Who wants this battery in their blank Slate?

[bloo]

Things at CES aren't real, they can't hurt you.

Just don't breathe the vaporware.

 

[bartflossom]

This one is a bit of a slog at 45 minutes but it's the best interview I've seen with Donut. Damn I want this to be real.

 

[ScooterAsheville]

One of the more fun comments I saw from the CEO in one CES interview was "Hey, in a few weeks somebody will be tearing our first motorcycle apart in the lab, and then you'll know all about the battery". I get that a small company in the middle of patenting things doesn't want to release proprietary information. I also get that somebody making bogus claims also doesn't want to release proprietary information.

Here is one fun, if totally deranged, thought path to go down. There have been a raft of cancelled battery production contracts. In the billions. All the cancellations conveniently pointed to the topic we're not allowed to discuss on these forums ("p" word). Now this is totally batshit crazy. But what if those OEMs had advance knowledge fo the Donut Labs battery, and realized that their current plans were rendered useless overnight. So they terminated the contracts. Took the billions in lost investment. And are now signing contracts wtih Donut Labs to build batteries.

Just saying that in fun. Again, it's a batshit crazy conspiracy theory. But sometimes those are fun. Now if you'll excuse me, I forgot to put on my tinfoil hat this morning. Because you know, the aliens are trying to reprogram my brain.

 

[cadblu]

What I am most excited about is that solid-state batteries handle cold weather better than traditional NMC or LFP. They don’t rely on liquid electrolytes, which can freeze or lose efficiency in low temps. The solid materials stay stable, so they charge faster even even at freezing temperatures. Anyone who has charged their EV when it’s below 30 degrees F can relate to this.

 

[E90400K]

One of the more fun comments I saw from the CEO in one CES interview was "Hey, in a few weeks somebody will be tearing our first motorcycle apart in the lab, and then you'll know all about the battery". I get that a small company in the middle of patenting things doesn't want to release proprietary information. I also get that somebody making bogus claims also doesn't want to release proprietary information.

Here is one fun, if totally deranged, thought path to go down. There have been a raft of cancelled battery production contracts. In the billions. All the cancellations conveniently pointed to the topic we're not allowed to discuss on these forums ("p" word). Now this is totally batshit crazy. But what if those OEMs had advance knowledge of the Donut Labs battery, and realized that their current plans were rendered useless overnight. So, they terminated the contracts. Took the billions in lost investment. And are now signing contracts with Donut Labs to build batteries.

Just saying that in fun. Again, it's a batshit crazy conspiracy theory. But sometimes those are fun. Now if you'll excuse me, I forgot to put on my tinfoil hat this morning. Because you know, the aliens are trying to reprogram my brain.

Well, I would say what are the terms and conditions of the battery contracts that would allow an OEM to cancel a contract just because there is a better technology on the horizon? Generally, "a better technology came along, so we are cancelling our contract with you" is not a term in a contract that I have ever seen. That would be akin to a "termination for convenience" clause that are rarely included in commercial purchasing contracts. Government contracts have termination for convenience clauses that have a long-standing legal basis, which allow the Government to protect taxpayer monies and reallocate funding to new and arising requirements.

 

[KevinRS]

What I am most excited about is that solid-state batteries handle cold weather better than traditional NMC or LFP. They don’t rely on liquid electrolytes, which can freeze or lose efficiency in low temps. The solid materials stay stable, so they charge faster even even at freezing temperatures. Anyone who has charged their EV when it’s below 30 degrees F can relate to this.

I think on current EVs, if the battery is detected as being too cold, the charger current will be at least partially put into warming the battery. Once it's a bit warmed up, and can be charged at a normal rate, that very charging will provide plenty of heat, and the heater would be turned off. Early EVs had little provision for heating or cooling a battery.

 

[metroshot]

I think on current EVs, if the battery is detected as being too cold, the charger current will be at least partially put into warming the battery. Once it's a bit warmed up, and can be charged at a normal rate, that very charging will provide plenty of heat, and the heater would be turned off. Early EVs had little provision for heating or cooling a battery.

Yes, when it's cold my NCM EV battery will be slow to charge and give less range guesstimates.

Luckily I live in a year around warm climate so I never see range loss....

 

[E90400K]

This one is a bit of a slog at 45 minutes but it's the best interview I've seen with Donut. Damn I want this to be real.

I wasted 10 minutes on that video. Just more slickly put together propaganda IMO. If Donut Labs has filed patents, their technology is protected. If it is trade secret information they are trying to protect, then they will not file patents and take the risk of other entities reverse engineering their solution. If they have the production capacity now to deliver to OEMs why are there no OEMs stating their EVs are going to use the Donut SS solution?

 

[Luxrage]

Things at CES aren't real, they can't hurt you.

Me after seeing Samsung's new handle-less smart refrigerator with voice controlled motorized doors:

 

[bartflossom]

This guy makes a good case for it being quasi-capacitor, which I hadn't heard of, using carbon nanotubes.

 

[bartflossom]

https://electrek.co/2026/01/14/batter-about-change-world-or-make-this-guy-fool/

 

[MorinMoss]

Hello Hal!
Am pleased that the founder of Hal's Battery Blog is still among us.
Hope all is well.
As for the Donut Labs battery, i'll reserve the right to be not-entirely-pessimistically skeptical.
That 100k cycle life seems HIGHLY improbable

 

[E90400K]

https://electrek.co/2026/01/14/batter-about-change-world-or-make-this-guy-fool/

I just do not understand the patent situation. If Donut Labs has production-ready product and a manufacturing facility built and producing batteries, why are there no patents filed? A "10-week lead time" before the batteries are publicly available in a commercial product (the Verge motorcycle) and open to reverse engineering is no buffer in protecting Donut Labs' intellectual property. All that is needed to protect IP such as this is to simply file a patent(s) for it. Just filing legally protects the IP; the lead time to grant the patent is immaterial.

 

[bartflossom]

Hello Hal!
Am pleased that the founder of Hal's Battery Blog is still among us.
Hope all is well.
As for the Donut Labs battery, i'll reserve the right to be not-entirely-pessimistically skeptical.
That 100k cycle life seems HIGHLY improbable

Hello Morin! I'm thrilled that someone actually saw that blog! After my google alert started sending me a zillion "battery breakthough" articles every day I figured most people interested were probably seeing the same stuff I was and I stopped posting. So glad someone remembers it.

 

[The Weatherman]

Here is one of the best reviews of the Donut Labs potential breakthrough.

It could be mostly true.