Many battery companies have claimed that solid-state batteries will be available sooner rather than later. For years, industry analysts have suggested the realistic timeline was still five to ten years away. However, a Finnish battery technology company now claims it has scaled solid-state battery production and is ready to deploy the technology now—not a decade from now.

So, what are solid-state batteries? In simple terms, they are best described as “dry” batteries. They contain no liquids or liquid electrolytes, unlike traditional lithium-ion batteries. Solid-state batteries are potentially game-changing by orders of magnitude, matching—and possibly outperforming—petroleum-based energy systems.

In practical terms, solid-state batteries could render fossil-fuel engines obsolete and accelerate the transition to a fully electric future. For example, a Tesla Model Y could theoretically double its range using the same battery capacity, while suffering virtually no degradation over charge cycles and remaining largely unaffected by heat or cold.

And it gets better. A vehicle equipped with solid-state batteries could charge from 10 to 100 percent in under five minutes using a public supercharger. So, is the future finally here? Maybe.

The first company set to test Donut Labs’ solid-state battery technology is electric motorcycle manufacturer Verge. Verge will effectively act as a public beta test, allowing the industry to see whether Donut Labs’ claims hold up in the real world.

Companies often make bold promises to sell new technology, but reality frequently falls short of the hype. However, if Donut Lab claims prove accurate, this could mark the beginning of the end for the traditional petroleum-powered car—and perhaps even reduce America’s dependence on the world’s fossil fuel resources.