Sodium-ion Battery

With the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate falling back to around RMB 300,000 per ton, the cost advantage of sodium batteries is seen as no longer prominent.

CATL and BYD's sodium-ion batteries to be put into mass production will both be a mix of sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries, according to local media.

In the passenger car segment, sodium-ion batteries can generally meet the needs of models with a range of up to 400 kilometers, a CATL executive previously said.

The unveiling of the Sehol E10X test vehicle means that sodium-ion batteries are starting to be used in passenger cars, after the new batteries were mainly used in electric two-wheelers and for energy storage.

Svolt Energy expects to complete the development of sodium-ion batteries with an energy density of 160 Wh/kg and cycle life of more than 2,000 by the fourth quarter of 2023.

Farasis Energy is working on adapting a sodium-ion battery based on a JMEV model that will be available in 2023.

Hina Battery's production line, located in Fuyang, Anhui province, is the first phase of its 5 GWh project.

The BYD Seagull, which is expected to be launched in the second quarter of 2023, will be the first model with sodium-ion batteries and is expected to be priced as low as about $8,484, according to local media.

A CATL executive's words imply that initial sodium-ion batteries used in production vehicles may not abandon the use of lithium altogether, but rather a mix of the two.

BYD's sodium-ion batteries will first be featured in some versions of the Qin EV, Dolphin and new model Seagull, a local media report said.