Donut Lab really wants us to believe its ‘miracle solid-state battery’ is real — SkimNews
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- Intertek's UK lab found just 3.4 ppm lithium and 632 ppm sodium in Donut Lab's cell, far below the percent-range lithium levels in lithium-ion batteries, according to a report Donut Lab released to settle speculation about its chemistry.
- The Intertek report measured only lithium and sodium via ICP-OES, never testing potassium, magnesium, zinc, or aluminum, and did not analyze the electrolyte layer between anode and cathode despite Donut's press release claiming samples included it.
- Intertek received the cell already in 'tear down condition' from Donut Lab, meaning the company itself disassembled it; the analyzed sample is labeled only 'Pouchcell – Cell 1' and the words 'Donut Battery' do not appear in the report.
- The Intertek report went through three revisions in five days (September 17, 21, and 22), with changes to sample description and experimental wording on a document containing just a single two-column results table.
- VTT measured 409.3 Wh/kg on a Donut 'V1.5' cell cycled between 2.3 V and 4.25 V — a textbook lithium-ion voltage window — a figure advanced silicon-anode lithium-ion cells already achieve.
- Nine months after CES, no production vehicle runs on Donut's battery; CEO Marko Lehtimäki admitted the 409 Wh/kg cell 'is not even the cell that's going to be shipped to customers,' and Q1 2026 Verge motorcycles were pre-production units.
- Battery researcher Ziroth and 20+ experts had previously concluded, based on voltage curve and swelling data from VTT testing, that Donut's cell behaved like a high-nickel lithium-ion cell with a graphite anode.
Why it matters: Donut Lab's original differentiator was the claim it was the first to ship a production-ready solid-state battery for vehicles, yet the company now concedes the high-performing cell VTT tested isn't the one customers will receive. With no production vehicle on the road nine months after CES and independent testing limited to a two-element scan on its own disassembled cell, Donut Lab's credibility as an outlier among established solid-state developers like QuantumScape, Samsung SDI, and Toyota rests entirely on a production claim it cannot yet substantiate.
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