678
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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Yep, that's a massive argument against Donut. But the question I haven't seen the battery experts address is whether the expansion pattern is unique to the chemistry they believe it is. Are there other chemistries that could produce the same effect? The investigators clearly don't think so, but Donut also isn't claiming to be using previously seen tech.
Either way, it's not looking good for Donut. The burden of proof is, and always has been, on them, and they have a looooong climb out of the hole they've dug.
Regardless, Ziroth and others make a good point that Donut's marketing games are damaging to the industry. Other legitimate players seeking investment will be tarnished by Donut's antics. So even if their tech turned out to be legit, they're still going to be a bad actor.
Technically, they have a very short distance to climb if they wanted to: just give the battery (or preferably multiple batteries) to an independent 3rd party to test to their hearts content. If they aren’t full of shit, that’d clear things up in an instant. If someone can show their claims are true, that’s all they need.
If they are completely full of shit, then there’s no no way out of the hole. I think this is unlikely given the carefully selected tests they’ve already released— they have… something. It likely isn’t an entirely non-existent product appearing only on paper.
If they are only partially full of shit, in that they have a battery that is decent or better than current batteries but not totally fulfilling their claims, then it’s a moderate hole to climb out of. Some egg on the face, but survivable.
If they are substantially full of shit, with batteries that are equivalent or worse than current batteries, then they’re gonna be laughed out of the market real fast. Probably mentioned in the same breath as Peter Molyneux, for similar reasons.