Holyvolt got scammed by CT-Coating and then turned to Wildcat for "high throughput" AI battery research, even though Wildcat produced no batteries since 2010. StoreDot has been hawking vapourware batteries since 2014, and now promises "super-intelligence" AI battery research. Is Donut Lab AI next?

Holyvolt got scammed by CT-Coating and then turned to Wildcat for "high throughput" AI battery research, even though Wildcat produced no batteries since 2010. StoreDot has been hawking vapourware batteries since 2014, and now promises "super-intelligence" AI battery research. Is Donut Lab AI next?

web.archive.org
u/mqee — 18 days ago
▲ 20 r/KKitzerowPeerReview+1 crossposts

There's an entire sub of AI psychosis sufferers who are convinced this is real because AI says "yes" to everything even if the answer is "no"

u/mqee — 13 days ago

Christopher Arcus, tech journalist and Donut Defender, is trolling the comments section on an Electrek article about Donut Lab with the classic troll line "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, mediocre minds discuss people."

electrek.co
u/mqee — 20 days ago

Donut Lab provided "tear down condition" sample to Intertek. They provided "parts" of an anode, cathode, and current collector. Why not provide an entire cell, test it for 5C charging and 400Wh/kg, and then let Intertek chop it up and identify its materials? Donut Lab are being deceptive.

u/mqee — 21 days ago

Unicorn Machine, a company founded by Marko Lehtimäki, is excited to host Marko Lehtimäki as he speaks about Verge Motorcycles, a company founded by Marko Lehtimäki

linkedin.com
u/mqee — 26 days ago

Taking another look at Verge Motorcycles sales: 3 or less bikes sold in 2023, probably delivered to customers 2024, and around 30 or less bikes sold in 2024, some delivered to The Bike Shed and other dealerships.

inforegister.ee
u/mqee — 26 days ago

A close friend of the CEO of Donut Lab criticizes the whistleblower for having had no expertise in battery development... but no one at Donut Lab or Nordic Nano had any expertise in battery development.

