CES 2026 Day 1: Toys Galore

First, a caution to the reader: this is not an automotive-themed article. Since I am essentially a newbie at CES after 36 years, and a self-proclaimed geek, I felt obligated to try to get the full experience. And there's no better place to get a sense for this event than CES Unveiled, the Sunday event where companies get a tiny square of space to showcase their products. This means if you can imagine anything in the world with AI and/or Bluetooth attached to it, you'll probably find it at CES Unveiled. I saw an AI-powered hummingbird feeder, a smart tennis ball machine, a set of facial expression-controlled earbuds, several robotic pool cleaners, and more. Here are a few things that caught my eye...

The most innovative branding awards, in my eyes, went to Dracula Technologies. I simply couldn't walk by without stopping to ask what they’d built. The answer makes perfect sense: because vampires abhor the sun, they've developed technology that harvests ambient light (even just a little) for power. These not-solar cells generate two milliwatts from about six square inches of material--enough to power an AirTag, for example, or keep the battery charged on a smoke detector. Their goal is to eliminate batteries--and they seem to have a pretty clever idea to do just that.

Nearby, two unrelated French companies showcased alternative electric transportation. SQ-Motors has sold 120 of their motorized three-wheeled Sternboard, which steers by leaning and has an optional handle as well as (for snow and sand) optional skis and tank-like tracks. Meanwhile, Skwheel sells a pair of "electric skis" that look like high-performance motorized roller skates, the urban-oriented 990-euro Peak (19mph top speed, 18mi range) and offroadish 1,490-euro Peak S (37mph top speed, 37mi range). With the clamp and extendable handle, they're relatively easy to transport, and if you're comfortable on skis you should be able to maneuver in these.

There was one automotive-adjacent display that caught my eye--or technically, two displays. Finland's Donut Lab announced a world-first production launch of a solid-state battery, a technology that several automakers claim to be--or have been- working on but whose implementation targets continue to slide. Donut is a spinoff from Verge Motorcycles, whose TS Pro electric superbike--priced starting at $30,000--will be powered by this new battery. The stats are impressive; the premium $34,900 model claims a 370-mile range, 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds, a full charge in 10 minutes, and a lifespan of 100,000 cycles. All the numbers seem rather incredible, but the last one especially; a typical lithium-ion battery in an EV can last 5,000 cycles, or 5% as long as Donut's new battery. This superbike is supposed to be on the road this quarter, and if these numbers hold up, then Donut may have found the holy grail for the electric vehicle business.

This is all, as if you haven't figured it out, the tip of the iceberg. By the end of this week the various tech-oriented websites will be filled with CES coverage, so if you want to virtually deep dive the event there are plenty of resources to help you out. I'll be back to talk more about automotive (and auto-adjacent) developments soon enough...

#ces #verge #donutlab #solidstate #skwheel #sq-motors