Something about this really stinks...

[RickLightning]

Thanks for sharing, I had been debating with myself about posting it on this thread and if it would cause 'issues' if I had posted it.

Anyhow, what they show is much more encouraging and would be awesome to see in future electric vehicles, maybe the Mrs. might get her EV Benz some day...... of course I need to break her of her negative opinions about EV's.

LMFAO

I started my wife with a hybrid - as our 'spare car' and after driving it for a while, she parked the ICE SUV and it's now the 'spare car' while the hybrid is her prefered daily driver...next up a full EV 'spare car' ...LOL. baby steps...

Grow a pair!

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[TaxmanHog]

We're ramping to 1 GWh of annual production this year, which raises an obvious question: where's the Donut Lab gigafactory? The honest answer is that you'd probably drive past one without recognising it. This episode is about how we manufacture Donut Battery, and why our chemistry lets us scale at a cost, and in places, that conventional lithium-ion never could.

 

[TaxmanHog]

 

[Shmoe]

 

[TaxmanHog]

Solid-state EV battery maker joins Nasdaq after 745+ mi range test https://share.google/Psz6Nj8VQTbn2ayjP

 

[TaxmanHog]

Donut Lab is facing severe legal scrutiny and a massive industry backlash after a definitive independent investigation proved its "miracle" solid-state battery is actually a standard lithium-ion cell. [1, 2]
The Finnish startup, a spin-off of Verge Motorcycles, shocked the automotive world at CES 2026 by claiming it had developed the world's first production-ready, sodium-ion solid-state battery. They leveraged these revolutionary claims to raise approximately $25 million from over 1,300 mostly small crowdfunding investors, pushing the company’s valuation to $1.25 billion. [1, 3, 4, 5]
The Whistleblower & Criminal Investigation
The controversy escalated when Lauri Peltola, the former Chief Commercial Officer of Donut Lab's manufacturing partner Nordic Nano Group, filed a formal criminal complaint with Finnish authorities. Peltola accused Donut Lab of deliberately misleading the public and investors regarding the battery's performance metrics, longevity, and actual production readiness. Finnish financial and criminal authorities are currently investigating the matter. [2, 6, 7, 8]
The Unravelling of the "Miracle" Claims
A comprehensive, multi-month investigation coordinated by battery researcher Ryan Inis Hughes (known online as Ziroth), alongside more than 20 independent battery experts from the Fraunhofer Research Institute and European universities, exposed the fraud. Experts noted that earlier state-sponsored testing by Finland's VTT Technical Research Center had conspicuously avoided checking the two specs that mattered most: energy density and cycle life. [1, 2, 5, 9]
The independent panel analyzed the battery cells and uncovered undeniable electrochemical proof: [1, 2]

• The Voltage Curves: The tested cells consistently operated at 3.7–3.8V at a 50% state of charge. This matches standard lithium-ion NCM (nickel manganese cobalt) chemistry. True sodium-ion cells do not exceed 3.5V at this stage. [2]
• Anode Expansion Kinks: The cell physically swelled during charging. Its expansion curve showed a distinct structural "kink" unique to lithium ions reordering inside graphite. Sodium ions are physically too large to fit into graphite layers in this manner, confirming the cell contained lithium. [2]
• Overstated Performance: While the underlying lithium pouch cell is a respectable high-performance battery delivering roughly 298 Wh/kg, it is nowhere near the 400 Wh/kg and impossible 100,000-cycle life Donut Lab advertised to secure funding. [2, 4]

Pre-Production Deception
The investigation also revealed that the technology was sourced from a German outfit called CT Coatings, which has a history of unverified battery breakthroughs. While Donut Lab’s CEO Marko Lehtimäki publicly claimed that production vehicles equipped with these cells were shipping to consumers in Q1 2026, internal communications showed a vastly different story. The few units built were strictly kept for an internal pre-production fleet, and Lehtimäki later admitted to Finnish media that the 400 Wh/kg cells were not even inside the built motorcycles. [9, 10]
Industry giants have verified these findings. Yang Hongxin, the chairman of Chinese battery manufacturer SVOLT Energy, publicly warned months prior that Donut Lab’s parameters were scientifically contradictory and that "any technician with basic knowledge would recognize it as a scam". [2, 5, 10]

