Donut Lab
Table of Contents

⚠ Disclaimer: This entry may be incomplete, out of date, or inaccurate. It is AI-maintained on a best-effort basis. Do not rely on it as a sole source — verify claims independently using the sources listed below.

Summary

Donut Lab is an Estonia-headquartered company founded in August 2024 as a spin-off of Verge Motorcycles. At CES 2026 it announced what it called a production-ready solid-state battery with 400 Wh/kg energy density, 100,000-cycle life and very fast charging. Independent VTT tests have confirmed fast charging and thermal behaviour on cells; in September 2026 VTT measured 409.3 Wh/kg on a single V1.5 cell at a slow discharge rate. No independent party has published a chemistry determination or cycle-life data, and critics, including Electrek, dispute that the product is solid-state or in production.

Key Facts

  • Headquarters: Estonia (Donut Lab OÜ); manufacturing partner Nordic Nano, Finland
  • Founded: August 2024 as a spin-off of Verge Motorcycles; €25M seed round July 2025 (Wikipedia)
  • Type: Private
  • Launch customer: Verge Motorcycles (affiliated)
  • Company claims (CES 2026): 400 Wh/kg, 100,000 cycles, 0–80% in about 4.5 minutes, solid-state construction (Donut Lab)
  • VTT measurement (report dated 2026-09-01): 409.3 Wh/kg and 804.7 Wh/L on one V1.5 cell (designation DL6), +25 °C, 0.1C discharge to 2.3 V, second capacity cycle; report does not address chemistry or cycle life (VTT report)
  • Intertek (reported 2026-09): cell structure found bipolar (series-connected layers in one cell); nail penetration with nail left in for one hour showed no thermal runaway, smoke or fire (Automotive World)
  • Disputed: cell chemistry, production status and cycle life (see Claim Verification)

What It Is / How It Works

Donut Lab says its battery is a solid-state design and has described a titanium-dioxide-based, pseudocapacitive mechanism; these chemistry descriptions are company statements that no independent test has confirmed. The company supplies cells for the Verge TS Pro motorcycle in 18 kWh and 30 kWh pack variants, air-cooled without liquid thermal management.

Independent testing so far, by VTT and Intertek, has covered fast charging (a 26 Ah cell charged 0–80% in about 4.5 minutes at 11C), thermal behaviour, self-discharge, structure and a nail penetration test, and in September 2026 energy density (Not a Tesla App, Electrek). The September VTT report states that the device specification and test plan were supplied by the customer and that the cell is an “energy-optimised variant” of the earlier V1 cell. Electrek reports that an earlier independent analysis identified the V1 cell as lithium-ion, and that CEO Marko Lehtimäki told Finnish media the tested cell is not the one that will ship; Donut Lab denies wrongdoing in the related legal dispute (Electrek).

The group structure, in which battery developer and launch vehicle maker share founders and owners, makes production claims harder to assess than for suppliers to unaffiliated OEMs.

Notable Developments

  • 2026-09-02: Donut Lab publishes the VTT report (409.3 Wh/kg, 804.7 Wh/L, one V1.5 cell) and Intertek findings (bipolar structure, nail test). Electrek notes no cycle-life data, a slow discharge rate that favours the result, and no chemistry determination. (Electrek, Automotive World)
  • 2026-06: Donut Lab says it is ramping toward gigawatt-hour annual production by end of 2026, which Wikipedia notes contradicts its January claim of GWh-scale production already under way. (Wikipedia)
  • 2026-04: Former Nordic Nano commercial chief Lauri Peltola files a criminal complaint alleging the independently tested battery was an older generation abandoned by Donut and its partners; Donut Lab denies wrongdoing. (Electrek) Helsingin Sanomat reports the battery was still in development and the companies lacked manufacturing equipment, per Wikipedia (allegation).
  • 2026-03-23: Fifth VTT report released; none addresses energy density or cycle life. (Electrek)
  • 2026-03-16: 18 kWh pack sustains 100 kW (5C) charging for five minutes inside a Verge TS Pro. (Electrek)
  • 2026-01 (CES): Donut Lab announces its battery as ready for production vehicles; industry pushback follows.
  • 2025-07: €25M seed round. 2024-08: Founded as Verge spin-off. (Wikipedia)

Key People / Key Organizations

Marko Lehtimäki — Founder, Donut Lab

  • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/youngkasi
  • Role: Founded Donut Lab (August 2024); previously Verge’s CTO and a founding investor (Wikipedia); quoted by Finnish media in 2026 saying the tested cell is not the shipping cell (per Electrek)
  • Career (reverse-chronological):
    • Donut Lab (2024–present): Founder
    • Verge Motorcycles (2018–2024): CTO and founding investor
    • Other roles in previous versions of this entry were not confirmed in the sources reviewed and are omitted.
  • ⚑ Overlap (corporate family): Same individual leads Donut Lab and is a founding investor in Verge Motorcycles.

