Your next electric vehicle could be cheaper, safer and a whole lot lighter, especially if you're a fan of two-wheel motoring.
Donut Lab, which captured my attention at last year's CES with its donut-shaped hubless electric motors, says it's supplying the world's first all-solid-state battery for a production vehicle. Donut is partnering with Verge Motorcycles to bring the new technology to its TS Pro electric motorcycle, which is currently available for order. It's also hinting at larger, four-wheeled applications just around the corner. I got my hands on the tech here at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, where the CNET Group has nominated the Donut Lab's battery as one of the finalists for the Official Best of CES 2026 Awards.
Solid-state batteries promise enticing advantages over today's lithium-ion. The increased energy density enables lighter battery packs without compromising capacity, which is a huge deal when building long-range, efficient vehicles. They also last longer. Donut claims more than 100,000 charge cycles for its cells, so there should be less worry of decreasing range or expensive battery replacements over the lifetime of the vehicle.
Verge's TS Pro electric motorcycle with a solid-state battery.
Solid-state tech is more thermally stable than lithium-ion, too, making the batteries less prone to thermal runaway when abused or damaged. This stability also has a neat side effect: higher charging speeds without fear of damaging the pack.
I was able to get my hands on a mock-up of Donut Labs' solid-state cell on the floor at CES 2026. The cells are approximately the size of a large smartphone (like the iPhone 17 Pro Max) and incredibly light. The featherweight cells make them ripe for use in aerial drones, Donut tells me.
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The current application combines the cells into larger 5-kilowatt-hour power units, each about the size of a game console. Four of those units are then loaded into the Verge TS Pro's chassis, where the motor usually lives on other bikes. This design feat is made possible by Donut's hubless electric motor integrated into the rear wheel.
The cherry on top? Donut and Verge Motorcycles say the new solid-state battery costs less to manufacture and implement than lithium-ion batteries. The $29,900 electric motorbike is said to cruise for up to 217 miles (depending on the configuration) and charge at up to 200 kilowatts, juicing up in under 35 minutes.
The 5kW solid-state pack is about the size of a PlayStation. Four of them are used in the electric motorcycle.
Solid-state battery tech making its way onto the road is a huge deal, even if motorcycles aren't your thing. The battery's advantages are even more pronounced on larger cars, where the weight savings and increased charging speeds should scale even better.
Donut Lab also announced that it is partnering with Watt Electric Vehicles to use its in-wheel motors and inverter tech on a future lightweight electric vehicle platform. So far, we've only seen the "skateboard" underpinnings of an electric car, but I expect to see more fruits of this partnership here at CES 2026 this week.
