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Donut Lab’s all-solid-state battery delivers 400 Wh/kg of energy density

donutlab.com

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Re: Donut Lab’s all-solid-state battery delivers 400 Wh/kg of energy density

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can only speak for the people I know well (I know people from lots of different backgrounds here), but I can confidently say that every one of them would love EVs if charging stations were everywhere and charged in 10 minutes. There may be a real chicken-and-egg problem with building the charging stations, but if it were magically fixed and ultra fast charging stations were ubiquitous overnight, I think minds would…

> I can confidently say that every one of them would love EVs if [...] And I can confidently say I see rural pickup owners rolling coal about weekly, so no, they will not be loving EVs, because it hampers them destroying their surroundings.

I cannot understand “rolling coal” at all. I’d love to know more about the psychology of this and what makes it so attractive that you actually spend money and time to do so.

Re: Donut Lab’s all-solid-state battery delivers 400 Wh/kg of energy density

#152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Mine is always charged at home, and so I've never needed to use a charging station locally. They're around just by virtue of the area being part of a major metro, but I haven't needed them. I haven't yet done a cross-country drive but would like to and have plotted out routes with ABRP, and yes, there's more in the midwest states than you'd think. Enough that just about any EV with EPA 250mi range or better can…

yup ABRP was awesome for the trip, nothing out there comes close Be warned, as you approach and cross the Rockies, there is a lot of uphill and wind. Didn't mention this, but I also did the trip in early March, temps were just above freezing most of the trip, range was terrible. There's a spot in NE, which I'll never forget. Only stop in the middle of a long gap in stations, steepest incline in NE, blew through most…

Yeah, if/when the trip happens it'll probably be during the warmer months just to keep things simple, and the west → east half of the loop will probably be on I-40 which shouldn't pose too many problems.

Re: Donut Lab’s all-solid-state battery delivers 400 Wh/kg of energy density

#153

This is so out there, checks every box imaginable or they’ve done some incredible copy writing. So then, elephant in the room, where is the catch? It’s it the cost? They haven’t left much else - - made from geopolitically abundant resources - unlikely to catch fire - fully charges in 5 mins - does not lose capacity over cycles - retains 99% capacity at -30C and 100C What is today, April 1st??

oh yes the good old of pick two from good,cheap,fast

Re: Donut Lab’s all-solid-state battery delivers 400 Wh/kg of energy density

#154
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also you really don't need 1000s of cycles in military drones, so maybe some more "crazy" chemistries can be used. If the drone can fly 10 times it's probably good enough.

It depends; not all drones are kamikaze-type. Great many drones are used for delivery (food, ammo, medkits), for reconnaissance, as carriers of smaller drones, and as radio retransmitters. Bomber drones also fly a large number of sorties before getting shot down or breaking down from wear. Ground teams usually have a bunch of batteries for quick replacement, because charging is slow. With these fast-charging batterie…

I've looked at the stats, and it's:

- 45 flights per recon consumer quadcopter drone before it's lost

- 69 flights per heavy bomber drone before it's lost

They switch the batteries before each flight anyway, so even batteries that are rated for 10 cycles would be good enough if the price/performance is good enough.

Certainly batteries rated for 300 cycles are an overkill.

Source (from March 2025): https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2025/04/16/hidden...

Also I'm listening to Piotr Ryczek talking about his time with drone unit in Ukraine, and he says recovering drones is complicated (because you have to land far away from your position and the enemy drones wait for people trying to recover a drone that landed, so you have to wait for hours before going there and do it at night). Which drains the batteries to 0 after every flight and reduces the drone availability by half or more.

So there's tactical reasons not to focus on quality too much, too.

Re: Donut Lab’s all-solid-state battery delivers 400 Wh/kg of energy density

#155
post #23

If this is true, it's possible that the technology is from Nordic Nano. That would at least explain how a motor/software company could pull a battery out of thin air: https://www.donutlab.com/nordic-nano-investment/ Their chief scientist is working on solar-powered hydrogen production, which seems fairly unrelated to solid state batteries: https://www.nordicnano.co/chief-scientist-bela-bhuskute-will... Though TiO2 na…

Yes, it is from Nordic Nano.