Ville Piippo — Co-Founder and CTO, Donut Lab; also CTO, Verge Motorcycles

  • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ville-piippo-b003877b
  • Role: Co-founder and CTO of Donut Lab; simultaneously serves as CTO of Verge Motorcycles (the launch customer); responsible for cell and pack design
  • Education: Aalto University (Finland) — product and industrial design background
  • Career (reverse-chronological):
    • Donut Lab / Verge Motorcycles (2018–present): Co-founder and CTO of both entities
    • Planmeca (prior): Industrial Design Intern — Finnish medical device and dental equipment manufacturer; Piippo’s pre-Verge background is in product/industrial design rather than battery chemistry or electrical engineering
  • Notes: Piippo’s industrial design background (rather than electrochemistry or electrical engineering) is unusual for a battery CTO; his primary contribution is likely the cell-to-pack integration and product design rather than the underlying cell chemistry.

Tuomo Lehtimäki — CEO, Verge Motorcycles

  • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tuomo-lehtimäki-3462b825
  • Role: CEO of Verge Motorcycles; primary public spokesperson for vehicle-level announcements; brother of Marko Lehtimäki
  • Education: Oulun teknillinen oppilaitos (Mechatronics)
  • Career (reverse-chronological):
    • Verge Motorcycles (Jan 2019–present): CEO
    • RMV Tech Oy: Chairman of the Board (high-tech turbines and gas processing)
    • H.C. Petersen Finland Oy: CEO
    • Huutokaupat.com / Mezzoforte Oy: Key Account Manager
    • TR-Varaosat Oy: Entrepreneur (importing and sales)
  • Notes: Unlike his brother Marko, Tuomo has no prior EV or battery industry background — his career was in industrial equipment, auction platforms, and distribution before taking the CEO role at Verge Motorcycles in 2019. He provides the operational/commercial leadership while Marko and Ville Piippo drive the technology strategy.

Dr. Bela Bhuskute — Chief Scientist, Nordic Nano; Academic Origin of Cell Chemistry

  • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/belabhuskute
  • Role: Chief Scientist at Nordic Nano (since January 2025, per previous review)
  • Education: Pune University, India (Master’s degree) → CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, India (research) → Tampere University, Finland (PhD, Physics, 2025)
  • Career (reverse-chronological):
    • Nordic Nano (Jan 2025–present): Chief Scientist
    • Tampere University (2018–2025): Doctoral researcher
    • CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India: Research position (prior to doctoral studies)
  • Notes: Role and education as of the previous review; the link between her photocatalysis research and Donut Lab’s cell chemistry was not independently confirmed in the sources reviewed.

Key Organizations

  • Nordic Nano (Finland) — Manufacturing entity for Donut Lab cells
  • VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland — Independent test body; conducted the cell-level test series, including the September 2026 energy-density test
  • Intertek — structure analysis and nail penetration test (reported September 2026)

Details for Piippo, Tuomo Lehtimäki and Bhuskute are as of the previous review and were not re-verified.

People — Last Reviewed: 2026-10-20

Supply Chain Position

Donut Lab operates at the Cell Manufacturing → Pack Assembly layers, with cell production attributed to Nordic Nano and pack integration for Verge Motorcycles. Because the cell chemistry has not been independently disclosed or determined, upstream material dependencies (including whether lithium is used in the cathode or anode) cannot be assessed from public sources. Reported claims that the companies lacked manufacturing equipment as of April 2026 remain unresolved allegations.

Claim Verification

Claim: 400 Wh/kg energy density

Status: Partially measured (one cell, different variant, slow discharge)

Supporting sources:

  • VTT report CR 00391-26 — 409.3 Wh/kg, 804.7 Wh/L on one V1.5 (DL6) cell at 0.1C, +25 °C, customer test plan

Refuting / questioning sources:

  • Electrek (Sep 2026) — conventional lithium-ion cells reach similar figures; slow discharge and deeper cutoff flatter the result; tested cell is reportedly not the shipping cell

Summary: A real single-cell measurement exists, but it does not demonstrate solid-state chemistry or the production product.

Claim: 100,000-cycle life

Status: Unverified

Supporting sources:

Refuting / questioning sources:

Summary: No independent cycle-life test has been published.

Claim: Solid-state chemistry / pseudocapacitive TiO₂ mechanism

Status: Disputed

Supporting sources:

  • Automotive World — Intertek found a bipolar structure that the article says requires a solid electrolyte (article draws on Donut Lab’s publication)

Refuting / questioning sources:

  • Electrek (Sep 2026) — bipolar structure does not establish a solid electrolyte; an earlier independent analysis reportedly identified V1 as lithium-ion; VTT makes no chemistry determination

Summary: No independent chemistry determination has been published.

Claim: Fast charging (0–80% in 4.5 minutes, 11C)

Status: Verified (cell level); pack level 100 kW (5C) for five minutes confirmed

Supporting sources:

Refuting / questioning sources: None identified; test variants differ from later cells.

Summary: Best-supported claim, for the V1 cell.

Claim: Thermal stability at 100 °C

Status: Verified (cell level)

Supporting sources:

Refuting / questioning sources: None identified.

Summary: Verified by VTT on tested cells.

Sources

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