughout the ultimate 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 normally turns into barely smooth 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 standard lithium ion battery and, probably, the machine it’s related to.

presupposed to disprove the concept 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 battle to carry its cost over longer durations of time. Check 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 % to 80 % — round 14.5kWh — in 12 minutes.

centered on the cell from Check Two which misplaced its vacuum, to show it was not damaged. VTT’s report says it cycled the damaged cell 50 instances (as much as 90 % of its full cost) to see what occurred. VTT’s researchers stated it was potential to cycle the cell, however that its capability started to degrade after the primary few, and by the tip of the method, it had fallen to almost half of its authentic determine. The cell itself had swelled, nevertheless, with VTT saying “the cell thickness had elevated by 17 %, and the cell pouch was agency.” Donut Lab boasted that whereas a lithium ion battery on this situation would doubtless explode, its personal cell nonetheless labored.

When contacted, VTT stated it did full an project for Donut Lab however declined to make any particular touch upon confidential shopper assignments.

On March 31, Verge Bikes posted a claiming the TS Professional Gen 2, the primary to hold Donut’s strong state battery, was able to ship. Given March 31 is the final day of Q1, it’s the most recent potential day the corporate might announce this and say it has honored its promise. The accompanying write-up stated 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 reduce later, and the clip pivots right into a Q&A, with an off-screen interviewer asking why anybody would consider Lehtimäki on April Fools Day. He dryly responded that folks don’t consider him the remainder of the time, however that the paradox supplied by the event was a profit. He would be capable of communicate extra freely with much less concern of censure, or so he claimed.

Lehtimäki stated the sequence of I Donut Imagine checks already revealed had been one other a part of his “3D chess” technique to get battery rivals to point out 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 might have wanted to start out testing a decade or extra in the past. However he batted away questions on power density, weight and measurement, saying you “wouldn’t ask a lady her age, and also you by no means ask a battery its weight.” He added these questions can be answered in future, in additional episodes of the I Donut Imagine “full multimedia expertise.”

Consequently, the weekly video sequence will proceed till the total particulars of the primary technology battery have been revealed. Lehtimäki then teased that this cell can be transport, and the movies will shift focus to the second-generation cell with much better specs. However producing the I Donut Imagine sequence — which, it’s price mentioning is a advertising and marketing perform of the corporate attempting to promote us a brand new product — was expensive, and had run over funds, which has led the corporate to open its personal merch retailer, together with and

In case 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 a superb look. Lehtimäki ended the video by speaking about how a lot better Donut Labs’ second-generation battery was, with a staged outtake exhibiting a notepad itemizing the specs for a third-generation battery with 1,000 Wh/kg power density, 100C cost pace and sturdiness for 1,000,000 cycles — on account of be introduced at a future CES.

Evaluation

The discharge of those checks has seen elements of the web interact in a stage of interrogation. Folks have pored over each aspect of the studies and movies attempting to work out what precisely is inside Donut Lab’s battery. A lot 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 individuals are choosing aside the voltage graphs and claims within the studies. 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 power know-how corporations like Holyvolt and CT-Coating, or inspecting the cost graphs towards a . I’ll spare you the main points (for now). Finnish newspaper decried the outcomes of the fifth check, saying the cell didn’t lose its vacuum. It quoted Finnish battery professional Juho Heiska, who stated the corporate has simply used a standard cell that’s sufficiently hardy to face up to this abuse within the quick time period.

Even to a non-expert, there’s clearly a spot between what Donut promised and what its checks are exhibiting. As an example, the corporate stated it will be capable of quick cost a Verge TS to full in lower than 10 minutes. However, in Check 4, it took 12 minutes to get from 9 % to 80 % — not a nasty charging time, however actually not as swift as the corporate pledged. That stated, 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 very least, it will likely be if you are able to do that recurrently, and one or two journeys to the charger don’t depart you with what Reddit likes to name a afterward.

Sadly, it’s been tough to seek out battery researchers keen 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. Multiple I contacted stated they had been properly conscious of the saga, and had loads of emotions concerning 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 any case, if you happen to had been really assured about your product and its know-how, you’d certainly be capable of share primary details about it. Desk stakes stuff, like the load and measurement of the battery cell you handed over for testing. As notes, knowledge like that might assist us all see if its power density claims maintain water. As an alternative, the corporate has engaged in an ornate kabuki which solely serves to additional undermine its case. You may go a good 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 know the way somebody spends plenty of time speaking round one thing, in order to not be caught in a deliberate lie? Donut Labs’ movies can really feel loads like that, since there are such a lot of issues it’s deliberately not making clear. Fairly than taking the possibility to supply even a small quantity of substantive proof to help its preliminary claims, it has as an alternative moved the goalposts. So, reasonably than speaking concerning the efficacy of its first-generation product, it’s dangling the second and third in entrance of us to hopefully distract us.

Look, I wish 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 advantage of the doubt.