archive.ph
u/mqee — 29 days ago

Donut Lab evidence recap, September 2026

🍩⚖️🔋

index Donut claim Donut evidence
1 CEO: [January 2026] "We are now already at GWh [annual] capacity." CEO: [February 2026] "our maximum capacity will be this year if everything goes as planned, i.e. about 1GWh annual run rate"
2 Donut Lab CEO, January 2026: "This can go 0.0 [...] then you can go at 5C charging from the next moment without warming it up or anything. It just takes it like nothing [..] to 100%. [...] it's 100,000 cycles with that [0% to 100% at 5C]". Verge Motorcycles CEO, January 2026: "We can see that 100,000 cycles is doable in normal use" Donut Lab CEO, June 2026: "The 100,000-cycle lifetime we mentioned is the maximum that is reachable under optimal conditions." Donut Lab CEO, September 2026: "[the battery] can last 5,000 cycles when rapid-charged [...] to 90 per cent capacity"
3 Donut Lab investor letter: "For over 9 months, we delved deeply into [Nordic Nano] battery technology [...] conducted our own experiments, as well as reviewed the results of certified third-party tests. [...] We finally completed our thorough due diligence process, and since all the results were positive and the technology worked exactly as we hoped, [...] we have proven [these are not lithium-ion batteries, and the energy density is almost double of the best available today]" Leaked Donut Lab e-mails show Donut Lab had no verification in March 2026 for promises made to investors and clients, and had to request validation from its supplier. "Sähköposteissa Donut Lab pyytää CT-Coatingilta mittaustuloksia, jotka vastaisivat sijoittajille ja asiakkaille annettuja lupauksia latausmäärien osalta. Niitä ei sähköpostien perusteella ollut annettu."
4 Verge Motorcycles: [January 2026] "In the US, [the Verge TS Pro with the Donut Lab solid-state battery] will ship Q1 this year [to customers]" CEO: [April 2026] "There have been no 400 Wh/kg batteries delivered to customers."
5 CEO: "Even if you shoot through it, or do whatever you want to the cell, it will be just fine, it just loses the capacity from the area where you shot. [mimes a bullet hole with thumb and forefinger]" VTT: "after 50 cycles at 5C [there was] a 54.66 % reduction compared to the initial capacity" [the reduction was over 50% at less than 20 cycles at 5C]
6 CEO: "For hundreds of cycles, the Coulombic efficiency of Donut Battery would likely still remain above 1.0 throughout the whole test. [...] The experts will tell you this goes against the fundamental laws of physics." The experts: Coulombic efficiency above 100% is commonly observed for the first few hundred cycles in some battery chemistries, including lithium-ion.
7 CEO: "These industry standard pouch materials are simply not designed for the 100° C that our batteries can take." Industry standards: IEC 62133 and UL1642 require commercial cell pouches to withstand an oven temperature of 130ºC
8 CEO: "We're not talking to investors until all disclosure is done." Newspaper: "[Donut Lab CEO] Lehtimäki said that the company is seeking additional funding of 30–50 million euros from investors during the first quarter of 2026, i.e. January–March."
9 CEO: "No lithium." Engineers, researchers: The Donut Lab VTT test results are what you'd get from lithium, specifically Si-anode Li-NMC. ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5])
10 CEO: "The cycle life [...] is 100,000 cycles [...] charge it to full, let it go to zero, as many times as you want, it doesn't degrade" [at 5C from 0% to 100% for 100,000 cycles at pack-level in a motorcycle - see expanded quote below] CEO: "The battery lasts [...] 100,000 cycles [...] so it will have 100.0 percent left after your motorcycle is done after 20 years." CTO: "significant prior usage [has reduced the cell's capacity] by roughly 13%" [13% reduced capacity?! For a battery that can withstand 100,000 cycles with 0% reduced capacity?!]
11 Donut website: "The world’s first production-ready all-solid-state battery platform is available today." CEO: "There's nothing liquid inside [the battery]" Engineers, researchers:The VTT test results suggest the battery is a conventional NMC cell with a liquid electrolyte. ([1], [2], [3])
12 Donut website: "Full charge in 5 minutes. There is no need to limit charging to 80%. Full charge and full discharge are safe, repeatable, and expected in daily operation" CMO: The 20.2kWh-specced battery's charging capacity is 18kWh [implying there's a buffer, likely to protect from damage, at either 0% voltage, 100% voltage, or both]
13 CEO: "You can go at 5C charging [from 0.0] to 100% [for] 100,000 cycles". Donut website: "There is no need to limit charging to 80%." Verge: A charging video from 10% to 80% that averages 3.5C [Why not 0%-100%? There is no need to limit charging to 80%.]
index status
1 False. Publicly contradicted by Donut Lab CEO. Statement about production capacity changed from "now already" to "this year if everything goes as planned".
2 False. Publicly contradicted by Donut Lab CEO. Statement about 100,000 cycle battery life changed from (trimmed for brevity) "0% to 100% at 5C" and "doable in normal use" to "maximum that is reachable under optimal conditions" and 5,000 cycles under unspecified "fast charging".
3 False. Contradicted by private correspondence showing Donut Lab requesting test results in March 2026 despite Donut Lab claiming in 2025 they have "conducted our own experiments" and "completed our thorough due diligence process".
4 False. Publicly contradicted by Donut Lab CEO. Statement about customer deliveries changed from 2026 Q1 to no deliveries in 2026 Q1.
5 False. Publicly contradicted by Donut Lab VTT tests. Capacity of a damaged cell⸺Donut Lab claims a "broken pouch", but experts doubt the pouch broke⸺was not "just fine", it degraded over 50%.
6 False. Much evidence available in the scientific and engineering community.
7 False. If the pouches truly were industry standards they would withstand 100ºC, and the failure would be within the anode, cathode, or electrolyte, not the pouch material.
8 Highly likely false according to internal Donut Lab documents published by the press.
9 Highly likely false according to several battery experts from industry and academia who reviewed the Donut Lab VTT test results.
10 Highly likely false according to several battery experts from industry and academia who reviewed the Donut Lab VTT test results.
11 Highly likely false according to several battery experts from industry and academia who reviewed the Donut Lab VTT test results.
12 Likely false by advertised Verge Motorcycles Donut Lab battery specs.
13 Likely false by Donut Lab VTT tests and Verge charging videos.

