A former co-founder of a Finnish battery startup has filed a criminal complaint against Donut Lab, accusing the company of massively overstating the properties of its solid-state battery. Verge Motorcycles, which plans to use this technology in its electric motorcycles, is also struggling with significant delivery delays.
When Donut Lab presented what it described as the world’s first production-ready solid-state battery at CES in Las Vegas in January 2026, the announcement caused a stir across the industry. The specifications sounded revolutionary: 400 Wh/kg energy density, full charge in five minutes, 100,000 charge cycle lifespan, temperature resistance from minus 30 to plus 100 degrees Celsius, and all at a price below today’s lithium-ion cells. Verge Motorcycles, an Estonian electric motorcycle manufacturer, was supposed to be the first customer to deliver machines with this battery starting in the first quarter of 2026. The two companies are closely intertwined. Donut Lab was founded in August 2024 as a spin-off of Verge Motorcycles, with a largely identical founding team.
Immediately after the presentation, experts voiced considerable skepticism. Ulderico...
Images of the Whitegate fuel protests earlier this month were altered to make it appear gardaí were violent towards protesters. The AI-doctored images were shared widely online, including by inter...