Charged EVs | Sodium batteries may be ready for prime time—CATL signs 60 GWh deal

Sodium-ion batteries offer a number of advantages over lithium-ion cells. Sodium is 1,000 times more abundant in the Earth’s crust than lithium, and is far cheaper to obtain. Lithium-ion cells tend to achieve greater energy density, so sodium is considered less appropriate for EVs than for applications in which cost matters more than maximum energy density, such as grid-scale energy storage.

Sodium-ion tech has been moving from pilots into commercial production over the past year or two, and now Chinese battery behemoth CATL has announced what appears to be the largest commercial deployment of Na-ion batteries to date—a deal with energy storage integrator HyperStrong to provide 60 GWh of sodium-ion batteries over three years.

CATL says the deal, which includes R&D as well as project implementation, demonstrates that the company has “overcome the challenges of the entire sodium-ion battery mass production chain,” specifically manufacturing challenges concerning energy density, foaming and moisture control during production.

How much battery is 60 GWh? A lot—roughly equivalent to half of the total energy storage battery volume CATL shipped in 2025.

CATL’s energy storage sodium-ion cell is a 300+ Ah large-format product with specific energy of about 160 Wh/kg, a system energy conversion efficiency of 97%, and a cycle life exceeding 15,000 cycles at 80% capacity retention. It operates across a temperature range of -40° C to 70° C—significantly wider than that of most lithium-ion cells.

CATL designed its sodium-ion cells with the same dimensions as its lithium-ion products, making them compatible with existing supply chains and installation infrastructure. This should greatly installation costs and shorten deployment timelines.

CATL is also beginning to incorporate sodium-ion cells into EVs. In February, Changan Automobile and CATL unveiled the Nevo A06 (aka Qiyuan A06), a passenger EV equipped with a 45 kWh CATL Naxtra sodium-ion battery pack that boasts 175 Wh/kg specific energy and 400 km of range (on the Chinese CLTC testing cycle).

Other battery-makers are getting salty too. BYD, has developed a third-generation sodium-ion platform that it says achieves over 10,000 cycles.

Source: Electrek