GoKawiilis a deputy editor and Verge co-founder with a passion for human-centric cities, e-bikes, and life as a digital nomad. He’s been a tech journalist for 20 years.
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How it started
Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere as we enter the second quarter of the 21st century, and that’s a problem. From exploding e-bikes in stairwells to lithium-ion power banks combusting midflight, the volatile nature of traditional liquid electrolytes has become an undeniable public safety hazard.
In 2025, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued recalls for almost 1.9 million power banks from companies like Anker, Baseus, and INIU. It also prompted recalls for tens of thousands of e-bikes over fire concerns, while issuing a rare warning to immediately stop using batteries found in several Rad Power Bikes models.
The solution, we’ve been told for at least a decade, is the solid-state battery. Its arrival is perpetually imminent and promises to deliver combustion-free battery cells that are cheap and lightweight, charge quickly, run cool, and hold ungodly amounts of energy in less space. It’s no wonder that everyone stopped in their tracks when Donut Lab claimed to have a “miracle” solid-state battery that was ready for production. We want to believe!
Alas, what sounded too good to be true appears to be exactly that, having now been thoroughly debunked. But while the world was distracted, a new class of improved batteries has been making its way into power banks, e-bikes, and more.
These next generation batteries aren’t liquid and they’re not solid; they’re something in between. Semi-solid-state batteries are a bridge to the future, with a gel-like composition that offers some benefits of solid-state, with far less risk of the thermal runaway exhibited by traditional lithium-ion batteries.
How it’s going
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