Solid-state batteries have been “five years away” for more than a decade, but Donut Lab claims they’ve finally cracked it. In this video, we break down the world’s first commercial all-solid-state EV battery, promising ultra-fast charging, extreme safety, massive cycle life, and higher energy density than today’s lithium-ion cells. We analyze Donut Lab’s claims from an engineering perspective, explain how batteries actually work, explore why solid-state batteries are so difficult to build, and dig into the real-world data, and what this technology could actually mean for the future of electric vehicles and energy storage.
It’d be amazing if this thing panned out, especially if the claims of no rare-earth metals is true. The Ford Model T moment for ebikes and velomobiles comes when someone can offer a perfectly safe, fast-charging battery that reliably reaches 160km/100mi on a $1000 platform. We’re within 60km of that but performance has plateaued over the past few years due to the lithium-ion packs. Bringing more packs results in rocket equation problems that you can only solve with a 2-5 hour recharge, and the best batteries only last like 10k cycles. We’ll get runaway induced demand for pedestrian infrastructure, and especially interurban cycling lanes, when a reliable ebike is 1/10th the price of a reliable used car and you can refuel it just as easily.
I yearn for the garden city full of people driving their $1000 microcampers between common land and natural areas.
edit: Goddamn, they go into the Watt hours per kg energy density around the 30 minute mark. My entry level Aventon cargo ebike’s battery is about 150 Wh/kg. Their CTO claims their first commercial cell is 400 Wh/kg and not near the theoretical density of the design. That’d be about 200km/130mi of range for my bike.
I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
