Donut Lab alleged Solid State Battery launched at CES 2026

[LogicDude]

This battery has specs that are too good to be true.  You have to believe that an unknown 30-person company developed this battery out of nowhere in about one year.  It's all shady.  The CEO has a shady background as a "serial entrepreneur" and less then a year ago he supposedly launched a "best of the best" AI company.  The AI company went nowhere and I don't think it has an online footprint at all.

There are probably at least 100 clips about this alleged battery and here is one of them:

https://youtu.be/Qsi-TS8PX7U

There is a huge buzz about this battery among EV battery enthusiasts.  Most of them don't believe it is real.

Notice in the clip there is a time-lapse segment of a single battery cell charging.  It shows constant voltage and constant current throughout the whole charging cycle.  That makes no sense at all.  And it's hard to imagine the cables sustaining a constant 270 amps of current.

They are supposed to deliver electric motorcycles in three months with the new battery pack.  I predict it's never going to happen.

[LogicDude]

Some people believe the battery is some kind of next-generation ultra-capacitor.  I don't believe it, the energy densities would have to be way too high.  Something like that can't just pop out of nowhere.  Plus, the fake time-lapse charging clip would not make sense if it was supposedly a capacitor.

In addition, their booth at CES 2026 was something like 50' x 50' or larger.  I did a paper napkin calculation that the booth rental would cost about $100k.  Throw in $75k for everything else and you have an unknown company spending $175k to launch a too-good-to-be-true battery when if it was all real the battery would speak for itself.

The giant CES trade show booth was just a giant prop to impress gullible private investors.  Just like the batteries shown at the show were just useless props.

[rteodor]

Already discussed  in "Power/Renewable Energy/EV's".

If someone claims to have found The Holly Graal then it would better show it instead of showing beer cans. The public frustration ensures that IF something would be shown eventually, then it will be put under a much harsher scrutiny.

[tggzzz]

Make of this what you will https://www.electronicdesign.com/blogs/nonlinearities/blog/55342148/electronic-design-ces-2026-taking-a-bite-out-of-donuts-solid-state-battery-claims

[LogicDude]

Already discussed  in "Power/Renewable Energy/EV's".

If someone claims to have found The Holly Graal then it would better show it instead of showing beer cans. The public frustration ensures that IF something would be shown eventually, then it will be put under a much harsher scrutiny.

Oops, my apologies.  I had a semi brain off-gassing.  Before I started the thread I did a search on "donut" and saw nothing.  I did not set the scope of the search to "Entire forum" and hence my downfall.

I didn't really notice the drop-down menu for the scope of the search.  Now I know.

[LogicDude]

Make of this what you will https://www.electronicdesign.com/blogs/nonlinearities/blog/55342148/electronic-design-ces-2026-taking-a-bite-out-of-donuts-solid-state-battery-claims

Thanks, great little opinion piece.  In another life I used to real all of those magazines.  I remember "EDN," Electronics Design News, where you could keep up with all of the new product releases.

https://www.edn.com/

And Electronics Engineering Times.

https://www.eetimes.com/

Back in the Stone Age where you had to read off of physical paper.

[Electrodynamic]

I started watching the video and about minute 6 it was obvious where this was going which was confirmed at minute 8 when the author claimed the company invested in a nano technology company. It's not a battery it's a super capacitor.

In my opinion this technology was inevitable because the storage capacity is dictated by voltage but more so surface area. In effect, whoever can create a stable nano material with the greatest surface area per volume wins. Surface area and nano technology is the holy grail of energy storage and anyone who knows anything is looking at it.

It's not rocket science, at a constant voltage if the plates of a capacitor are sliced up into 100 thinner plates the energy storage increases by 100.

I have heard of many battery and super capacitor companies making big claims and in almost every case they are made an offer they can't refuse and are shelved. Tesla and giga-factories would become a penny stock or worthless overnight. Only the patently naive and gullible would believe this technology wasn't invented many times and shelved by some oil company. In fact now the U.S. is saying the quiet part out loud, if you have oil or resources they will take your country by force if needed. This isn't hearsay this is now government policy. 

