Solid state battery hits the market

[warshipadmin]

Some Chinese company, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, announced a battery that gets to 90% charge in 7 minutes. LFP chemistry.

[Dagooz]

Some Chinese company, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, announced a battery that gets to 90% charge in 7 minutes. LFP chemistry.

CATL is as far as I recall the biggest and most dominating manufacturer of EV batteries. They presented a number of new product updates this week.
Greater density, VERY fast charge times and sodium battery amongst them.
There is a link here for those interested, although I must admit I did not have the time to read it in detail:
https://cnevpost.com/2026/04/21/catl-un ... TRejLq_oqw

But overall, the advancements being done in existing tech makes me doubt that the solid state battery will have much of an advantage in the foreseeable future.

[Craiglxviii]

Some Chinese company, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, announced a battery that gets to 90% charge in 7 minutes. LFP chemistry.

CATL is as far as I recall the biggest and most dominating manufacturer of EV batteries. They presented a number of new product updates this week.
Greater density, VERY fast charge times and sodium battery amongst them.
There is a link here for those interested, although I must admit I did not have the time to read it in detail:
https://cnevpost.com/2026/04/21/catl-un ... TRejLq_oqw

But overall, the advancements being done in existing tech makes me doubt that the solid state battery will have much of an advantage in the foreseeable future.

I’m now doing some work in the battery space.

Sodium batteries have around 30% of the inherent cell cost of Li-On, for about 72% of energy density. So they’re no good for cars but they’re really, really good for industrial scale battery storage systems.

Which is interesting.

[Belushi TD]

My company recently purchased two lithium iron phosphate batteries in place of deep cycle marine lead acid batteries.

They seem to work just as well, even in the deep cold we had here in February. Don't know about longevity, and won't for a few years.

The field guys LOVE them. They're about a third the weight of a lead acid, and that makes them FAR easier to schlep around in the woods where a lot of our wells are.

Belushi TD

[brovane]

My company recently purchased two lithium iron phosphate batteries in place of deep cycle marine lead acid batteries.

They seem to work just as well, even in the deep cold we had here in February. Don't know about longevity, and won't for a few years.

The field guys LOVE them. They're about a third the weight of a lead acid, and that makes them FAR easier to schlep around in the woods where a lot of our wells are.

Belushi TD

LFP Batteries are awesome. Recently built a 48V battery for my Golf Cart that I use on my property out of 16 3V LFP cells. Each 3V cell is 308AH and only cost me a little more than 4x12V batteries and I will probably never have to replace the batteries in my golf cart again.

[warshipadmin]

Did you have to get a new charger?

[Belushi TD]

Did you have to get a new charger?

Yes and no....

The battery has terminals and as I understand it, you can connect it to a regular 12 volt battery charger to charge it, as the battery contains the electronics to ensure it won't get damaged by incorrect charging. However, it charges differently than a lead acid battery (lots of info in the user manual that I don't have in front of me at the moment) and it charges much more efficiently using the plug in charger. I think the charger was 40 or 50 bucks, and the battery itself was 400? Or maybe two of them were 400? I don't recall the exact number. It worked out to twice the cost of a similarly sized lead acid battery, yes, but HR was thrilled at the idea of it weighing less and signed off on it.

It also has an on/off switch. Our new guy wasn't aware of that, and was in the field raging about how the f-ing battery was dead and f this and f that. When he called me to tell me the bad news, I asked him if he had turned it on.

He said "It has an on button?"

After a brief pause, he said "Ok, forget I called."

Belushi TD

[gtg947h]

LFP Batteries are awesome. Recently built a 48V battery for my Golf Cart that I use on my property out of 16 3V LFP cells. Each 3V cell is 308AH and only cost me a little more than 4x12V batteries and I will probably never have to replace the batteries in my golf cart again.

I put an LFP battery in my golf cart last spring. It's a single 48V block that weighs about 80lb, and replaces 400+lb of wet-cell lead acid batteries (and takes up about 1/3 of the volume). It came with a new charger that I integrated into the cart with a standard plug inlet. Now I can charge using any regular extension cord.

My parents just had a lithium conversion done on their cart; it ran two weeks late and they broke the headlights and horn from not hooking up the 12V converter right (it's now back at the shop getting fixed). Told them they should have brought it to my house

[brovane]

LFP Batteries are awesome. Recently built a 48V battery for my Golf Cart that I use on my property out of 16 3V LFP cells. Each 3V cell is 308AH and only cost me a little more than 4x12V batteries and I will probably never have to replace the batteries in my golf cart again.

