- As electric vehicles become increasingly popular, demand for key battery ingredients, particularly cobalt, has increased
- The sodium-ion batteries do not contain lithium, cobalt or nickel
As per a report by Reuters,China’s CATL became the first major automotive battery maker to unveil a sodium-ion battery, saying it planned to set up a supply chain for the new technology in 2023. As electric vehicles become increasingly popular, demand for key battery ingredients, particularly cobalt, has increased. This has lead spurred car and battery makers to seek alternatives to the current three main technologies – nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA), nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.
The sodium-ion batteries do not contain lithium, cobalt or nickel. It did not disclose cost details of the new batteries. CATL, China’s top car battery maker with a market value of almost $200 billion, also unveiled a battery pack that integrates sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries.
The report added that the energy density of its new sodium-ion batteries is still lower than that of LFP batteries, Huang Qisen, deputy head of CATL’s research centre told an online briefing. But he added that they perform well in cold-weather and fast-charging scenarios. CATL has over 5,000 researchers, its chairman, Zeng Yuqun, told the briefing. It is also developing other technologies that integrate battery cells directly onto an electric vehicle’s frame to extend its driving range.