So it doesn't matter if they have the technology, they will take the payoff and the technology shelved or be disappeared.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Deep-dive investigation of what it might be...

[rteodor]

In my opinion this technology was inevitable because the storage capacity is dictated by voltage but more so surface area. In effect, whoever can create a stable nano material with the greatest surface area per volume wins. Surface area and nano technology is the holy grail of energy storage and anyone who knows anything is looking at it.

It's not rocket science, at a constant voltage if the plates of a capacitor are sliced up into 100 thinner plates the energy storage increases by 100.

Stored energy grows proportionally with capacity and squared voltage. Cca. 2010 there was some company claiming to have discovered some magic dielectric dust and produced a supercapacitor able to charge at over 3kV and - I think - 30F (=37.5KWh). I heard nothing of them since then.

[LogicDude]

Deep-dive investigation of what it might be...

I give them credit for their investigations and speculations.  However, she is trying to make everything fit and most of the pieces are just a mixture of speculation and wishful thinking.

The good news is we just have to wait and find out.  Assuming the delivery on the motorcycle is delayed, and then delayed again, the people that ordered are going to vent their frustrations on social media.

As far as the motorcycle with the donut motor goes, many motorcycle enthusiasts have mentioned having the entire motor as unsprung weight is not a good thing.

[LogicDude]

I have heard of many battery and super capacitor companies making big claims and in almost every case they are made an offer they can't refuse and are shelved. Tesla and giga-factories would become a penny stock or worthless overnight. Only the patently naive and gullible would believe this technology wasn't invented many times and shelved by some oil company.

So it doesn't matter if they have the technology, they will take the payoff and the technology shelved or be disappeared.

Why would an oil company care if someone came up with a better battery, or a better capacitor that can store more energy?

And what about the renewable energy industry?  Solar and wind and geothermal.  Certainly that has reduced the demand for oil.  Do you think that people in the oil industry are threatening the people in the renewable energy industry?

[Haenk]

oil company care if someone came up with a better battery, or a better capacitor that can store more energy?

And what about the renewable energy industry?  Solar and wind and geothermal.  Certainly that has reduced the demand for oil.  Do you think that people in the oil industry are threatening the people in the renewable energy industry?

These companies are not stupid, nor are oil rich countries - oil will be necessary forever (as a base chemical), but the "energy" part is on countdown.
So within the forseeable future, the market will shift, why not using billions of the money to get a foot in the door and establish investments in future technologies. And with these amounts of money, they can easily get ahead of the established "renewable industry".

[5U4GB]

There are a bunch of (typically) Chinese EV makers working on these things, but they're huge companies not two guys in a garage, e.g. SAIC.  There's also solid-state-ish batteries that use gel electrolytes which you can buy right now, although they're not mainstream yet.  And Japanese manufacturers like Toyota have been filing patents for them in large numbers, but they typically never pre-announce until a product is nearly ready for release.

So it looks like these guys are just riding the wave of expected SS batteries and hoping to make a quick buck from it.

[jheissjr]

The CEO said thousands of OEM companies are asking for samples and the best way to get a sample is to buy the motorcycle. Strange.

15:15 -
 

[Haenk]

The CEO said thousands of OEM companies are asking for samples and the best way to get a sample is to buy the motorcycle. Strange.

Yeah, sure. I'd interpret this as: "A couple of companies asked for a sample. Some visitors showed interest into buying the motorcycle, until they heard the retail price."

Presenting a random box and showing *nothing* is really a good way to gather interest.

[Bud]

When the original announcement came out, my first thought was i found it strange that such a potential breakthrough energy storage technology's first application is some stupid motorbike. But after i found out that Donut and Verge CEOs are brothers, everything fell in place.

[Haenk]

I have now watched most of the video - the Munro guy asked the right questions, but nothing about the battery was revealed.
And I'm really not a fan of the hub motor, the wheel mass is way too high to drive anything else than a town car, but is likely too expensive when not being sourced from China.
However the YT comments note that the motorcycle *is* real and can be purchased right away, but it is not great and runs on Lithium cells.

(Releasing/manufacturing the motorcycle is in itself quite something. But we all came to see the new battery...)

