What’s going on with Donut Lab?
Foto: Engadget
100,000 charging cycles, a full battery in 6 minutes, and a lifespan measured in hundreds of years – these are the parameters promised by the Finnish-Estonian startup Donut Lab, which claims to have created the "holy grail" of energy. At the CES 2026 trade show, the company announced the development of the world's first all-solid-state battery, boasting an energy density of 400 Wh/kg, twice that of today's best lithium-ion batteries. Furthermore, the technology is said to rely on cheap, widely available materials, eliminating dependence on rare earth metals. Despite these revolutionary announcements, industry experts remain skeptical, pointing to a lack of hard scientific evidence and details regarding manufacturing processes. Donut Lab, a division of motorcycle manufacturer Verge Motorcycles, declares its readiness for mass production, while market giants like CATL plan their first limited series of similar cells no earlier than 2027. For global users, the success of this technology would mean a radical reduction in electric vehicle prices, an end to range anxiety, and the elimination of fire risks by removing liquid electrolytes. However, if these promises turn out to be merely clever marketing, they could significantly undermine investor confidence in the clean-tech sector. Instead of a power breakthrough, we may receive another lesson that there are rarely free lunches in physics.
In January, the tech world was buzzed by electrifying news: the Finnish-Estonian startup Donut Lab announced the development of the "holy grail" of energy—a fully functional solid-state battery. The promises were almost unbelievable: a cell made from cheap, widely available materials, charging to full in minutes and capable of operating for hundreds of years. If these declarations turned out to be true, the automotive and consumer electronics industries would undergo an immediate revolution. However, the harder the company tries to prove its point, the more critical voices and doubts emerge in the public sphere.
The situation surrounding Donut Lab resembles a technological thriller where the line between breakthrough and manipulation blurs with each passing week. After months of analyzing their public demonstrations and reports, it is hard to escape the impression that we are dealing with an extremely well-directed spectacle that, instead of providing hard evidence, multiplies further question marks.
A promise that aims to change the rules of the game
Traditional lithium-ion batteries, although they dominate the market, struggle with significant limitations. They use liquid or gel electrolytes that are prone to so-called thermal runaway, leading to fires. They also require precise temperature management. Solid-state technology eliminates these problems by replacing the liquid with a solid substance. Theoretically, this means higher energy density, lower weight, and a much higher level of safety. While giants such as CATL are announcing small-scale production of such cells only for 2027, Donut Lab claims that their product is ready for installation in series-production vehicles right now.
Read also
The technical specification presented by the startup sounds like a wish list for an engineer of the future. The company declares an energy density of 400 Wh/kg—nearly double what the best lithium-ion cells available today offer. Even more shocking is the durability: instead of the standard 1,000 charging cycles, Donut Lab promises as many as 100,000. Add to this charging from 0 to 80% in five minutes and the ability to operate in extreme temperatures from -30 to 100 degrees Celsius, and we get a product that could completely eliminate dependence on rare earth metals and revolutionize global transport.
Experts speak of a scam
Such bold claims were met with an immediate and crushing reaction from the industry. Yang Hongqin, CEO of the Chinese battery manufacturer Svolt, stated bluntly that anyone with even a basic understanding of the technology would consider it a scam. Ulderico Ulissi from CATL shared a similar view, describing the matter as "evidently false." In response, Donut Lab CEO Marko Lehtimäki accused critics of arrogance and suggested that their opinions stem from a fear of losing market dominance.
Doubts are also raised by Lehtimäki's own past. In May 2025, he announced the creation of an AI startup called ASILAB, claiming to have created a "synthetic equivalent of the human brain"—the ASINOID project. To this day, however, there is no evidence that anyone has gained access to this technology, which only fuels skepticism toward his new revelations in the field of batteries. Industry media, from MIT Tech Review to InsideEVs, approach Donut Lab's revelations with great distance, pointing out the lack of scientific publications and transparency.
Verification by VTT and controversial tests
To silence critics, Donut Lab launched the website IDonutBelieve.com, where it publishes weekly reports from tests conducted by VTT Finland—a state-owned research organization. However, it should be noted that VTT serves here only as a contractor for commissioned tests on provided samples and does not certify the technology as such. These reports, instead of dispelling doubts, have provided fuel for further theories.
- Test 1: Demonstrated the ability for fast charging while maintaining nearly 100% capacity.
- Test 2: During discharging at high temperature, the cell lost vacuum and swelled. The company claims this is the fault of the packaging, not the battery chemistry itself.
- Test 3: An attempt to prove that the cell is not a supercapacitor. After 10 days of inactivity, the battery held its charge, which theoretically confirms its chemical nature.
- Test 5: A damaged (swollen) cell was subjected to 50 charging cycles. Although capacity dropped by half and thickness increased by 17%, Donut Lab boasts that the battery did not explode, which would be almost certain in the case of lithium.
Marketing theater or technological breakthrough?
The most intriguing aspect of Donut Lab's activity is their close connection with the company Verge Motorcycles, a manufacturer of futuristic motorcycles with hubless motors. Verge has already announced that the TS Pro Gen 2 model will be equipped with the new solid-state cells, offering a range of up to 600 km. Interestingly, the announcement of readiness for shipping occurred on March 31, the last possible day of the promised first quarter of 2026. A day later, the company published a video that began with an "admission" of a scam, which turned out to be just a strange April Fool's joke.
Analyzing Donut Lab's strategy, there is a clear desire to challenge the entire technological establishment. Instead of the traditional path of certification and publication in scientific journals, the company chose aggressive marketing and confrontation with experts. Such an approach rarely ends in success in an industry where hard data and repeatability of results matter. Although the VTT test results show some interesting properties of the supplied cells, their degradation after just a few cycles under difficult conditions stands in stark contradiction to the promise of 100,000 cycles of lifespan.
My forecast is skeptical: Donut Lab likely possesses an interesting prototype with hybrid characteristics (perhaps close to high-density supercapacitors), but their promises of "readiness for mass production" and "hundreds of years of durability" are heavily exaggerated. The battery industry does not forgive a lack of transparency, and the history of technology knows many startups that burned out on the altar of overly ambitious promises. If real Verge motorcycles with these cells do not appear on the roads within the next few months and actually maintain their parameters, Donut Lab will go down in history as another ambitious but unreliable project.
