13911 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

EV battery leader CATL set to launch first sodium-ion batteries in passenger vehicles

 

The 45 kWh sodium-ion battery pack, the industry’s first for light commercial vehicles, performs surprisingly well in extreme cold temperatures.

According to CATL, the batteries charged at temperatures as low as -30°C (-20°F), and at -40°C (-40°F), it still retained 90% of their usable capacity.

 

https://electrek.co/...passenger-cars/

[Victoria Watcher]

The Finnish 'Donut' That’s Giving the Battery World Indigestion

 

 

 

There's a storm coming from Finland, and for once, it's not just a depressing cold front full of snow and seasonal affective disorder. Since the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas wrapped up, the entire automotive world has been jabbering on about a solid-state battery from a company called Donut Lab. Yes, Donut. I suppose "Reindeer Powertrain" was taken.

 

I'm guilty of the chatter as well. I wrote about the new Verge motorcycle due in the next few months, largely because it's powered by this magic battery and looks like something Tron would ride if he had a better budget. I had my reservations - as I always do when someone promises me the moon on a stick - but since I am mostly optimistic, I hope there's more to this story than just sugary marketing glaze.

 

The world, however, is up in arms. Large Chinese companies are not mincing their words, calling it a scam and suggesting Donut Lab is nothing but a fraud. It's a proper bar fight, and I've got a front-row seat. Here is the claim that has everyone spitting out their coffee. A small startup from Helsinki, a place usually reserved for heavy metal bands and rallying drivers, claims to have beaten Toyota, Samsung, and the entire industrial might of China to the solid-state finish line.

 

The numbers they are throwing around are bonkers: Energy Density: 400 Wh/kg - that's nearly double what you get in a Tesla. Charging in five minutes - not enough time to scratch your nose, let alone drink a coffee. 100,000 cycles before it gives up the ghost - your current EV battery conks out after about 1,500 to 3,000 cycles. This thing would outlive you, your children, and possibly the concept of personal transport itself. Apparently, the new battery works happily from -22°F to 212°F, and it costs roughly the same as current batteries.

 

If that's true, it's not a breakthrough. It's a miracle. It's like discovering that Guinness is actually a health drink. But the experts have questions, and I don't blame them. Usually, when something sounds too good to be true, it is. But the keyword here is "usually."

 

Because the plot thickens when you look at where this wizardry is coming from. Donut Lab points toward work done by another Finnish outfit, Nordic Nano. Last October, Donut dropped a "significant strategic investment" in Nordic Nano, which specializes in nanotechnology for solar and battery applications. Nordic Nano then released a report claiming they developed a "bipolar electrostatic capacitor" with specs that look suspiciously like Donut's battery claims. Same 400 Wh/kg density, same immortal lifespan, same fireproof safety.

 

https://www.captaine...rld-indigestion

 

Boy oh boy. Forget the whole Greenland shenanigans - THIS is the important stuff here. I mean, why would Verge fake the battery? The lie will eventually unravel, and it will take the company down with it. Same goes for Donut Lab. The good news is it's only a matter of weeks, not years, before experts start tearing down the battery pack to see if the solid-state technology is real or just a box of hamster wheels. 

 

 

 

 

^ I like this guy's writing style!  

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 January 2026 - 09:42 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

BC Hydro has opened a new electric vehicle (EV) charging hub at Victoria’s Ogden Point with 12 new charging ports to support the provincial government’s expansion of EV charging stations across Vancouver Island.

 

“This new electric vehicle charge hub in Victoria continues our work with BC Hydro and other partners to make cleaner options more accessible and affordable for all British Columbians,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions. 

 

Located in the parking lot of the Ogden Point Cruise Ship Terminal at 185 Dallas Road, the new hub has two 180-kilowatt chargers that will charge the average EV with up to 180 kilometres of driving in 10 minutes.

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...-point-1301571/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 24 January 2026 - 08:42 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Volvo's Parent Company Will Start Making Solid-State Batteries This Year

After assembling the first complete solid-state packs, they’ll start going into development vehicles.

 

https://insideevs.co...batteries-2026/

 

 

 

But Geely is a big company. It owns Lotus, Zeekr and Lynk & Co, in addition to Volvo, so it’s not far-fetched to think that any of these brands could one day offer solid-state batteries for their EVs. The Chinese auto giant has been developing battery technology in-house since the 2010s, investing in several projects that focus on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells and solid-state cells.

 

The company’s experimental liquid-less cells have reportedly reached energy densities of around 400 watt-hours/kilogram, which is significantly more than the 200-300 Wh/kg that typical lithium-ion batteries with liquid electrolytes currently offer.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 January 2026 - 03:27 AM.

[Mike K.]

Tesla is cancelling Model S and Model X.

[spanky123]

^ Sales of those models dropped 50% last year, can you blame them? The only thing saving the 3 and Y is tariffs; otherwise, they would be in the dump as well.

 

Amazes me that a guy who has never delivered as promised on any vehicle or application is still having his company valued based on his dreams. 

[m3m]

Wait til you hear his promises about the robots he’s going to build!

[Victoria Watcher]

Amazes me that a guy who has never delivered as promised on any vehicle or application is still having his company valued based on his dreams. 

 

Literally HUNDREDS of US car companies have failed.

 

https://en.wikipedia...e_United_States

 

Only Tesla and Ford have survived.

 

Musk is the ony person in the western world with a profitable electric vehicle.  And he has at least 4.

 

You want to bet against him?  He's now making $6B profit per year just on battery packs.

