The cost of EV batteries is spiraling downwards while the cost of gas and diesel is spiraling up. That’s a picture perfect scenario for accelerating the transition to EVs. The missing link is a level of battery performance that can meet, if not beat, a comparable internal combustion engine, and the Finnish innovator Donut Lab has just taken a -30 degree Celsius step in that direction.
📌 The Core Development
If the name Donut Lab rings a bell, run right out and buy yourself a cigar. CleanTechnica is among the many (many, many) EV enthusiasts following the Donut Lab story, which is a rather unusual one.
The company unveiled its new solid-state EV battery at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, describing it as “the world’s first solid-state battery that is ready for use in OEM vehicle manufacturing,” while also pledging to share the results of third-party testing.
🔍 Background & Sector Context
“With a full charge in five minutes and 400 Wh/kg of energy density, it seemed too good to be true. However, for any skeptics out there, Donut Lab is posting a new video series along with supporting material that explains the results of an independent assessment at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland,” CleanTechnica reported in January.
That’s right, VTT has been validating Donut Labs’s claims every step of the way, and the startup has been sharing those reports, in excruciating detail. In a bit of clap-back at skeptics who are challenging its claims, Donut Lab directs the curious to the VTT reports on its website at I Donut Believe .
📊 Industry & Real-World Impact
Donut Labs has kept VTT hopping since the big unveil. In March, VTT issued a report that validated the new battery’s performance at 100°C — in other words, the boiling point. That led some Donut-watchers, including CleanTechnica’s Christopher Arcus, to conclude that the battery is not based on lithium, as some others have surmised.
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🔮 Strategic Outlook & What Lies Ahead
“Speculation that the Donut Lab battery is not real are diminishing as independent lab data shows 100° Celsius performance. Speculation that the battery may be lithium run[s] into difficulty explaining how a battery can work at 100° Celsius,” Arcus observed.
“In the independent tests, the thin membrane surrounding the pouch breached. If the contents were a standard lithium-ion with liquid electrolyte, there would have been significant outgassing and the organic electrolyte would have caught fire,” he further noted.
