The power of choice for many science fiction vehicles has often been electricity. In the future the batteries can supply endless clean power, recharge in a fraction of the time it takes today, and there’s virtually no fire risk.

The images above are from Verge Motorcycles, a company that builds high performance electric motorcycles. In developing the high performance motors and solid state batteries for their motorcycles, they created a subsidiary, Donut Lab, to develop and market their specialized in-wheel “donut” motor technology and solid-state battery technology for the electric vehicle (EV) industry.

Above are test or concept vehicles for Donut Lab. Here’s a video from their website with some pretty amazing claims. Their new battery technology is supposed to make electric vehicles fully competitive with current internal combustion engine transportation and to solve the following issues:

• Range - Vehicles will have extended range before recharging is required.

• Charging Time - Less than 10 minutes to recharge, just over 5 minutes.

• Battery degradation - A very high number of charging cycles before battery replacement needed.

• Temperature - Perform with minimal loss, 1% - 2% at extremely cold or hot temperatures.

• Safety - Batteries aren’t a fire hazard if they are damaged.

• Supply Chain - Batteries made from easily sourced materials in US and Eurozone regions. No rare earth materials required.

In the article below from the Washington Post the author is both excited by the company’s claims and skeptical. Especially since the major car companies and others have been working on solid state batteries for years but aren’t close to the breakthroughs claimed by Verge Motorcycle and its subsidiary Donut Lab.

This company says it has produced the Holy Grail of batteries

New batteries in electric vehicles could store more energy, charge faster and last longer, while lowering fire risk

“But Verge and Donut Lab have offered no evidence and few details about their battery claims. The proof, they say, will come when customers start to receive the $30,000 electric motorcycles they are selling now and plan to deliver by the end of March. Scientists are skeptical, and the controversy illustrates the long and troubled history of companies that have tried — and so far failed — to develop a technology sometimes lauded as the holy grail of batteries.”

“Solid-state batteries are similar to the standard lithium-ion batteries found in phones, laptops and electric cars, but they replace liquid electrolytes with solid materials that, theoretically, could allow them to store more energy, charge faster and last longer, while lowering their fire risk. Researchers have struggled to develop solid-state batteries that combine all these benefits and work consistently in the real world. Even if they succeeded, companies would have to spend years and billions of dollars overhauling battery factories to mass-produce solid cells instead of batteries that use liquid electrolytes.”

If Donut Lab’s claims are real, would you buy an electric car?

What would it take for you to trade in your gas guzzler for an electric vehicle?

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My upcoming novel, Electromagnetic Assault, is getting closer. The launch date is April 7, 2026. I have Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) and I’ve already shared these with people who’ve supported the book on its long journey. Below is a photo of custom bookmarks to match the book’s cover. The audiobook version is in the works and I expect to have it available on the release date.

On May 1st I’ll be a speaker at the Lakefly Writers Conference and Book Fair in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. For writers my conference session is why new writers should start a Substack Email Newsletter prior to publication. For readers I’ll be selling my new book, Electromagnetic Assault at the Book Fair.