Is this the world’s first solid-state battery?

CES is simply a onshore of bold announcements of amazing, innovative products and technologies that will revolutionize the world, often group for merchandise successful 2 years’ time. Twenty-four months seems to beryllium astir the correct hype window: adjacent capable to make excitement and investment, but acold capable that everyone forgets astir your promises earlier that deadline softly comes and goes.

It was CES 2018 erstwhile Henrik Fisker made specified a proclamation, saying that his squad of gurus had cracked the codification of solid-state batteries. By 2020, he said, those batteries would beryllium successful wide production. The car was the EMotion, which ne'er did travel to market. By 2021, the institution had given up connected the solid-state dream, and by 2024, the full cognition went bust.

In Las Vegas astatine CES 2026, it’s clip for different bold proclamation astir a mini squad of engineers that person figured retired coagulated state. This clip it’s Marko Lehtimaki, cofounder and CEO of Donut Lab, an EV exertion startup that spun disconnected from Verge Motorcycles (no narration to The Verge). Naturally, I’m skeptical, but there’s 1 cardinal quality that’s giving maine hope: Lehtimaki says the Donut Battery isn’t 24 months away. It’s successful accumulation correct now.

If you’ve not been riding the hype activity astir coagulated state, the committedness is for a artillery compartment that is cheap, light, fast-charging, cool-running, energy-dense, and combustion-free. They’re still conceptually the aforesaid artillery creation arsenic the past couple-hundred years. That intends an anode connected 1 broadside and a cathode connected the other, separated by an electrolyte crossed which charge-carrying ions tin scurry backmost and distant arsenic the compartment is charged aliases discharged.

In a accepted lithium-ion cell, the electrolyte is simply a liquid of immoderate sort. In a solid-state battery, it is, of course, a solid. That whitethorn sound for illustration a mini shift, but it has immense ramifications, the biggest being effective durability. Like solid-state electronics, there’s thing that wears aliases breaks down, which intends a monolithic summation successful durability, charging speed, and power density.

For its solid-state batteries, Donut Lab is listing immoderate unthinkable figures. To commencement with, there’s an power density of 400 Wh/kg, which is astir a 3rd greater than that of a modern lithium-ion pack. In different words, 30 percent much scope successful an EV pinch the aforesaid weight artillery pack.

Despite that boost, Lehtimaki says these cells are really cheaper to manufacture. These batteries will look first successful the Verge TS Pro, and Lehtimaki told maine that swapping to these hyper-advanced caller cells really reduced cost.

“The measure of materials went down, and it is going down pinch each different vendor buying astatine the complaint that we are trading them,” Lehtimaki says.

Donut says the batteries tin return a afloat complaint successful arsenic fewer arsenic 5 minutes, which would yet mean an EV that charges arsenic accelerated arsenic you tin substance up a car.

For this first application, though, it’s a spot slower: 10 minutes successful the Verge TS Pro. The institution is besides being a small blimpish erstwhile it comes to the lifespan of the cells. Where Donut Lab promises 100,000 complaint cycles earlier the artillery is worn out, Verge says 10,000.

Even that is simply a extremist betterment complete the astir 1,500 cycles that you mightiness expect retired of a emblematic lithium-ion EV artillery pack. 100,000, though, is simply a full crippled changer, creating a artillery that will easy outlast the car it was created to power.

“The rhythm life, the residual worth of the battery, is really 100 percent aft the life of the car. So it becomes the only constituent that keeps its value, and you tin usage it arsenic a location battery, aliases whatever,” Lehtimaki says.

There are different implications, too. Lehtimaki says that Donut Batteries are highly thermally stable, offering astir afloat capacity, moreover down to -22 degrees Fahrenheit. That intends it will besides require little cooling. I said pinch Neil Yates, laminitis and CEO astatine Watt Electric Vehicle Company, an EV level shaper that uses Donut Lab’s hub motors successful its products and is looking to accommodate the caller batteries onto its level arsenic well.

“There will beryllium nary existent progressive cooling request astatine all,” Yates says, acknowledgment to the Donut Battery’s thermal resiliency. “We do a small spot to negociate the enclosure successful which they are, but that’s enclosure management, alternatively than circumstantial artillery management.” No progressive cooling intends little plumbing required successful the car, redeeming moreover much weight.

And, again, this is each said to beryllium happening now. Lehtimaki says that the cells are actively successful accumulation successful Finland, pinch first accumulation capacity of astir 1 gigawatt-hour. But, he says Donut Lab tin quickly rotation up caller factories successful the U.S. if location is capable request from American car manufacturers.

That’s aided by a artillery chemistry wholly free of immoderate benignant of conflict aliases difficult materials that mightiness beryllium taxable to tricky import aliases export regulations aliases tariffs.

That mightiness constituent to thing for illustration a sodium-metal construction, but Lehtimaki wasn’t consenting to talk specifics. In fact, location are galore specifications that we’ll person to hold for clarity on, including really Donut Lab managed to lick the alleged dendrite issue. This situation has stymied galore solid-state startups, a artillery flaw that’s a small for illustration a microscopic stalagmite increasing from anode to cathode crossed the solid-state electrolyte. When they span across, you get a catastrophic short and, potentially, a batch of fume and fire.

How did Donut Lab lick this rumor wherever galore awesome companies person failed? He credits having a small, agile team. “The statement that has the capacity and past iterates faster is the 1 that evidently makes the innovation,” Lehtimaki says. “I’ve ever said that 20 engineers hit 2,000 engineers.”

There has been speculation online that Donut Lab is utilizing exertion from different Finnish startup, Nordic Nano, a renewable power institution that Donut Lab has invested in. Lehtimaki moreover serves arsenic a committee personnel astatine Nordic Nano, but says that’s not the root of this product. “It’s not from them,” he says.

Lehtimaki says that Donut and Verge Motorcycles’ engineers person been softly moving connected artillery designs since 2018, and this is the consequence of each that labor. Where are the patents? They’re coming, Lehtimaki says, and promised to person a batch much specifications to stock wrong the adjacent fewer months erstwhile they clear.

There are plentifulness of reasons to beryllium skeptical here. There are immoderate uncanny parallels betwixt Lehtimaki’s claims and those that Fisker made backmost successful 2018, including talk of smaller versions for phones. But dissimilar Fisker and each the galore different solid-state prognosticators and promisers of mega-range, insta-charging EVs, Lehtimaki isn’t giving himself that 24-month model to beverage investors earlier fading into the sunset. He says each will beryllium proven successful conscionable a matter of weeks. That unsocial gives maine logic for optimism, but astatine the very slightest I won’t person to hold agelong to beryllium disappointed.

Photography by Tim Stevens