Pack-level claims expanded quote below. Emphasis mine. Recorded in January 2026 at CES Las Vegas.

Donut Lab CEO: "Verge broke the Guinness World Record last year with the longest range on a motorcycle. Now they are almost doubling it, thanks to our solid state battery. But also, that provides Verge bikes with less than 10 minute charge time, zero to full."
CEO: "And on top of that, the cycle life that is normally in cars may be 2000, 3000, cycles. This is 100,000 cycles. So that's like probably 30 lifetimes of a motorcycle. So you never have to worry about babying the battery or worrying if you can let it go to 100% or zero. It doesn't mind. You can do whatever you want. Charge it to full, let it go to zero. As many times as you want. It doesn't degrade."
CEO: "As mentioned, 100,000 cycles, so that's 10 lifetimes of a car as well. And the other incredible things are that, of course, with motorcycles, you don't take them to deep freeze or anything. But if you're using these batteries in cars, even at like 25 or 30 minus Fahrenheit, it will have 99% of capacity."
Interviewer: "So do you have to precondition the battery like a car might?"
CEO: "Not at all. And actually, what we've done even is that normally you cannot get lithium ion batteries to zero."
Interviewer: "Right, we know about that. 5% is the lowest we like to go."
CEO: "This can go 0.0"
Interviewer: "And the battery doesn't get damaged?"
CEO: "No, then you can go at 5C charging from the next moment without warming it up or anything. It just takes it like nothing."
Interviewer: "To 100%?"
CEO: "Yeah, yeah, absolutely, to 100%."
Interviewer: "And that does not harm the battery for consistent charging to 100%?"
CEO: "No, it's 100,000 cycles with that, yeah."

u/mqee — 1 month ago

"Verge Motorcycles / Donut Lab / Nordic Nano / Donut Defence / ESOX" has co-branded its motor as the Theron motor and its "battery" as the ESOX battery

youtube.com
u/mqee — 2 months ago

Jokes and memes are now allowed on the sub.

You may have noticed that rule 1 used to say that jokes and memes are not allowed until we get reasonably complete information about the battery. Well, thanks to Lauri Peltola, we no know the battery promoted by Donut Lab contains lithium and lasts a few hundred cycles at best: Peltola says 100, engineers looking at the results say 30-50 cycles at 11C, so probably around 100 cycles at 5C and maybe a few hundred cycles at 1C.

This is pretty much all we need to know about the battery. There never was a battery that lasts for 100,000 cycles when charged from 0% to 100% at 5C.

Donut Lab lied.

reddit.com
u/mqee — 2 months ago
▲ 6 r/Rants

Accounts without post and comment history are prone to having inconsistent stories, and it's turning reddit into 4chan

Reddit was already anonymous enough before, the only thing setting it apart from absolute fiction was post and comment history which prompted people to be somewhat consistent in their lies (or truths) because checking their profile could expose their lies. Now people can just hide their post history and make up a brand new personal history every day. Personal story subs and ragebait subs are plagued with these posts, and complete fabrications make it to the top of r/all almost every time I look.

reddit.com
u/mqee — 2 months ago

Severe AI psychosis that looks like an alternate-reality game. This person convinced themselves their AI-generated git repository does anything. They can't even update a file without redoing the entire project.

xcancel.com
u/mqee — 3 months ago