Image Credit: Captain Electro.
There's no walking away from the fact that the automotive industry loves a good buzzword. "Autonomous." "Synergy." "Vaporware." And the unbeaten champion of overpromised and under-delivered tech? It has always been the mythical "solid-state battery." It's the Loch Ness Monster of the EV world - everyone claims to have seen it, but usually, it's just a log floating in a murky pond of press releases.
So, you can imagine my skepticism when a Finnish company called Verge Motorcycles - best known for making bikes that look like they rolled straight off the set of Tron: Legacy - announced they haven't just found this monster, they've put a saddle on it and are selling it to the public.
Image Credit: Verge Motorcycles.
Verge has unveiled the updated TS Pro, and if their press release is to be believed, they have beaten Toyota, Volkswagen, and every other titan of industry to the punch. They claim this is the world's first production motorcycle equipped with solid-state batteries. Oh yeah, the Finns are claiming checkmate while the rest of the world is still setting up the board.
Just in case you didn't know, Verge is the company that looked at a motorcycle wheel and thought, "You know what's boring? Spokes. And hubs. And physics." They created the "Donut" - a hubless rear wheel where the electric motor is integrated into the rim itself. It looks absolutely bonkers in the best way possible. It's the kind of design that makes you stop in the street and wonder if you've accidentally time-traveled to 2050.
Image Credit: Verge Motorcycles.
But the news today isn't about the wheel; it's about the juice box powering it. Partnering with Donut Lab (a tech company founded by the same mad scientists behind Verge), they've ditched the traditional lithium-ion soup found in your laptop and Tesla. Instead, they are using a solid electrolyte. Why does this matter? Because liquid electrolytes are flammable, heavy, and fussy about temperature. Solid-state batteries are the "Holy Grail" because they are denser, safer, and charge faster than I can finish a sentence.
In my line of work, numbers are usually where the dreams die. But Verge's numbers? Well, they are keeping me awake. Verge claims the new TS Pro, equipped with this wizardry, will deliver a range of up to 370 miles on a single charge. Mic drop…
Image Credit: Verge Motorcycles.
That is roughly the distance from Los Angeles to San Francisco, or London to somewhere very far away from London. That is nearly double the range of most electric motorcycles currently gathering dust in garages because their owners are terrified of running out of electrons on the highway.
And when you do finally run dry, Verge says you won't be stranded for long. They claim you can zap an additional 186 miles of range into the electric tank in just 10 minutes. That is barely enough time to take off your helmet, complain about the weather, and drink an espresso. If this is accurate, range anxiety just became a thing of the past, like carburetor icing or affordable housing.
Image Credit: Verge Motorcycles.
But surely, you ask, they had to sacrifice power for this efficiency? Apparently not. The bike keeps its signature, tire-shredding 737 pound-feet (1,000 Nm) of torque. I'm pretty sure that is enough twisting force to pull a stump out of the ground - or your arms out of their sockets if you aren't paying attention. It will hit 62 mph in 3.5 seconds, which is properly quick, though not "tear your face off" quick like some superbikes. Actually, 3.5 seconds is plenty fast enough to lose your license before you've left the on-ramp.
The motor itself has gone on a diet, too. The new "Donut" motor is supposedly 50% lighter than the previous anvil, while maintaining the same output. This is good, because electric bikes are notoriously heavy. The standard TS Pro usually tips the scales around 540 lbs, with a seat height of about 30.7 inches and a long, cruiser-esque wheelbase of 60.6 inches. Shedding weight from the unsprung mass of that rear wheel is going to do wonders for the handling, which was previously described by polite reviewers as "stable."
Image Credit: Verge Motorcycles.
Safety is the other big selling point here. Because the electrolyte is solid, the risk of thermal runaway is near zero. This is a massive claim. As much as I enjoy heated seats, I prefer the heat to be controlled by a button, not by a chemical reaction happening inches from my inseam.
Now, for the skepticism. And I have buckets of it. We have seen major players like QuantumScape and Ducati tease this tech for years, always with the caveat that it's "coming soon." For a relatively small startup to leapfrog the entire global automotive industry is astonishing. It's like a local garage band announcing they've written Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band before The Beatles got around to it.
Image Credit: Verge Motorcycles.
The CTO of Donut Lab, Ville Piippo, insists this isn't a concept. He says it's ready for the mass market now. Not in 2030. Now. They say the bike will be available in the "coming months" of early 2026. And the price? The standard TS Pro starts around $29,900. Rumor has it the solid-state "Large Battery" trim might bump that closer to $35,000. That is a lot of money for a motorcycle. You could buy a very nice car for that. Or a boat. But none of those things have a hubless wheel and a battery from the future.
It seems that the giants of the industry were sleeping at the wheel while a bunch of Finns were busy reinventing it. But, until I am actually sitting on one, twisting the throttle, and riding 370 miles without calling a tow truck, I will stay cautiously optimistic. It sounds too good to be true. But then again, so did the internet, the moon landing, and non-alcoholic beer. Actually, I'm still not sold on the last one.
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