GWM’s Svolt CEO calls Donut Lab’s ‘production-ready’ solid-state battery a fraud
Yang Hongxin, chairman of Svolt, recently said in an interview that Donut Lab is a fraud for its claim that its all-solid-state batteries are ready for mass production, according to multiple Chinese news outlet reports.
“That battery doesn’t even exist in the world; all the parameters are contradictory… Any person with even a basic understanding of the technology would think it’s a scam.” Yang said.
Yang also pointed out that it is “too early for the industrialization of all-solid-state batteries,” and criticized the excessive hype in the industry and capital markets.
At the CES 2026 this month, Finnish startup Donut Lab unexpectedly announced the launch of the world’s first mass-producible all-solid-state battery with an energy density of 400 Wh/kg, can be fully charged in 5 minutes without limiting charging to 80%, exhibits minimal capacity fade over its lifetime of up to 100,000 cycles, and maintains over 99% capacity retention rate within a temperature range of -30°C to 100°C.
The company also claimed to have GWh level mass production capabilities and can supply consumers worldwide.
It’s worth noting that a Donut Lab employee previously stated that the core materials and production processes of the battery could not be disclosed, and that specific technical details would not be published in papers, as this is the company’s proprietary technology. This battery also does not contain rare earth elements or lithium, and it uses a completely different technological approach from traditional all-solid-state batteries. And the cost is comparable to that of lithium iron phosphate batteries.
Furthermore, the employee revealed that Donut Lab’s current production capacity is approximately 1 GWh, with plans to increase capacity to 20 to 30 GWh by the beginning of next year.
Svolt has completed development of its first-generation semi-solid-state battery (SSSB) cells in November last year, achieving an energy density of 270 Wh/kg. The mass production will start in 2026, according to company.
Svolt is now working on second-generation semi-solid-state cells targeting an energy density of 400 Wh/kg.
Under the new government standard, SSSB name is prohibited to use to avoid confusion and those batteries are now called “liquid–solid” state.
About Svolt
Svolt originated from the power battery division of Great Wall Motor (GWM), and has been conducting preliminary research on power batteries since 2012. In 2018, it was completely spun off from GWM, and officially renamed to Svolt Energy Technology Co., Ltd. Headquartered in Jiangsu, China, the company specializes in the research and manufacturing of automotive power battery materials, cells, modules, battery management system, and energy storage products.
Source: Mydrivers, Sohu