I put an LFP battery in my golf cart last spring. It's a single 48V block that weighs about 80lb, and replaces 400+lb of wet-cell lead acid batteries (and takes up about 1/3 of the volume). It came with a new charger that I integrated into the cart with a standard plug inlet. Now I can charge using any regular extension cord.

My parents just had a lithium conversion done on their cart; it ran two weeks late and they broke the headlights and horn from not hooking up the 12V converter right (it's now back at the shop getting fixed). Told them they should have brought it to my house

With the way the supports in the battery box under seats was there was no room to fit a 48V block. We built 3 different wood boxes and then put the cells into the boxes, wired the batteries together along with a BMS. Don't have the charger integrated onboard.

PXL_20250330_205349021.MP.jpg

[Belushi TD]

Now that I'm back in the office, some interesting tidbits from the owners manual.

It specifically states NOT to use it to start a car.

It CAN be charged with an alternator or a generator, but it needs a DC to DC charger between the battery and the current source.

You can connect them in series or in parallel up to 8 units. Or at least that's the maximum they show in the manual. They recommend you disconnect them every 4 to 6 months to allow

Belushi TD

[warshipadmin]

... the electrons to have a rest?

[Belushi TD]

Now that I'm back in the office, some interesting tidbits from the owners manual.

It specifically states NOT to use it to start a car.

It CAN be charged with an alternator or a generator, but it needs a DC to DC charger between the battery and the current source.

You can connect them in series or in parallel up to 8 units. Or at least that's the maximum they show in the manual. They recommend you disconnect them every 4 to 6 months to allow "charges to stabilize"

Belushi TD

Bugger.... Computer didn't save the bolded text.

I assume that's translated and dumbed down electrical enginerd speak for "something overly complicated that means something along the lines of permitting charge densities inside each individual battery to level out in order to maintain battery health and life", but I am uncertain.

Belushi TD

[warshipadmin]

A subtle difference to lead acids. My charge controller holds them at 15V for a few minutes every few days, that's to equalise the cells, and floats them at 13.8V given the choice. Disconnecting them allows each cell to equilibrate, but can't do anything for the battery as a whole. There's a known effect in lead acids where the cell voltage picks up overnight if you don't use them, I suspect that's a similar chemical process.

[warshipadmin]

And an investigator is going to be cursed by 1300 small investors in the Donut battery https://electrek.co/2026/06/08/donut-la ... ion-fraud/

A comprehensive investigation by battery researcher Ziroth, involving over 20 independent battery experts, has produced what amounts to definitive proof that Donut Lab’s “miracle” solid-state battery is actually a lithium-ion cell. The company raised approximately $25 million from over 1,300 mostly small investors based on claims that now appear to be false.

The investigation traces the battery technology back to a German company called CT Coatings, reveals a web of companies hiding behind aggressive NDAs, and presents electrochemical evidence — including voltage curves and cell expansion data — that conclusively identifies the tested cell as lithium-ion, not the revolutionary sodium-ion solid-state chemistry Donut Lab promised.

From skepticism to confirmation

We have been covering Donut Lab’s claims with skepticism since the company shocked the battery world at CES 2026 with claims of a 400 Wh/kg, 100,000-cycle, 5-minute-charging solid-state battery. In January, I interviewed CEO Marko Lehtimäki and told him directly that he was either going to lose all his credibility or revolutionize the world. It looks like it was the former.

At the time, the incentives to lie weren’t clear to me, and the short timeline to delivery gave the claims some credibility. But as we tracked the independent testing results, the red flags kept piling up. Five tests from VTT and not a single one addressed the two claims that actually mattered: the 400 Wh/kg energy density and the 100,000-cycle life. Then came the whistleblower complaint from Nordic Nano’s former CCO, alleging the battery specs were never achieved.

Now, Ziroth’s investigation fills in the gaps with hard electrochemical evidence.


The evidence: voltage curves and cell expansion prove lithium-ion

The investigation consulted over 20 independent battery experts, including Julian Zanau from the Fraunhofer Research Institute, Dr. Yahim San from Justus-Liebig University, Tom Bicha from Leona, and Dr. Yuo Hesca from Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences. Every single one confirmed the tested cell is lithium-ion.

