"Acupuncture + electric drill" is not ignited or exploded. CATL announced the mass production of the new "sodium new" of the new sodium ion battery by the end of the year; Zhongke Haiso sodium ion battery commercial vehicle solution was released; BYD's low-cost, long-life sodium ion battery has achieved a 200Ah battery capacity and a cycling performance of 10,000+... Recently, sodium ion batteries have continuously made technological breakthroughs in energy density, cycle life, safety, etc.

  The industry believes that the global reserves of sodium resources can effectively deal with the risk of shortage of lithium resources. With the continuous efforts in many aspects such as technological breakthroughs, cost control, and industrial chain coordination, sodium batteries are expected to be widely used in energy storage, commercial vehicles and other scenarios. In the next 3 to 5 years, sodium batteries will enter the stage of large-scale shipment, with shipments expected to exceed 100 GWh and the market size will reach 100 billion.

  Sodium battery technology breakthrough application scenarios accelerate development

  Recently, CATL officially released a sodium ion battery called "Sodium New" and launched its first product - CATL Naxin 24V heavy truck integrated battery, which is scheduled to be officially mass-produced in June this year. According to reports, the energy density of CATL sodium ion batteries has reached 175Wh/kg, which can achieve full-temperature domain adaptation from minus 40℃ to 70℃ above zero. In experiments such as multi-sided extrusion, needle puncture penetration, electric drilling penetration and battery sawing, the battery achieved "no fire or explosion".

  Sodium ion batteries use sodium salt as electrode material. Compared with lithium ion batteries, they have the advantages of rich sodium resource reserves, low raw materials and wide working temperature range. Hu Yongsheng, a researcher at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and chairman of Zhongke Hainam, said: "The thermal runaway start temperature of sodium ion batteries can reach 200℃, and the self-heating rate is lower, which significantly reduces the risk of thermal runaway. Sodium ion batteries do not catch fire or explode under abuse conditions such as needle puncture, short circuit, and overcharge. In addition, their low temperature performance is excellent. Sodium ion batteries can still maintain more than 90% of their capacity under -20℃ environment, while lithium batteries usually have less than 70% capacity at this temperature."

  On March 28, Zhongke Haiso sodium ion battery commercial vehicle solution was first launched in Fuyang worldwide. The energy density of the battery cell used exceeded 165Wh/kg, which can quickly complete 100% charging within 20 to 25 minutes, and the cycle life can still exceed 8,000 times in fast charging mode. The production tool attributes of commercial vehicles determine that their use scenarios are more complex. This innovative achievement has achieved a dual breakthrough in the "technology + industry" of sodium ion batteries in my country's new energy field.

  Earlier, BYD released its 2024 annual report, showing that BYD's low-cost, long-life sodium ion battery has achieved a cell capacity of 200Ah and a cycle performance of 10,000+, and its safety, power, high and low temperature performance are all better than lithium batteries.

  Technical breakthroughs promote the continuous expansion of sodium ion batteries in application scenarios. Zhongke Haiso sodium ion battery commercial vehicle solutions have been recognized by mainstream car companies such as CRRC, Jinlong, JAC, and FAW. Some car companies have entered the joint research and development stage, some are undergoing technical docking, and many other car companies are negotiating cooperation. On March 12, Lynk & Co Auto announced that Lynk & Co 900 will be equipped with CATL’s Xiaoyao super-mixed battery, realizing sodium ion battery loading; Yadea released a number of sodium ion battery electric vehicles in January 2025, promoting the replacement of short-range models.

  "Sodium batteries will be the first to start in energy storage, commercial vehicles and other scenarios. In the next 3 to 5 years, the sodium battery market will reach a scale of 100 billion." Hu Yongsheng said.

  The industrial chain accelerates its layout and enters the market

  Industry insiders believe that the application of sodium ion batteries in the fields of energy storage and electric vehicles is accelerating, and the demand for battery production will further expand. "Under the promotion of policy, sodium batteries will enter the stage of large-scale shipment in the next 3 to 5 years, and the shipment volume is expected to exceed 100 GWh." Tang Liang, deputy secretary-general of Zhongguancun Energy Storage Industry Technology Alliance, said.

  Recently, many listed companies have disclosed the latest progress in accelerating the layout of the sodium ion battery industry chain on interactive platforms. ST Yishite's automotive start/start and stop sodium battery products have been launched, meeting the current standards for passenger cars for use of this type of products and adapting to most mainstream models on the market.

  Tongxing Technology, a high-tech enterprise, said that the company's technological advantages of sodium-electric core materials have been recognized by the industry's leading companies. At this stage, the downstream partners are in the stage of product adaptability testing and process optimization. The company is actively cooperating with customer needs to continuously improve product performance.

  New materials company Plitte said that the sodium ion battery products of the company's holding subsidiary Jiangsu Haisida have been recognized and applied by leading customers in many fields such as energy storage, special vehicles, low-speed cars, car start-stop batteries, backup power supplies, etc.

  Large-scale application still faces challenges and technological breakthroughs are the key

  As an emerging energy storage technology, sodium batteries still face multiple challenges in terms of resource richness, safety, and low-temperature performance. The industry believes that if the sodium battery industry wants to achieve large-scale application, it needs to make efforts in technological breakthroughs, cost control, and industrial chain coordination.

  "At present, sodium batteries are in the transition stage from demonstration, small-scale production to market-oriented application, and large-scale production." Tang Liang said. In Tang Liang's view, lithium-ion batteries have been widely penetrated into various fields such as consumer electronics, power, and energy storage. Sodium ion batteries need to combine their characteristics to explore differentiated application scenarios with application advantages.

  "The rapid growth of the sodium electricity industry requires the coordination of three ends of "technical drive + cost optimization + policy guidance". Hu Yongsheng said that technically, the energy density of sodium ion batteries is breaking from 160Wh/kg to 200Wh/kg (the laboratory has reached 220Wh/kg), and it is expected to remain the same as the energy density of lithium iron phosphate batteries in 1 to 2 years; from the perspective of cost, through large-scale production, manufacturing costs will drop significantly, highlighting its theoretical cost advantages; from the perspective of policy guidance, coupled with the appropriate guidance of relevant national support policies, the process of industrialization of sodium ion batteries will be accelerated.

  From a cost perspective, the theoretical cost of sodium ion batteries is about 20% lower than that of lithium ion batteries. Compared with the cost of lithium ion batteries, the cost of sodium ion batteries is more affected by raw material prices, and sodium ion batteries are less affected by raw material price fluctuations. "The current mass production cost of sodium ion batteries is about 0.5 yuan/Wh, and it can be reduced to 0.3 yuan/Wh after large-scale mass production, which is more than 30% lower than the current cost." Hu Yongsheng said.

  In the view of Wang Qingsong, a researcher at the National Key Laboratory of Fire Safety at the University of Science and Technology of China, the breakthrough directions of sodium batteries in the future will focus on high-entropy positive electrodes, new electrolytes and solid-state sodium battery technologies. If progress is made in these directions, sodium batteries are expected to achieve partial replacement of lithium batteries in cold areas in the fields of energy storage, low-speed electric vehicles, etc. (Reporter Li Baojin)

[Editor in charge: Zhou Jingjie]