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Donut Lab's miracle battery found to be a fraud, investigation claims
(interestingengineering.com)
this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2026
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Technology
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Really, how is that possible? The company making absolutely ridiculous claims that are in no way possible and are instantly a red flag for anyone whos ever touched tech with a 20 foot pole instantly sees is lying about there mystical miracle tech?
The problem is there are multiple tech companies involved, all bullshitting each other. It starts with a German screening technology company claiming they can screen produce the solid state electrode, when they never made a single battery ever. if company A can develop the tech then company B can assemble the battery to do into the motorcycles in company C.
Formula E racing uses the state of the art in batteries, and for 2027 they sourced a lithium battery even though cost was no object.
Two Chinese companies claim to be making solid state batteries, put the performance is only equal to classic lithium.
Toyota got burned on this. They were promised SS batteries delivered by 2025. Never happened.
Donut Labs was also looking for funding from a large number of smaller investors, none of which had the knowledge or capability to really look into what was going on
This is a model now.
Never invest in tech if you cannot do due diligence.
Aaw crap, if that ever happened to me it would really bum me out if I had good intentions.
I'd be bummed too but it would mean I probably didn't do the basic due diligence for my job
Just fyi, you can make a solid state lithium battery. It's just the only benefit for it is less weight for the same space rather than increased energy density.
I thought I read Toyota was building their own ginormous SS battery factory several years ago.
That timeline gets extended every year. Toyota is depending on a supplier, they are not a battery company.
TBF, Something in the vague range of the battery they've been promising is actively in development in a bunch of skunkworks, but it's still a long way off if it ever comes to fruition. If they did manage to make a sodium ion battery, it would have been a huge deal.
But they didn't, and when it does happen, it won't need to be used to sell motorcycles.
CATL already have a sodium ion battery they're prepping to market.
There were also a couple other manufacturers that were in a similar position 6 months ago before lithium prices dropped and drove them into bankruptcy.
Announcing sodium ion batteries for consumers was enturely realistic. The issue is that Donut Labs claimed they had sodium solid-state batteries, which are years if not decades away