[CambridgeMart]

She is doing her best to make it work, with no technical input from Donut Labs, so this is 90% speculation.
Also, she is not an engineer, so she is obviously presenting somebody else's work; it would be good to know who it is and what their background in chemistry / battery technology is.

I have to say that, until now, I didn't realise the company is based here in Finland.

[CambridgeMart]

Interesting, over on Linkedin they made the announcement a week ago and claim to be about to go into production, yet they aren't recruiting. In fact, their last recruitment campaign was for 2 legal counsels, and that was 3 months ago.

[SteveThackery]

I have heard of many battery and super capacitor companies making big claims and in almost every case they are made an offer they can't refuse and are shelved. Tesla and giga-factories would become a penny stock or worthless overnight. Only the patently naive and gullible would believe this technology wasn't invented many times and shelved by some oil company. In fact now the U.S. is saying the quiet part out loud, if you have oil or resources they will take your country by force if needed. This isn't hearsay this is now government policy. 

So it doesn't matter if they have the technology, they will take the payoff and the technology shelved or be disappeared.

Oh my god, here we go again. "It's all a big conspiracy by the oil companies." Blah blah, <massive yawn>. Can't you think of something more original?   

[Electrodynamic]

I have heard of many battery and super capacitor companies making big claims and in almost every case they are made an offer they can't refuse and are shelved. Tesla and giga-factories would become a penny stock or worthless overnight. Only the patently naive and gullible would believe this technology wasn't invented many times and shelved by some oil company. In fact now the U.S. is saying the quiet part out loud, if you have oil or resources they will take your country by force if needed. This isn't hearsay this is now government policy. 

So it doesn't matter if they have the technology, they will take the payoff and the technology shelved or be disappeared.

Oh my god, here we go again. "It's all a big conspiracy by the oil companies." Blah blah, <massive yawn>. Can't you think of something more original?   

Actually no, and the "conspiracy" gambit is a bs argument.

It's a well established and documented fact that big companies monopolize markets and interfere with any competition. The fossil fuel and tobacco industries are well documented examples.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/feliciajackson/2025/05/14/big-oil-knew-big-oil-lied-fossil-fuels-long-strategy-of-deceit/

https://commonhome.georgetown.edu/topics/climateenergy/defense-denial-and-disinformation-uncovering-the-oil-industrys-early-knowledge-of-climate-change/

The fiasco in Venezuela is a good example and trump claimed it was all about oil and not drugs. He literally claimed drugs was a bs excuse to illegally take out the sovereign leader of another country over oil. As most leaders have said, "it's about the oil stupid".

[SteveThackery]

Only the patently naive and gullible would believe this technology wasn't invented many times and shelved by some oil company.

So, anyone who does not believe this technology has been invented and shelved many times by some oil company is patently naive and gullible.

Really? Seriously?

I think anyone who does believe it - without any actual objective evidence - is the one who is credulous and gullible.

[Analog Kid]

I have heard of many battery and super capacitor companies making big claims and in almost every case they are made an offer they can't refuse and are shelved. Tesla and giga-factories would become a penny stock or worthless overnight. Only the patently naive and gullible would believe this technology wasn't invented many times and shelved by some oil company. In fact now the U.S. is saying the quiet part out loud, if you have oil or resources they will take your country by force if needed. This isn't hearsay this is now government policy. 

So it doesn't matter if they have the technology, they will take the payoff and the technology shelved or be disappeared.

Oh my god, here we go again. "It's all a big conspiracy by the oil companies." Blah blah, <massive yawn>. Can't you think of something more original?   

Actually no, and the "conspiracy" gambit is a bs argument.

It's a well established and documented fact that big companies monopolize markets and interfere with any competition. The fossil fuel and tobacco industries are well documented examples.

Yabbut, that only goes so far as a valid explanation.

I remember clearly back in the 1980s when the prevailing rumor/conspiracy theory was that since the oil companies couldn't squash solar energy, they were going to take over the emerging industry, monopolize it and then bury it by making it unaffordable.

That, of course, did not happen.

[EEVblog]

The usual suspects Two Bit Davinci and Electric Viking have videos, of course:

[EEVblog]

Wow, Electric Viking is calling out the scam, huge props for that: