This new solid-state EV battery can fully charge in just 5 minutes
I stopped by the exhibit for Donut Lab, a startup out of Finland that specializes in electric mobility. The company (which gets its name from its flagship donut-shaped in-wheel EV vehicle motor) announced at CES the launch of what it calls the first solid-state battery for vehicle production.
Solid-state batteries differ from lithium-ion batteries (which are used by a majority of EVs) in that they use solid rather than liquid electrolytes. They are supposed to offer much greater energy density (more bang for your buck, so to speak) and better safety, and they degrade less than lithium ion batteries. On top of all that, Donut says its battery can fully charge in a lean five minutes.
Charging times obviously differ between vehicles and models but five minutes is, you know, pretty damn fast. Donut claims that, with the long-range version of its battery, a rider can get up to 600 kilometers on a single charge. The company also says that its battery quashes many of the causes of battery fires, as the SSB remains stable across extreme temperatures and includes no flammable liquid. As a result, it’s also supposed to operate better in cold environments (chilly weather has been known to reduce the range capacity of many EVs).
Donut is a subsidiary of Verge Motorcycles. Verge Motorcycle co-founder and former CTO Marko Lehtimaki is the co-founder and CEO of Donut Lab. Lehtimaki isn’t new to the startup scene. He has founded a number of companies, including no-code software startup AppGyver, which was acquired by SAP in 2021.
Donut’s new SSBs will be introduced to Verge’s motorcycles early this year, the companies said this week. The batteries will be incorporated into Verge’s Verge TS Pro and Verge TS Ultra. At its exhibit, the company showed off a number of other partner vehicles that will soon have the batteries incorporated into them.
