Goodbye to lithium batteries, CATL makes sodium batteries a reality that will lower electric car costs

The expansion of electric cars in recent times is allowing us to see the incessant arrival of new models. We are in an exciting new era in terms of technological innovations, but be careful, because the development of batteries that will power the new and future generations of these vehicles also deserves our attention.

The goal in recent years has been to seek the reduction of electric car costs to increase their sales and make them more accessible. The main reason these are more expensive than their combustion counterparts lies in the battery, which represents the largest percentage of the final price of the vehicle.

However, manufacturers do not want to give up electric range while reducing their costs. And this is where the new battery chemistries come into play: after the emergence of lithium iron phosphate (LFP), the most immediate future of batteries lies in sodium-ion batteries. CATL has important news regarding this.

CATL makes sodium batteries a reality

The world's leading producer of batteries for electric cars, CATL, has not settled for presenting a new generation of LFP batteries, the Shenxing Pro Battery, for Europe a few days ago, which has generated a lot of talk. It is also on the path to starting production of new sodium batteries.

In fact, it already has the official certification, the first of its kind, under the new regulations in China. Now, CATL has confirmed some of the most important details of this new sodium battery called "Naxtra": 175 Wh/kg of energy density and more than 500 kilometers of electric range (we understand that under the CLTC cycle, which should be about 400 km in the WLTP).

But beyond that, it is its technical advantages that allow the sodium battery to stand out: although its energy density is lower compared to lithium (25 percent less than a standard NCM), it offers better performance at extreme temperatures (-40°C-70°C), as well as being safer, cheaper to produce, and offering a long lifespan, more than 10,000 cycles according to CATL.

Sodium is a more economical raw material, less polluting in its extraction, and more abundant compared to lithium. Its low cost makes these batteries a perfect solution to expand electrification in the market, as they can support interesting ultra-fast charging up to 5C without the need to offer large ranges.

CATL's proposal has high aspirations: the Chinese company aims to cover more than 40 percent of the demand in China with them, where they can easily adapt to the standard modules of current electric cars, including those that allow battery swapping. Additionally, efforts have been made for them to be accepted in passenger cars and heavy trucks on a large scale.

CATL expects to start mass production of these batteries by 2026, so their commercialization is immediate. The arrival of new, more affordable electric cars, as well as their interesting potential for use in cold climate countries, could make them the favorite option for manufacturers until promising solid-state batteries become a reality.

* This news is an AI translation of the original content. Motenic.com is part of Motor.es.

Fuente: CarNewsChina.com