[1] https://electrek.co
[2] https://newmobility.news
[3] https://www.cnet.com
[4] https://www.autoevolution.com
[5] https://interestingengineering.com
[6] https://www.youtube.com
[7] https://electrek.co
[8] https://www.theverge.com
[9] https://electrek.co
[10] https://www.linkedin.com

 

[Shmoe]

Donut Lab is facing severe legal scrutiny and a massive industry backlash after a definitive independent investigation proved its "miracle" solid-state battery is actually a standard lithium-ion cell. [1, 2]
The Finnish startup, a spin-off of Verge Motorcycles, shocked the automotive world at CES 2026 by claiming it had developed the world's first production-ready, sodium-ion solid-state battery. They leveraged these revolutionary claims to raise approximately $25 million from over 1,300 mostly small crowdfunding investors, pushing the company’s valuation to $1.25 billion. [1, 3, 4, 5]
The Whistleblower & Criminal Investigation
The controversy escalated when Lauri Peltola, the former Chief Commercial Officer of Donut Lab's manufacturing partner Nordic Nano Group, filed a formal criminal complaint with Finnish authorities. Peltola accused Donut Lab of deliberately misleading the public and investors regarding the battery's performance metrics, longevity, and actual production readiness. Finnish financial and criminal authorities are currently investigating the matter. [2, 6, 7, 8]
The Unravelling of the "Miracle" Claims
A comprehensive, multi-month investigation coordinated by battery researcher Ryan Inis Hughes (known online as Ziroth), alongside more than 20 independent battery experts from the Fraunhofer Research Institute and European universities, exposed the fraud. Experts noted that earlier state-sponsored testing by Finland's VTT Technical Research Center had conspicuously avoided checking the two specs that mattered most: energy density and cycle life. [1, 2, 5, 9]
The independent panel analyzed the battery cells and uncovered undeniable electrochemical proof: [1, 2]

• The Voltage Curves: The tested cells consistently operated at 3.7–3.8V at a 50% state of charge. This matches standard lithium-ion NCM (nickel manganese cobalt) chemistry. True sodium-ion cells do not exceed 3.5V at this stage. [2]
• Anode Expansion Kinks: The cell physically swelled during charging. Its expansion curve showed a distinct structural "kink" unique to lithium ions reordering inside graphite. Sodium ions are physically too large to fit into graphite layers in this manner, confirming the cell contained lithium. [2]
• Overstated Performance: While the underlying lithium pouch cell is a respectable high-performance battery delivering roughly 298 Wh/kg, it is nowhere near the 400 Wh/kg and impossible 100,000-cycle life Donut Lab advertised to secure funding. [2, 4]

Pre-Production Deception
The investigation also revealed that the technology was sourced from a German outfit called CT Coatings, which has a history of unverified battery breakthroughs. While Donut Lab’s CEO Marko Lehtimäki publicly claimed that production vehicles equipped with these cells were shipping to consumers in Q1 2026, internal communications showed a vastly different story. The few units built were strictly kept for an internal pre-production fleet, and Lehtimäki later admitted to Finnish media that the 400 Wh/kg cells were not even inside the built motorcycles. [9, 10]
Industry giants have verified these findings. Yang Hongxin, the chairman of Chinese battery manufacturer SVOLT Energy, publicly warned months prior that Donut Lab’s parameters were scientifically contradictory and that "any technician with basic knowledge would recognize it as a scam". [2, 5, 10]

[1] https://electrek.co
[2] https://newmobility.news
[3] https://www.cnet.com
[4] https://www.autoevolution.com
[5] https://interestingengineering.com
[6] https://www.youtube.com
[7] https://electrek.co
[8] https://www.theverge.com
[9] https://electrek.co
[10] https://www.linkedin.com

who could’ve foreseen this?!?

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

who could’ve foreseen this?!?

It was obvious from their first statement.

 

[Zprime29]

I hope heads roll, throw the book at them. Throw the whole damn set of books. I'm in line with Ziroth's thinking. While it's bad enough to scam large investors, to go after the little guys is wrong on a whole new level.

 

[flabrent]

who could’ve foreseen this?!?

I called it back in January. LOL!

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...htning-pack-upgrades.33883/page-4#post-630029

 

[electricpig]

Shocked! SHOCKED! S-H-O-C-K-E-D!!!!


That is took this long to crash all around them.

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