Donut Lab publishes another fast-charging test – with a Verge motorcycle

As part of the *I Donut Believe* campaign, through which Donut Lab aims to demonstrate the performance of the solid-state battery it introduced in January 2026, the Finnish company has so far conducted three laboratory tests in collaboration with the Technology Institute VTT. Publications on fast-charging tests at cell level, thermal behaviour, and charge retention have attracted significant attention in the industry and have largely reinforced the scepticism of many battery researchers. This is because only tests commissioned by Donut have been conducted so far, with no independent examination of the cells or their chemistry. While this remains unresolved, Donut Lab has now moved beyond the laboratory and conducted a fast-charging test with a complete battery pack in a vehicle.

“The use of Donut Lab’s solid-state battery technology in a production vehicle will be a historic breakthrough that is shaking up the entire automotive industry.,” Donut states confidently. “Now, for the first time, the company is publicly demonstrating the battery’s functionality in a vehicle at the battery pack level.” The vehicle in question is a Verge TS Pro with an air-cooled battery—the same model for which the use of the solid-state battery was announced in January. A quick reminder: at the time, a range of 350 kilometres was mentioned, with the ability to recharge enough power for 300 kilometres in ten minutes. This refers to a 20.2 kWh pack. With an optional *Extended Range* battery offering 33.3 kWh of energy content, a range of up to 595 kilometres is said to be possible.

The test motorcycle was still a Verge TS Pro from the previous generation, but it was equipped with a battery from the new model year. Donut Lab specifies a nominal capacity of 18 kilowatt-hours, which aligns with the 20.2 kWh gross energy content. For the test, the electric motorcycle was charged at a public charging station, specifically an ALpitronic Hypercharger operated by Circle K.

At the start of the charging test, the battery pack had a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. The charging process began at over 100 kW, which, for a roughly 20 kWh battery, corresponds to a charging rate of 5C. This level was maintained for five minutes, during which the battery was charged from 10 to 50 per cent. After just over nine minutes, a 70 per cent state of charge was reached, with the typical 80 per cent achieved after twelve minutes. “Although the results of the fast charging test are already excellent, and the battery pack charges three times faster than Verge’s previous battery, the results will be even better after optimization performed by Verge,” Donut states.

However, to recharge enough power for 300 kilometres in a battery with a 350-kilometre range, the state of charge would need to increase by nearly 86 per cent—from 10 to 96 per cent. Donut Lab had announced this in January with a duration of under ten minutes, but the charging process from 10 to 80 per cent now takes twelve minutes—note that this is without the mentioned optimisation of the battery management system. Additionally, it remains unclear what role the air cooling of the battery plays while the vehicle is stationary during the charging process. However, the second laboratory test suggested that the battery can still be charged quickly even at high temperatures, although battery researchers interpreted the results differently from Donut itself.

“This is the first test we have published to a wider audience that demonstrates the performance and behaviour of multiple battery cells in a real vehicle environment,” says Ville Piippo, CTO at Donut Lab. “The high energy density of our battery technology enables flexible battery pack design and superior performance even in more challenging applications, such as motorcycles, where space is limited and system simplicity is key. We are able to offer vehicle manufacturers packs with different energy capacities in the same physical size, with even the smallest packs having very high capacities.”

“Our goal is to provide Verge users with the best possible user experience. The advantages of Donut Lab’s battery technology, such as ultra-fast charging, complement our goal seamlessly,” adds Tuomo Lehtimäki, CEO of Verge Motorcycles. “The world’s fastest charging electric motorcycle, the Verge TS Pro, is also air-cooled. The battery pack used in this test is our standard model, but an extended range version is also available, with approximately two-thirds more energy capacity.”

Source: Information via email, youtube.com