687
Donut Lab's miracle battery found to be a fraud, investigation claims
(interestingengineering.com)
this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2026
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Technology
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Dang, was just seeing a bunch of YT vids popping up about this, how it was going to be big if true.
If they are really a fraud, how did they think they wouldn’t get caught??
They didn't need to keep it secret forever, just long enough to grab more money.
That's how Ponzi schemes work. See this thing?
Under $50,000! All carbon fiber! Solar powered! 1,600 km range!
This thing has been vaporware since 2009, company started 20 YEARS AGO -4,000 suckers signed up.
It went chapter 11 in 2011.
Bought by a Chinese company, " company stated it would manufacture 5000 vehicles by the end of 2012".
total to date: 0.
On December 8, 2020, the company presented a driveable prototype and started accepting reservations. By December 14 the company had over 3000 refundable preorders for $100 each. Aptera released its 2021 annual report in May 2022, stating they had 103 employees and over 18,000 reservations for their solar electric vehicle. By mid 2022, the company raised a total of $40 million, planning to get to production by the end of the year.They acquired three buildings in Carlsbad, California, with a combined space of over 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2). In November 2022 Aptera announced they have redesigned the structural components of the vehicle, and it requires more funding before they can get to production.
total to date: 0.
Aptera announced in April 2025 the company raised a total of $130 million through crowdfunding and $10 million from other investors, and the company requires an additional $60 million before it can start low-volume production.
total to date: 0.
Aptera announced in March 2026 it has raised a further $17M, and plans starting low-scale production no earlier than March 2027 pending raising a further $50 million.
It just goes on and on and no one is questioning the utter bullshit claims of range and solar charging and the lack of a single vehicle in 20 years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptera_Motors
But when Elizabeth Holmes did this...straight to jail.
Now in 2026, there are serious safety concerns about vehicles that look like cars but are actually motorcycles. There is a Federal bill to ban these on the table.
wild!
Fake it til you make it
That doesn't work for products
No no no sorry: fake it (products) until you make [off with] it (investor's money)
It actually has a lot of times. Make lots of promises, take investor money, show “working” prototypes, release nothing.
Sometimes, they even get away without lawsuits or criminal charges.
There’s even a word for it: vaporware.
It's basically the entire business model of kickstarter et al. to facilitate these scammers...
I've had a few projects through Kickstarter face delays over the years (once for Covid, definitely don't blame them for that) but nothing that turns into actual fraud. I know they happen, and it makes the internet news when it does, but calling it "the entire business model" is wildly cynical at best.
As with any investment, don't go in blind. Look at who's behind the idea and their experience and values.
If you find out about something through YouTube ad, that’s all the proof you need that it’s a scam
What I don't understand is YouTube showing me constant ads for something I've already bought and like. I'm not buying more earplugs, compression socks, and sports shorts any time soon.
Marketing people are dumb. Their entire major is about the misrepresentation statistical data. Convince the guy paying you the ads work and wont doesn’t matter if they don’t.
If they need to advertise to promote their product, its trash
I feel the same way up to a point. I think that making people aware of the existence and purpose of your company and product through advertising is very useful for all parties, as a customer cannot demand a supplied item that they are unaware of.
I feel that it crosses over into "its trash" territory when the product is aggressively marketed in a manner that distorts the facts and attempts to artificially drum up demand by inciting FOMO or through other unehical psychological tricks, all of which would be illegal in a sane world.
If anyone ever asks you that old thought experiment about naming a field that would immediately make the world a better place if it ceased to exist, one very high quality answer for this is "marketing". Advertising is the Siamese twin of marketing, but not the evil twin. Marketing often dresses up and pretends to be advertising, but they are distinct.
Targeted advertising is somewhat misnamed, IMO, and is not just advertising, again wearing a disguise to look like it is. It is actually harassment and stalking, and is only used for advertising. Saying its real name puts folks off for some reason.