Solid state batteries aren’t ready yet, but gels are

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Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere as we enter the second half of the 21st century, and that’s the problem. From e-bike explosion in the stairs to lithium-ion power banks turning on midflightThe instability of the electrolyte balance has become an undeniable threat to public safety.

In 2025, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a recall for about 1.9 million power banks from companies like. AnkerBaseus, and YOU. This brought back memories tens of thousands of e-bikes in the event of a fire, while giving the necessary warning that it should be immediately stop using batteries available in several models of Rad Power Bikes.

The answer, we’ve been told for at least a decade, is a solid battery. Its arrival is always near and it promises to provide non-flammable battery cells that are cheap and light, charge quickly, run smoothly, and have ungodly power in a small space. No wonder everyone stopped in their tracks when Donut Lab said having a “miracle” solid-state battery that was ready to make. We want to believe!

Unfortunately, what seems too good to never happen turns out to be the case well debunked. But while the world has gone haywire, a new generation of advanced batteries has been making its way to power banks, e-bikes, and more.

These next generation batteries are not liquid and are not solid; they are something in between. Semi-solid-state batteries are a bridge to the future, with a gel-like structure that offers some of the advantages of solid-state, with a much lower risk of fuel leakage than traditional lithium-ion batteries.

In April 2025, I reviewed it “the world’s first” semi-solid-state power bank from a company called Kuxiu. Today, several additions color selling similar products. It costs more but packs more energy into the same area and does better in cold weather. Most importantly, they won’t overheat and catch fire over their lifetime, which can be two to three times longer than lithium-ion power banks.

Any product launch is usually accompanied by a movie showing lab-coated criminals with hammers, nails, drills, pliers, and knives doing all they can to bend, puncture, and rip batteries. Spoiler: Liquid electrolytes can ignite, but solid gels don’t.

Apart from the electrolyte, the basic design of a solid-state battery does not change. You have the anode on one side of the semi-solid electrolyte and the cathode on the other, with ions moving back and forth as the cell discharges and discharges. With minor modifications, semi-solid-state batteries can be manufactured on the same assembly line as their flame-retardant counterparts.

In other words, semi-solid-state batteries don’t need to blow up existing ones to support the future, and the e-bike industry has taken notice.

Ride1Up is leading the world’s strongest in the US. In early May, he announced Rev1 EVOor what it calls “the world’s first super-strong electric bike.” The 1,040Wh battery made by Heyuan Lithium Inno is designed to withstand more than 1,200 trips, not 500 like standard e-bike batteries, before dropping below 80 percent of its storage capacity. It can also charge in two hours and withstand high temperatures. It starts shipping in August 2026.

Not long after, global bicycle giant Giant announced at the end of May that it would once again start using semi-solid state batteries. It is working on at least five mass-produced batteries using Heyuan Lithium Inno semi-state batteries. It has also partnered with T&D, a battery company that spun off from manufacturer Bafang. Giant claims that the T&D battery has 50 percent more capacity compared to lithium-ion and allows them to reduce the weight of the frame by 21 percent, According to Bike Europe. We are still waiting for Giant to reveal the actual e-bikes.

Chinese phones have been drawing headlines with silicon-carbon batteries, but some also contain solid electrolytes. Switching from graphite to a silicon-carbon anode allows these advanced batteries to pack more energy into less space. Back in 2024, Vivo announced the X200 with a battery that combines a semi-solid-state electrolyte with a silicon-carbon anode. The same BlueVolt battery can be found in new Vivo devices such as Pictures of the X300Ult.

And that’s just the beginning. Semi-solid-state batteries are being tested or sold in everything from drones to EVs and giant donkey power plants used for home storage during power outages.

The adoption of semi-solid-state batteries in the equipment sector is controlled, in part, by strict regulations imposed by Chinese regulators.

New regulations for e-bikes, for example, which came into effect in December 2025, require batteries to undergo an explosion test to see if they cause a fire or explosion. And although power banks are not subjected to the same torture during certification, they are still required to undergo several tests that push liquid electrolytes to the extreme. Otherwise they will not get the Chinese CCC mark (similar to the CE mark in Europe or UL in the US) required for aviation.

This provides an opportunity for manufacturers to use semi-solid-state batteries, which naturally comply with China’s strict regulations. When this happens, it can lead to reuse of many contact lines and lower production costs, paving the way for more teams to take advantage of these advanced batteries.

And since China controls the majority of the world’s batteries, all countries can benefit from greater protection. This would be good news for the US in particular, with its federal laws, city ​​ordinancesand UL certifications that have so far failed to make e-bike batteries and power banks safe across the country.

As for real solid-state batteries, well, we’ll just have to wait. Meanwhile, Donut Lab says it is still open for business.