New EV Battery Gives Gasmobiles The Deep Freeze

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The cost of EV batteries is spiraling downwards while the cost of gas and diesel is spiraling up. That’s a picture perfect scenario for accelerating the transition to EVs. The missing link is a level of battery performance that can meet, if not beat, a comparable internal combustion engine, and the Finnish innovator Donut Lab has just taken a -30 degree Celsius step in that direction.

One EV Battery To Rule Them All, Eventually

If the name Donut Lab rings a bell, run right out and buy yourself a cigar. CleanTechnica is among the many (many, many) EV enthusiasts following the Donut Lab story, which is a rather unusual one.

The company unveiled its new solid-state EV battery at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, describing it as “the world’s first solid-state battery that is ready for use in OEM vehicle manufacturing,” while also pledging to share the results of third-party testing.

“With a full charge in five minutes and 400 Wh/kg of energy density, it seemed too good to be true. However, for any skeptics out there, Donut Lab is posting a new video series along with supporting material that explains the results of an independent assessment at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland,” CleanTechnica reported in January.

That’s right, VTT has been validating Donut Labs’s claims every step of the way, and the startup has been sharing those reports, in excruciating detail. In a bit of clap-back at skeptics who are challenging its claims, Donut Lab directs the curious to the VTT reports on its website at I Donut Believe.

New EV Battery Takes The Heat…

Donut Labs has kept VTT hopping since the big unveil. In March, VTT issued a report that validated the new battery’s performance at 100°C — in other words, the boiling point. That led some Donut-watchers, including CleanTechnica’s Christopher Arcus, to conclude that the battery is not based on lithium, as some others have surmised.

“Speculation that the Donut Lab battery is not real are diminishing as independent lab data shows 100° Celsius performance. Speculation that the battery may be lithium run[s] into difficulty explaining how a battery can work at 100° Celsius,” Arcus observed.

“In the independent tests, the thin membrane surrounding the pouch breached. If the contents were a standard lithium-ion with liquid electrolyte, there would have been significant outgassing and the organic electrolyte would have caught fire,” he further noted.

…And Cracks The Cold Code

In the latest news, earlier this week Donut Lab posted a new VTT report validating that the new battery retains 99% capacity at temperatures down to -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit), a claim the company made at the CES unveiling. The cold weather validation is meaningful because it pulls the rug out from under EV critics, who are fond of claiming that cold weather significantly limits battery performance and range.

Cold weather can impact EV battery range, but then again, cold weather also puts a crimp on the fuel efficiency of gas-powered engines, too. Whether gas or electric, most drivers are in the habit of planning trips to make sure they don’t get stranded by the side of the road in cold weather or, for that matter, any weather, which lets a little steam out of the anti-EV argument.

Still, there is always room for improvement. EVs can be engineered with thermal management systems that protect against performance loss in extreme temperatures, but Donut Lab makes the case for doing away with external systems and building resilience into the battery itself.

The VTT test regimen involved a module consisting of 14 battery cells, placed in a temperature chamber at -30°C and left there for five hours. After the module was completely frozen through, tests showed that it retained 97% of its ampere-hour capacity, compared to a previous measurement at +25°C (about +77°F).

“As the report demonstrates, following battery capacity discharges performed during deep-freeze conditions, the module charges and discharges completely normally, with no adverse effects whatsoever resulting from the cold,” Donut Labs summarized in a press statement. The company further emphasized that the testing process did not include any heating, cooling, or insulation systems.

“We intentionally eliminated all the potential advantages a battery might normally have,” Donut Lab CTO Ville Piippo elaborated. “Despite this, the battery remained unaffected by the conditions. A typical lithium-ion battery would struggle to provide power, even for a brief moment, in such cold temperatures.”

Piippo also emphasized that the new battery eschews add-ons for temperature control. “This validates our promise of 99% capacity, which customers can expect from a fully insulated battery module without any heaters or tricks,” Piipp added for good measure.

Want more? Check out the YouTube video or download the VTT report.

EV Battery Mystery Solved…Not!

Because Donut Labs is taking everyone on a step-by-step validation journey, there are still some steps left to climb before a whole-of-system report is conclusive. And, the big mystery wrapped around an enigma remains: what, exactly, is in this new battery?

That’s a good question. One likely candidate is — or was — the NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) formula, but that idea has sunk like a lead balloon.

Meanwhile, over here in the US both Ford and General Motors have teased that the Next Big Thing in EV batteries is the LMR (lithium manganese-rich formula). The idea is to compete with lower-costing LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) batteries on cost, while out-performing LFP on energy density.

Last month, GM let word slip that its existing EV battery factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, will begin producing LMR batteries for the electric mobility market.

Ford has been somewhat less forthcoming on the LMR topic of late, which is understandable because the company’s long-awaited Fathom electric pickup truck is poised for volume production next year. At a relatively affordable price point of just under $30,000 the truck will probably showcase LFP batteries.

At least, that was the case last year. “To really deliver truly affordable electric vehicles to our customers, we made a decision years ago to fully invest in a new facility with world-class LFP production technology installed in the U.S. for the first time — wholly owned and operated by Ford,”explained the company’s VP of Technology Platform Programs and EV Systems in an explainer posted in June of 2025.

Image: Mystery swirls around a new EV battery from the Finnish startup Donut Lab, which has just passed an extreme cold-weather performance test (screenshot courtesy of Donut Labs).