On April 21, 2025, CATL officially launched a new sodium-ion battery brand, "Sodium New", at its "Super Tech Day" event. Its excellent performance once again proves its position as the king in the field of battery technology. (At the beginning of April, China Exportsemi also reported BYD's latest progress in sodium electricity, if you are interested, you can click to read: BYD’s 200Ah+ 10,000-Cycle Sodium Battery: Can It Challenge CATL’s Dominance?This breakthrough release not only attracted widespread attention from the global battery industry, but also marked a significant progress in sodium-ion battery technology, and CATL once again promoted the transformation and development of the new energy industry with its innovation in the field of battery technology.
As the world's leading power battery company, CATL has been committed to providing efficient and safe battery solutions for new energy vehicles and energy storage. The release of sodium-ion batteries has undoubtedly further consolidated its market leadership in the field of new energy batteries and brought new development opportunities to the industry.
1. Technological breakthrough: a leap forward in performance and safety
The "sodium new" battery has achieved a number of technological innovations, especially breakthroughs in energy density and safety. Its energy density reaches 175Wh/kg, which exceeds the current mass production level of the sodium-ion battery industry and is close to the performance of lithium iron phosphate batteries (the common energy density is between 140-200Wh/kg). This breakthrough is the result of CATL's adoption of multi-component fast ion deintercalation technology and exclusive composite antifreeze electrolyte technology, which enables sodium-ion batteries to maintain high energy density while ensuring good high-temperature stability. Its built-in self-developed high-temperature stable material successfully breaks through the performance limitations of traditional sodium-ion batteries in high-temperature environments, making them work stably in high-temperature environments of 70°C.
In terms of safety, sodium-ion batteries also perform well. The sodium-ion battery has extreme safety features, and can maintain the performance of no fire and no explosion under extreme extrusion, needle penetration, electric drill penetration, etc. This feature greatly improves the safety of the battery, especially in new energy vehicles, energy storage systems and other application scenarios, which can effectively reduce the risk of fire or explosion caused by battery failure. In the context of frequent safety problems in lithium-ion batteries, CATL's "sodium new" batteries undoubtedly provide a safer and more reliable alternative for the industry.
Figure: CATL releases sodium-ion battery "Sodium New"
2. Market application: multi-scenario expansion and potential mining
The "sodium new" battery has not only made a significant breakthrough in technology, but also shown broad prospects in practical application scenarios. At present, CATL has applied the "sodium new" battery to the two fields of heavy truck start-up and installation integrated battery and passenger car power battery.
In terms of the integrated battery for heavy trucks, the battery supports extremely cold and low temperature and one-button start, has the characteristics of the same life of the vehicle and electricity, and the service life can exceed 8 years, and it can maintain 90% of the power in the extremely cold environment of minus 40 °C. This gives sodium-ion batteries a significant advantage in cold regions to meet the high demand for battery life and reliability in the logistics and transportation industry. In addition, the "sodium new" battery also solves the problem that traditional batteries are prone to power loss after long-term parking, especially for long-term parking of electric vehicles such as heavy trucks, providing a very attractive solution.
In terms of passenger car power batteries, the "sodium new" battery shows excellent endurance and charging speed, can maintain normal performance in extremely cold environments, and supports 5C charging peaks, and is compatible with hybrid models and pure electric vehicles (range > 500km). With the continuous improvement of consumers' requirements for electric vehicle range, charging speed and safety, sodium-ion batteries are expected to become a new choice in the field of new energy vehicles due to their superior comprehensive performance.
In addition, CATL also uses smart applets that allow users to monitor battery status in real time, thereby enhancing the user experience and enhancing intelligent functions.
According to the starting point sodium electricity data, from January to September 2024, the installed capacity of sodium-ion power batteries has exceeded 3.7MWh. With the further application of "sodium new" batteries in the field of heavy trucks, the size of the sodium-ion battery market is expected to usher in rapid growth in the next few years.
3. Industry impact: the solution of resource bottlenecks and the reshaping of industry patterns
From a resource perspective, the sodium resource in the earth's crust is about 2.74%, which is much higher than the 0.0065% lithium resource. This resource advantage makes sodium-ion batteries have a more stable and sustainable advantage in resource supply. With the increasing global demand for lithium resources, the promotion of sodium-ion batteries will help alleviate the shortage of lithium resources and reduce the dependence of the new energy industry on imported lithium resources, thus providing a guarantee for the sustainable development of the new energy industry.
The launch of sodium-ion batteries will further change the pattern of the battery industry. With its layout in the field of sodium-ion batteries, CATL has expanded its product line in the new energy battery market, which can not only meet the diverse needs of different customers, but also enhance its market competitiveness. The application of sodium-ion batteries will promote the development of the battery industry in a more diversified and intelligent direction.
According to TrendForce, 2025 is expected to be the first year of large-scale development of the sodium-ion battery industry. With the continuous maturity of technology and the gradual improvement of the industrial chain, the market share of sodium-ion batteries will gradually expand, promoting the technological innovation and industrial upgrading of the entire battery industry.
4. Challenges and prospects: the double test of technology and market
Although the "sodium new" battery has made significant progress in terms of energy density and safety, there are still gaps in some key indicators compared to lithium-ion batteries. First of all, although the cycle life of sodium-ion batteries is improving, it is still not comparable to lithium batteries at the moment. The cycle life of lithium-ion batteries can usually reach 2000-5000 times, while the cycle life of sodium-ion batteries is still in the improvement stage. Therefore, how to further improve the life and stability of the battery while maintaining high energy density will be the key to future technology development.
Secondly, the market acceptance and application scale of sodium-ion batteries are also facing certain challenges. Lithium-ion batteries have occupied a dominant position in the field of new energy vehicles and energy storage, and sodium-ion batteries need to solve a series of problems such as industrial chain support and consumer awareness in order to replace lithium batteries on a large scale in the short term. In addition, the production cost of sodium-ion batteries is relatively high, and how to improve their market competitiveness while reducing costs is also an important issue faced by CATL and the entire industry.
Overall, the release of sodium-ion batteries, as an emerging battery technology, marks an important step in the development of sodium-ion batteries. With the continuous progress of technology and the gradual growth of market demand, sodium-ion batteries are expected to be widely used in new energy vehicles, electric heavy trucks, energy storage and other fields. In the future, CATL will accelerate its market layout and further improve the sodium-ion battery industry chain while promoting technological progress.
As a global leader in the field of power batteries, CATL once again demonstrated its strong R&D strength and market acumen with its innovative technology of sodium-ion batteries. Under the dual challenges of resource bottlenecks and technical bottlenecks in the new energy industry, CATL provides a new solution for the industry and contributes to the global energy transition. The future development of sodium-ion batteries will surely inject more impetus into the new energy vehicle industry and the global green energy transition.