It is nanoprinted and trivially scalable. Free of lithium, cadmium, lead, and cobalt. Uses abundant raw materials free from geopolitical constraints. https://yle.fi/a/74-20118784

Factory in Finland, started around Q3/2025. https://yle.fi/a/74-20180376

Verge Motorcycles bike with the new battery at CES, apparently at West Hall 5658. Video: https://youtu.be/vmsxYznW9Fs

Donut Lab booth here: https://www.ces.tech/events/ces-unveiled-las-vegas/exhibitor...

Re: Donut Lab’s all-solid-state battery delivers 400 Wh/kg of energy density

#156

The press release says they're demonstrating this at CES 2026, which starts tomorrow (Jan 6, 2026) so I imagine we'll have some kind of verification one way or the other.. Or maybe CES is already happening?? [0] [0] https://www.cnet.com/home/electric-vehicles/donut-lab-produc...

Video from CES 2026 available: https://youtu.be/vmsxYznW9Fs

Re: Donut Lab’s all-solid-state battery delivers 400 Wh/kg of energy density

#157
post #155
post #23

If this is true, it's possible that the technology is from Nordic Nano. That would at least explain how a motor/software company could pull a battery out of thin air: https://www.donutlab.com/nordic-nano-investment/ Their chief scientist is working on solar-powered hydrogen production, which seems fairly unrelated to solid state batteries: https://www.nordicnano.co/chief-scientist-bela-bhuskute-will... Though TiO2 na…

Yes, it is from Nordic Nano. It is nanoprinted and trivially scalable. Free of lithium, cadmium, lead, and cobalt. Uses abundant raw materials free from geopolitical constraints. https://yle.fi/a/74-20118784 Factory in Finland, started around Q3/2025. https://yle.fi/a/74-20180376 Verge Motorcycles bike with the new battery at CES, apparently at West Hall 5658. Video: https://youtu.be/vmsxYznW9Fs Donut Lab booth here:…

> The company aims to have the pre-production equipment needed to manufacture prototypes operational by the end of this (2025) year. Actual production is scheduled to begin in late summer 2026.

Well, maybe there's enough prototype production for motor cycles.

Re: Donut Lab’s all-solid-state battery delivers 400 Wh/kg of energy density

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can only speak for the people I know well (I know people from lots of different backgrounds here), but I can confidently say that every one of them would love EVs if charging stations were everywhere and charged in 10 minutes. There may be a real chicken-and-egg problem with building the charging stations, but if it were magically fixed and ultra fast charging stations were ubiquitous overnight, I think minds would…

The biggest issue is that people think EV's are gas cars that have electricity instead of gasoline, with the main difference being you have to sit at the "gas pump" for 45 minutes instead of 2. But the way you daily an EV is totally different than a gas car, and even the way you travel is totally different. People have no concept of EV ownership, so they just go with the gas model that they know. But it is totally in…

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Re: Donut Lab’s all-solid-state battery delivers 400 Wh/kg of energy density

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me current battery tech is already good enough for passenger ev they cant even use the full charging speed capacity or the charge discharge cycles. Solid state batteries might be useful for heavy duty trucking or aeroplanes/drones

Cost, volume, and weight are still significant constraints. Existing batteries obviously can make for some good cars, but they could be better. It doesn’t have to be more range or faster charging, it could be the same range and charging speed but 25% lighter and cheaper.

Cost is no longer a concern as today LFP batteries and electric motor price is cheaper than an ice engine in China. Though my main point is that there is a lack of infrastructure to charge at full speed current batteries so higher capacity faster charging solid state batteries are mostly pointless when you cant charge them fast or to full capacity.

Re: Donut Lab’s all-solid-state battery delivers 400 Wh/kg of energy density

#160
post #50

If true, would have massive geopolitical implications. 1) China has gone all in on batteries. A competitor from Finland would be shocking. Scale is the real issue. 2) Luckily Finland hates Russia so this probably can't be used for Russian drones

I hope the tech works as advertısed because Finland is screwed due to the state of affairs with Russia. Not just militarily but economically, they have some of the worst unemployment rates in EU now and they are trying to figure out new economy without reliance on the trade with Russia, especially on the border regions.
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