The Chinese battery manufacturer Catl has confirmed that 2026 will mark the start of large-scale deployment of sodium-ion batteries. The announcement was made on 28 December 2025 in Ningde, in Fujian province, during the 2025 Suppliers Conference, the annual event at which Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited sets out industrial and technological guidelines for key suppliers across its value chain.
During the event, the company presented a roadmap envisaging the coexistence of lithium and sodium batteries, summed up in the message “Sodium and lithium stars shining together”. According to the Group, the new sodium cells will be aimed in particular at entry-level and mid-range passenger cars, commercial vehicles, battery swap systems and energy storage applications. These are segments where total cost, safety and operational reliability weigh as much as, if not more than, maximum energy density.
From a technical perspective, Catl indicated an energy density of 175 Wh/kg for the new batteries, a figure that brings this chemistry close to current lithium iron phosphate solutions. Another highlighted aspect is operation under extreme environmental conditions, with a declared operating range between –40 °C and +70 °C. At –30 °C, residual capacity remains above 90%, and charging from 30% to 80% can take around thirty minutes. The cells were also presented as the first to have passed the new Chinese national safety standard for traction batteries, GB 38031-2025, which will come into force in mid-2026.
The announcement fits into a broader context of rethinking raw material strategies. Despite falling lithium prices in 2024–2025, China continues to push technological diversification to reduce dependence on resources concentrated in a limited number of geographical areas. Within this framework, sodium represents a complementary option, particularly for industrial and logistics applications.
Sodium-ion batteries operate in a similar way to lithium-ion ones. During charge and discharge cycles, ions move between the cathode and anode through the electrolyte, but sodium replaces lithium. Conceptually, these are “rocking chair” systems, in which during charging sodium ions migrate from the cathode to the anode while electrons flow through the external circuit, and during discharge the process is reversed, converting chemical energy into electrical energy.
The cell structure is comparable to that of lithium batteries. The cathode is based on sodium compounds, such as layered oxides or phosphates, while the anode is generally carbon-based, capable of accommodating larger ions than lithium. The electrolyte is liquid, with a dissolved sodium salt, and current collectors are often aluminium on both sides, a choice that helps reduce costs. The chemistry of the materials therefore changes, adapted to larger ions and different kinetics, but the industrial architecture remains largely compatible with existing production lines.
The main advantages over lithium emerge in terms of resources, costs and safety. Sodium is extremely abundant, with an estimated presence in the Earth’s crust thousands of times greater than lithium and with reserves much more evenly distributed across countries. This availability, combined with the use of less expensive materials such as cobalt-free cathodes and aluminium collectors even on the anode side, allows the potential cost of cells to be reduced by around 30–50% compared with lithium-ion batteries. This is a key factor for price-sensitive applications such as stationary storage systems and low- to mid-range electric vehicles, including those used for urban distribution and last-mile logistics.
On the safety front, sodium batteries generally show a lower risk of thermal runaway and greater stability at high temperatures. Studies and industrial tests indicate better tolerance to overcharging, short circuits and mechanical stress compared with many conventional lithium solutions. For fixed installations, automated warehouses or fleets operating in complex environments, this aspect can be decisive, even at the cost of lower compactness.
From an operational point of view, sodium-ion batteries offer good charge and discharge rates and, in several cases, better low-temperature behaviour than LiFePO₄. Residual capacity remains high even below –20 °C, with a more limited performance drop. For power grids, backup storage and applications in cold climates, these factors represent a tangible advantage.
Alongside the benefits, structural limitations remain. The specific energy of currently available sodium batteries typically ranges between 100 and 160 Wh/kg, compared with 180–260 Wh/kg for many lithium solutions, with a lower cell voltage of around 2–3 volts. In addition, the industrial maturity of sodium supply chains is lower than that of lithium, which benefits from established standards and decades of manufacturing experience. Long-term performance appears promising, but is still less documented over timeframes of ten years or more. In this scenario, sodium positions itself as a complementary technology.
Antonio Illariuzzi
