Donut Lab's 'Solid-State' Battery Exposed As Regular Li-Ion (electrek.co)
- Reference: 0183680972
- News link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/06/08/235214/donut-labs-solid-state-battery-exposed-as-regular-li-ion
- Source link: https://electrek.co/2026/06/08/donut-lab-solid-state-battery-exposed-lithium-ion-fraud/
> 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 Seinajoki 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.
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> 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.
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> 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.
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> 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.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5oyVNjrUPI
[2] https://electrek.co/2026/06/08/donut-lab-solid-state-battery-exposed-lithium-ion-fraud/
This Donut Tastes Funny (Score:3, Informative)
Has nobody learned from Theranos? You canâ(TM)t slap a new label on old tech and call it revolutionary. Well, you can try. But thereâ(TM)ll be some angry investors out for your sprinklesâ¦
Re: (Score:3)
I assume it's the Ziroth video that's linked, I watched it yesterday. This is a little different than Theranos in that there's multiple companies involved, but yeah, fake it till you make it gone wrong once again. It sounds like at least at some point, Donut Labs genuinely believed that CT Coatings actually had a revolutionary battery tech, and would eventually be able to supply it to them, per leaked emails between the companies, and maybe the initial fakery by Donut was just trying to bridge the gap until
Elizabeth Holmes ws not an outlier (Score:3)
"Fake it 'til you can make it... or at least until you can cash out" is the mantra of so many tech startups this millennium...
Re: (Score:2)
> "Fake it 'til you can make it... or at least until you can cash out" is the mantra of so many tech startups this millennium...
There isn’t an I in Sold State.
solid state (Score:2)
The EV industry seems to be full of lies. Every proponent will tell you the EV is the best thing in the world but they won't tell you the pain they go through just to go on a trip. Then they tell you the solid state battery is coming. Apparently it isn't.
Re: (Score:3)
CATL is not donut labs.
And you can cry about EV all you want, the bank account shows how little is spent on EV recharging vs gas. So have fun with that.
Re: solid state (Score:3)
Doesn't make up for the inconveniences or more people would be buying them. My dad almost bought one because the government grants brought them down close to the price of an ICE but then he found out there was a month and a half wait to get a charger installed and the installation cost was going to eat more than a rebate, so he went ICE.
Re: (Score:2)
Here, what I've saved on buying petrol has paid for the car, so it's very much the case of people needing to do their own due diligence on how the numbers work out for them. As for range, the car has a better range than my bladder. The discussion surrounding EVs is indeed full of lies, but they mostly are not being told by the people who are saying that an EV worked out well for them.
Re: (Score:2)
Journeys in my EV are stress free and easy. It's only people who don't own one, or who live in some third world shithole without any functional electricity infrastructure, who think otherwise.
Anyway, even if these guy's lies were true, they aren't even that impressive. BYD has been shipping cars with a 5 minute recharge time for a while, and the MW class chargers to go with them.
Re: solid state (Score:2)
> or who live in some third world shithole without any functional electricity infrastructure, who think otherwise.
Dude, he lives in Canada, which isn't...oh, erm...nevermind.
Re: solid state (Score:2)
Ok but how many chargers can I find along a Canadian highway that can do that 5 minutes? I know every single gas station can do 5 minutes. And yes it may be ok for you, but honestly how much of your time do you spend planning to make it stress free? How open do you leave your schedule to allow for unexpected waits at chargers? You are not having as much of a vacation as someone with an ICE. What if you live in Calgary and you have to go for an in person meeting in Edmonton and you can't charge while yo
Re: (Score:2)
Honestly, you bellowing at the family that they need to run because you've only budgeted 5 minutes in your schedule for this rest stop sounds like much less of a vacation than a chilled out trip in an EV.
If work need me to go somewhere for a meeting they pay for a hire car to avoid insurance issues, or send me via public transport - why would you put miles on your own vehicle?
Re: (Score:2)
Probably less than the time you spend in every bloody EV discussion on slashdot. Do you get paid for it or did an EV touch you in an inappropriate way?
Re: (Score:2)
Zero time spent planning. Get in car and drive until I need to stop for comfort, plug in while I get a coffee and use the loo, carry on driving. Last time I had to wait for a charger was in 2015, every motorway service area has loads of them, and in the unlikely event that they were all in use I'd just carry on to the next one, or use the sat nav to find a nearby alternative. Google Maps shows how many chargers are in use as live data so you can see if the one you are headed for is free, and these days it's
Re: solid state (Score:2)
> The EV industry seems to be full of lies. Every proponent will tell you the EV is the best thing in the world but they won't tell you the pain they go through just to go on a trip. Then they tell you the solid state battery is coming. Apparently it isn't.
I've been on two road trips since buying my Tesla, and I've never had to do any special preparation beyond bringing a weekend bag, same as I did with the Camry.
Actually, come to think of it, just to get a reasonable price on gas in California meant more preparation than I've had to do with my Tesla:
- Go to the last Costco out of LA county to get gas, which is upwards of a ten plus minute wait before you even begin fueling, then another 5 minutes fueling.
- The above is often (not always) required to make it
Re: solid state (Score:2)
Love, love our ev. So many misconceptions out there. I saw a post where the guy said "3000 mile trip, would you rather spend 10 minutes getting gas or two hours charging?" And I thought, when was the last time I drove 3000 miles? Nonstop? I charge at night, at home, and it costs pennies to operate. No oil changes. A used EV at half of list price is the best deal going.
Fake it until you make it (Score:2)
This one contents for the Elizabeth Holmes Award of 2026!
Fooled again (Score:1)
This one hurts a little bit, itâ(TM)s just so much effort to go through to do fraud