CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited) in China is promoting a different battery technology that promises lower costs and a greater life span than lithium cells. This is another way to soften the demand for lithium, which often seems in short supply. We reported on another approach, recycling used EV battery packs, last month. This time, we’ll look at using sodium as an active ingredient in battery cells, starting with this three-minute primer on the difference between iithium and sodium batteries.
Note that lithium batteries can use NMC (nickel, manganese, and cobalt) in their cathodes. Like lithium, nickel and cobalt are hard to find, and cobalt often comes with the curse of being mined by children in slave conditions. LFP, or lithium iron phosphate batteries have the advantage of having more readily available materials and being somewhat safer than lithium/NMC cells.
CATL’s NAXTRA Battery
CATL recently presented us with several offerings in new battery technology, but NAXTRA is probably of the greatest significance from the material standpoint. Using sodium in place of lithium lowers demand for lithium, perhaps leading to lower prices for the mineral. Salt is available at a cost of about $200 per ton while lithium costs up to $15,000 per ton. Salt is common, while lithium is in short enough supply to be of concern to those planning for future electric vehicles.
On April 21, 2025, CATL unveiled three groundbreaking EV battery products at its inaugural Super Tech Day: The Freevoy Dual-Power Battery, Naxtra – the world’s first mass produced sodium-ion battery, and the second-generation Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery, as well as an integrated 24V start/stop Naxtra battery for heavy-duty trucks. These revolutionary innovations break through technological boundaries, and officially lead the industry into the “Multi-Power Era”.
Salt in Your Battery?
Autoblog.com reports, “China’s breakthrough sodium-ion battery — priced at $10/kWh (Bloomberg NEF, 2025) — is a technical marvel. It’s a direct challenge to America’s lithium-dependent auto industry. For context, today’s cheapest lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries cost $75/kWh, while Tesla’s 4680 cells hover near $100/kWh. At one-tenth the price, sodium-ion tech could make budget EVs like the $25,000 Tesla Model 2 financially viable overnight. American potential EV buyers hesitant because of cost will be comforted by this. When it comes.”
Although sodium-based batteries are significantly cheaper than even the best efforts in litium cells by Tesla and other makers, they are less energy dense, about at a level of the best cells almost a decade ago. If one is willing to stay within the design limits imposed on electric aircraft of that era, that might not dissuade some progress. Certainly aircreaft like the Solar Impulse, Eric Raymond’s craft, and even Pipistrel’s early efforts are eidence that careful design can overcome those limitations. For automobiles, the weeight consideration is almost of no consequence. Such craft would welcome the sodium battery’s abliltity to retain 90-percent of it energy a temperatures of -40 degrees (fahrenheit or centigrade – the point where both measures are equal).
Future developments anticipated by CATL would include an energy density of 200 Watt-hours per kilogram.
Lithium Might Not be in Danger
With discoveries of lithium deposits in Bolivia and Chile, and a huge find on the Oregon/Nevada border, lithium may get a price break. That would also include potentially lower prices from reduced demand as alternative chemistries, such as sodium come into play.
Environmental and cultural concerns may inhibit this development, and lithium cells still face problems in their extraction and disposal. We will continue to look at less problematical materials in this ongoing series of posts.
(The lead image for this entry is of a sodium battery pack for a small city car now being introduced in China. It would have a range of 157 miles, OK for commuting.)