Groundbreaking new battery designs are lasting longer and using power more efficiently than ever. But that hasn’t stopped researchers from trying to push the boundaries of capability, or create new tech like the ‘single-crystal’ electrode battery. All of which is important for products like powerful laptops, smart home equipment, and portable power stations, but perhaps most of all, electric vehicles.
Solid state batteries promise even more improvements on this front and Donut Lab just unveiled a world-first solid state EV battery at CES 2026. It offers greater durability, faster charging times, more energy density, better safety, and lower-cost production versus what is currently available. Donut Lab says this solid state battery can charge to full in five minutes and features an energy density of 400 watt-hours per kilogram (wh/kg). That’s significantly more than the 125 wh/kg batteries in certain Tesla Model 3’s and the 272 to 296 wh/kg of a Tesla 4680-type battery.
The Donut Lab unit is also designed to last for up to 100,000 charging cycles. For comparison, most lithium-ion batteries have a lifetime of about 5,000 cycles, with an energy density of 250 to 300 wh/kg. This solid state battery from Donut Lab is first going to be used by Verge Motorcycles in its TS Pro electric bikes, and will boost driving range from 217 miles, using a conventional battery pack, up to 370 miles.
The significance of Donut Labs’ solid state EV battery
Besides better power storage, more efficient use, longer-lasting lifecycles, and faster charging times, it’s important to note that the Donut Lab solid state battery is a production-ready model that’s already being used in EVs. “…the future of solid state batteries has been a moving target constantly delayed when companies working in electrification are asked about when they will become a reality,” says Donut Lab CEO, Marko Lehtimäki, in a press release. He points out the company’s solid state battery is ready to go, today.
Donut Lab isn’t the only company working on tech like this. Huawei’s rumored EV battery can last over 1,800 miles on a five-minute charge, but it’s likely many years away from production. This new solid state battery is said to be safer than conventional lithium EV batteries as it has no flammable liquid electrolytes inside, no metallic dendrites, and no thermal runaway chains — an uncontrollable reaction of increasing temperature that can be dangerous.
Donut Lab also says its battery can be exposed to extreme temperatures, keeping up to 99% of its capacity in temperatures as low as -22 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes it an excellent candidate for use in vehicles, which are exposed to varying and extreme temperatures around the world. These solid state EV batteries are also designed to be fully discharged, repeatedly, without serious degradation or capacity loss. As CEO Lehtimäki boldly states, the future is “…now, today, not later.”
