It is perhaps unusual that the news about innovations in the field of battery technologies comes from Europe, and not from, for example, China, and the Finnish company Donut Lab took care of that. At CES in Las Vegas, she officially presented the world’s first battery with a solid electrolyte (solid-state), which is already ready for mass production.
Today, not in the future
Unlike previous announcements in the industry, which were often delayed or announced for some future period, Donut Lab’s technology is already in use. Their batteries will immediately be on the roads as part of the current line of Verge motorcycles, whose wider availability on the market is expected in the first quarter of this year.
The company’s chief executive officer, Marko Lehtimäkinoted that Donut Lab was able to develop a solution that can be scaled for large production volumes. He emphasized that their answer to the question about the availability of solid-state technology is “today”, not in the distant future. With this step, Donut Lab wants to take on the role of a catalyst for change in the global transportation sector, offering technology that eliminates the previous compromises in performance and costs.
Impressive specifications
The new battery provides an energy density of as much as 400 Wh/kg, which enables a significantly greater range and lighter vehicle constructions. One of the most significant advantages is the charging speed, so the battery can be charged to full capacity in just five minutes, without the usual restrictions and recommendations for charging up to 80%. In addition, it is designed to withstand up to 100,000 charging cycles with minimal loss of capacity, which many times exceeds the lifetime of conventional lithium-ion batteries.
With this solution, safety is set as a priority, so the battery does not contain flammable liquid electrolytes, which completely eliminates the risk of thermal runaway and fire. Tests have shown exceptional resistance to extreme conditions: at a temperature of -30°C the battery retains more than 99% of its capacity, while at temperatures above 100°C it continues to work stably, without signs of ignition or degradation.
Sustainable materials
The production of Donut batteries relies exclusively on widely available and affordable materials that are not, as they say, “geopolitically sensitive”. This results in a lower production cost compared to lithium-ion technologies. In addition, the battery offers great design freedom as it can be manufactured in custom sizes and geometries, allowing its use as a structural part of a vehicle chassis or an unmanned aerial vehicle housing.
This battery revolution announcement comes a year after the company unveiled the Donut Motor at CES 2025, an innovative motor-in-a-wheel that has since been adopted by more than 200 manufacturers.