Finnish company Donut Lab has revealed new details about the battery pack powering the Verge TS Pro Gen2 electric motorcycle, explaining that it relies on fully air-based cooling using heat-transfer plates and small fans resembling computer processor fans. The company says the motorcycle is the first electric motorcycle powered by a solid-state battery, and also describes it as the fastest-charging in its category.
The details appeared in a video Donut Lab posted on its YouTube channel, featuring Ville Piippo, the company’s co-founder and chief technology officer, explaining how the cells are assembled inside the battery pack. However, the presentation did not include evidence proving the type of chemistry used, while the company’s claims about the battery remain under scrutiny from industry experts.
Pack Specifications and Cell Arrangement
The Standard Range version of the motorcycle uses 192 Donut Lab cells, each with a capacity of 94 watt-hours, resulting in a nominal capacity of approximately 18 kilowatt-hours and a maximum capacity of about 20 kilowatt-hours. A Long Range version with a nominal capacity of approximately 30 kilowatt-hours is also available, while the battery casing remains the same size according to the details provided by the company.
The 18-kilowatt-hour version’s pack consists of four modules stacked on top of one another with a slight offset. Donut Lab says each module uses a 2P 96S arrangement, meaning two cells in parallel and 96 cells in series, with a maximum system voltage of approximately 400 volts. Heat-transfer plates are positioned between the cell layers to conduct heat to the outside of the pack.
Air Cooling and Fast Charging
The pack includes a heat sink and a small fan on each side, making it, according to Piippo, a compact, fully air-cooled design. The company says this solution is related to the limited space available in the motorcycle, as the compact design does not allow the use of a liquid-cooling system.
When using a fast DC charger, the maximum charging power is approximately 100 kilowatts, and the motorcycle needs about 11 minutes to go from 10% to 80%. Charging from 10% to 90% takes just under 15 minutes. This power is roughly half the 200-kilowatt figure Donut Lab previously promoted, while the company says the cell itself can achieve charging from zero to 80% in five minutes in cars equipped with liquid-cooled packs.
With a maximum input power of 103 kilowatts, the charging rate reaches slightly more than 5C, based on the maximum capacity of 20 kilowatt-hours. The C-rate indicates the speed at which a battery is charged or discharged relative to its maximum capacity; a 1C rate in this case is equivalent to 20 kilowatts. According to the article, the charging rate of most modern electric vehicle batteries is below 4C.
Claims Not Independently Proven
Donut Lab has previously attributed an energy density of 400 watt-hours per kilogram, the absence of rare-earth materials, and a service life of up to 100,000 charging cycles to its cells. However, the company has not yet supported these claims with patents, relevant verification results, or chemical analysis proving that the cells are truly solid-state, nor have independent tests of the motorcycle appeared.
The company says the motorcycle adds approximately 12 miles of range for every minute of charging, based on an estimated total range of 217 miles. Production of the upgraded version began last month, according to the article, but the Verge TS Pro Gen2’s performance under real-world conditions still requires independent testing.