 

Tesla said record Megapack deployments generated $1.1 billion in gross profit for its energy generation and storage business in the fourth quarter, marking a fifth consecutive record-setting quarter. The company also said more than one million installed Powerwall units are helping homeowners save roughly $1 billion annually on electricity costs.

 

https://insideevs.co...rd-deployments/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 January 2026 - 09:00 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

^ Sales of those models dropped 50% last year, can you blame them? The only thing saving the 3 and Y is tariffs; otherwise, they would be in the dump as well.

 

Amazes me that a guy who has never delivered as promised on any vehicle or application is still having his company valued based on his dreams. 

 

 

[Victoria Watcher]

 

 

So I think there are close to 3M Teslas on the road in the US and Canada, so maybe a bit over 1/3 are using FSD (supervised).

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 January 2026 - 08:53 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

The only thing saving the 3 and Y is tariffs; otherwise, they would be in the dump as well.

 

You assume people want cheap EVs.   That's not likely the case.

 

 

 

GM Gives Poor People 18 Months To Buy The $30,000 Chevy Bolt Before It's Killed Again

 

Read More: https://www.jalopnik...e-killed-again/

 

 

 

Chevrolet has been playing with the Bolt's life the same way a cat plays with its prey, teasing it and giving it brief moments of hope before inevitably killing it while we all watch. The Bolt represented a rarity in the car market; it was a compact, affordable, relatively long-range EV that found homes in driveways across America, and Chevrolet first discontinued back in 2023. Chevy then incited hope when it announced that it would introduce a new Bolt for the 2027 model year, and that it would start under $30,000 and travel over 250 miles on a charge, but last week GM told Bloomberg that it would only produce new Bolts for 18 measly months before axing it again.

 

The heavily updated Bolt will be produced at GM's Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas City, Kansas, but GM decided it wants to start producing the gas-powered Buick Envision and Chevrolet Equinox at that factory to avoid President Trump's tariffs on Mexican and Chinese vehicles and parts. Sorry Bolt fans, if you miss the 18-month production run of the 2027 Bolt, you'll have to fork over more cash for one of GM's other EVs like the Equinox EV or the Blazer EV.

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 January 2026 - 09:10 PM.

[Mike K.]

One of the problems plaguing Chinese EVs is the brands keep going under, leaving car buyers without upgrades to tech that needs tweaking and no parts. It’s a huge gamble, in other words.

Robot: Numerous Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers are struggling financially, and many have recently gone bankrupt or are expected to in the near future. This trend is due to a combination of market saturation, a brutal price war, and a "survival of the fittest" environment in China's highly competitive EV market.

[lanforod]

Can I order one on Temu yet?

[LJ]

Can I order one on Temu yet?

Yeah, but how big are you?

 

https://www.temu.com...n_id=459tsryobi

[LJ]

Here is a preview of some of the electric vehicles that will be available to us from China...

 

https://youtu.be/TGq...P3wxqv4tlqg7Il3

[Mike K.]

You may not realize that’s all 100% AI garbage. The oldest video is 4 months old.

[Victoria Watcher]

The $25K EV Truck You Can Repair Yourself: Meet The Slate Truck | Jay Leno’s Garage

YouTube video:   https://youtu.be/L6_...CSXBykfSAF6riAk

 

 

150 or 230-mile range package.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 February 2026 - 12:23 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

CATL announced on January 29, 2026 that, under ideal conditions, its next generation battery will retain 80% of its capacity after 3000 full charge/discharge cycles at 5C, which translates into an expected battery life of more than 1.8 million kilometers.

 

C rate measures how quickly a battery can be charged and discharged in relation to its size. according to Car News China. For example, an 80 kWh battery at 1C can be charged at a maximum of 80 kW, theoretically allowing a full charge in one hour. At 5C, the same battery could theoretically be fully charged in 12 minutes using a charger with 400 kW of power. CATL notes that the life expectancy of its new battery is about six times the current industry average and may exceed the vehicle’s lifespan.

 

 

https://cleantechnic...ion-5c-battery/

 

 

So here’s the thing, EV fans. 50 years ago, a conventional car was not expected to last much more than 50,000 miles. Odometers stopped recording mileage after 99,999.9. At auctions, the auctioneers would loudly announce that a car on the auction block had more than 100,000 miles on the odo. “Buy this car at your own risk,” was the message.

 

Then the Japanese auto manufacturers showed it was possible to build engines that lasted for 200,000 miles — or more. Now CATL is saying its latest batteries can power an electric vehicle for as much as 1 million miles. That has massive implications for the total cost of owning a vehicle. It also has a lot to say about how many new cars the world will need each year in the future. If electric cars last two or even three times as long as conventional cars, the new car market will shrink accordingly.

 

Add in the ability to update many new cars wirelessly and the only limiting factor to how long we can own our vehicles is the integrity of the basic structure. In other words, rust is what we should be concerned about now, not how long the battery will last.

 

 

 

 

 

Charge in 12 Minutes, Drive for 1.8 Million Kilometers, CATL Just Raised the Bar

https://thenewswheel...meter-lifespan/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 February 2026 - 08:18 PM.

[Mike K.]

Stop talking about it, and do it, for goodness sake.

[Victoria Watcher]

Stop talking about it, and do it, for goodness sake.

 

They are getting there.

 

Humans have been around for 300,000 years.  Commercial electricty is less than 150 years old.

 

Breaking the 10-minute barrier for charging will be good.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 February 2026 - 10:30 PM.