There are two key pieces of evidence. First, the voltage curves from VTT testing match high-nickel lithium-ion cells (NCM chemistry). The cell sits at 3.7-3.8 volts at 50% state of charge — right where lithium-ion cells operate. Sodium-ion cells don’t go significantly past 3.5 volts at 50% SOC.

The second piece of evidence is even more damning: VTT’s cell expansion data. When a battery charges, ions squeeze into the anode material, causing it to expand in a predictable pattern. A graphite anode produces a distinctive “kink” in the expansion curve around 50-70% state of charge, caused by how ions reorder themselves in graphite’s layered structure. The Donut Lab cell shows exactly that kink.

This is critical because sodium ions are physically too large to fit into graphite layers. The graphite anode signature proves the cell uses lithium ions. The investigation puts it well: “it’s like we have a slightly noisy fingerprint and a picture of the suspect’s face. And yet again, it’s a match.”

The calculated energy density? About 298 Wh/kg — what you’d expect from a good lithium-ion cell, not the 400 Wh/kg claimed.

The web of companies behind the fraud

The investigation reveals that the battery technology traces back to CT Coatings, a German company with an “eclectic” array of patents — including inventions for screen-printed paving slabs, menu folders, and warning triangles. CT Coatings promised Nordic Nano and Donut Lab a screen-printed sodium-ion solid-state battery. What it delivered was a lithium-ion pouch cell.

The relationship works like this: CT Coatings was the technology provider, Nordic Nano was supposed to be the manufacturer, and Donut Lab was the commercializer. Nordic Nano has reportedly never manufactured a single battery cell.

Julian Zanau from Fraunhofer described meeting with CT Coatings representatives and being unimpressed: “The first impression I got was that these people have no idea how a battery actually works. They were talking about no rare earth metals in their batteries and therefore no lithium, and to any chemist lithium has nothing to do with rare earth minerals.”

Meanwhile, Donut Lab performed its own technical due diligence instead of getting independent validation — an approach that former Nordic Nano CCO Lauri Peltola described as deeply inadequate given that neither company had battery chemistry expertise.

Verge ‘production vehicle’ claim was verifiably false

Beyond the chemistry, the investigation documents clear-cut lies. Donut Lab claimed to have a production vehicle shipped to consumers in Q1 2026. On the last day of the quarter, they announced the “first production motorcycle” off the line.

But an internal video to reservation holders told a different story: the first bikes would be for Verge’s internal fleet, with the purpose of refining the manufacturing process before shipping to customers. That is, by definition, a pre-production vehicle.

In an interview with Finnish media, Lehtimäki then admitted that the 400 Wh/kg cells were not in the bikes and that the cell tested by VTT “is not even the cell that’s going to be shipped to customers.” Leaked emails showed Donut Lab asking CT Coatings when they would actually receive proof of the claimed specs. Apparently, no proof was ever provided.

$25 million raised from 1,300+ small investors

The most troubling aspect of the investigation centers on how the money was raised. Donut Lab has over 1,300 shareholders, with over 900 holding 50 or fewer shares — likely representing investments between $3,000 and $23,000 per person. Many came from a crowdfunding exercise on Finland’s Springvest platform in 2023 for Verge Motorcycles.

When Verge was restructured and Donut Lab was spun out, the company’s valuation jumped from a struggling motorcycle company to a parent company of a “half a billion euro portfolio” — all because of the miracle battery. An investor letter from Lehtimäki promised “a potential return on investment of up to 10x in just 12 to 18 months” and urged investors that “it is not yet too late to invest more.”

The investigation argues that this approach — using self-validated due diligence to raise money from investors who lacked the means to scrutinize the technology — was chosen deliberately to avoid the kind of technical scrutiny that venture capital firms would demand.

The valuation was later inflated to $1.25 billion after the CES presentation. Finnish financial authorities and criminal authorities are reportedly investigating.

In our interview with Lehtimäki in January, he claimed that he wasn’t raising money.

Electrek’s Take

We called this one early. When I sat across from Marko Lehtimäki in January and told him that he was either going to revolutionize the world or destroy his credibility, I still gave him the benefit of the doubt. The short timeline to delivery, the willingness to stake his reputation, the logic behind guarding the chemistry — it all made a certain kind of sense at the time. But the evidence is now overwhelming: the “miracle” solid-state battery was a lithium-ion cell, and the claims made to investors and the public were false.