- The Changan Nevo A06 is the world’s first mass-produced automobile powered by a sodium-ion battery.
- It has a CLTC vary of about 250 miles and might run with little to no vary loss even in -40 levels Fahrenheit.
- It is the beginning of a brand new “twin chemistry period,” CATL mentioned.
Chinese language battery big CATL and automaker Changan Car are getting ready to place the world’s first passenger automobile powered by sodium-ion batteries on public roads by mid-2026. And if the launch is profitable, it may usher in an period the place electrical automobiles current much less of a hearth danger and might higher deal with excessive temperatures.
The CATL Naxtra sodium-ion battery will debut within the Changan Nevo A06 sedan, delivering an estimated vary of round 400 kilometers (249 miles) on the China Mild-Responsibility Take a look at Cycle. From there, the battery will roll out throughout Changan’s broader portfolio, together with EVs from Avatr, Deepal, Qiyuan and Uni, the corporate mentioned.
“The launch represents a significant step within the trade’s transition towards a dual-chemistry ecosystem, the place sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries complement one another to satisfy various buyer wants,” CATL mentioned in a press launch.
Photograph by: CATL
It’s a significant step ahead for the expertise that’s quickly rising as a substitute for lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which presently dominate China’s EV market. Research present that sodium-ion batteries carry no danger of thermal runaway and are far much less delicate to excessive temperatures. Above all, sodium is considerably cheaper and way more ample than lithium.
From an power density standpoint, the Naxtra battery is aggressive however not revolutionary. It delivers 175 watt-hours per kilogram of power density, which is decrease than nickel-rich chemistries however roughly on par with LFP. That makes it extra appropriate for low-cost and low-range EVs in addition to stationary power storage.
By utilizing a cell-to-pack design, the place particular person cells are built-in straight into the battery pack as an alternative of modules, CATL was in a position to extract 400 kilometers (249 miles) of vary on the CTLC cycle.
Photograph by: Changan
However CATL says there’s loads of room for enchancment on the vary entrance. Because the sodium-ion provide chain matures, the corporate expects EV vary to climb to 600 kilometers (373 miles), whereas extended-range EVs (EREVs) and hybrids may attain as much as 400 kilometers (249 miles). That might cowl greater than half of the everyday vary necessities in China’s EV market, CATL claims.
The place the Naxtra battery actually stands out, nonetheless, is cold-weather efficiency. CATL says its discharge energy at -30 levels Celsius (-22 levels Fahrenheit) is 3 times greater than that of LFP batteries.
In contrast to LFP or nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) packs, it reportedly avoids extreme winter vary loss, retaining greater than 90% of its vary at -40 levels C (-40 levels F). Energy supply can also be mentioned to stay secure at temperatures as little as -50 levels C (-58 levels F).
As at all times, we’ll have to attend for unbiased testing for real-world outcomes. However on paper, the expertise seems genuinely compelling. Whereas the Naxtra battery isn’t coming to the U.S., it may very well be particularly beneficial in locations just like the Midwest and the Northeast, the place EV drivers routinely report steep vary losses when temperatures plunge in winter.
Whereas lithium-ion batteries aren’t going anyplace, it’s changing into more and more clear that the way forward for EVs will likely be outlined by a number of battery chemistries coexisting. That’s how inner combustion engines developed over time, giving drivers extra choices to have the ability to select the battery expertise that most closely fits their driving habits, energy wants—and the local weather they reside in.
Contact the creator: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com.
