CATL 175 whrs/kg sodium ion now ready for mass production

[neptronix]

CATL's Naxtra sodium-ion battery passes new national safety standards, ready for mass production

"Battery giant CATL announced today that its Naxtra sodium-ion battery has successfully passed the GB 38031-2025 “Safety Requirements for Power Batteries of Electric Vehicles” certification on September 5, becoming the world’s first sodium-ion battery to meet this new national standard.

The new standard, set to be officially implemented on July 1, 2026, aims to eliminate fire risks in electric vehicles at the source by imposing strict safety requirements across multiple dimensions, including thermal diffusion, bottom impact, and fast-charging cycles. In third-party authoritative testing conducted by the Automotive Testing Centre of China Automotive Technology and Research Centre (CATARC), CATL’s Naxtra battery demonstrated safety performance at both the cell and battery pack levels, successfully passing all tests.
The Naxtra battery not only reduces dependence on lithium resources and creates a safer, lower-carbon battery ecosystem, but also addresses low-temperature performance issues in cold regions, promoting the adoption of new energy vehicles in China’s northern and other high-latitude areas. This certification represents a milestone in the large-scale application of sodium-ion batteries.

CATL’s sodium-ion battery has passed the new national standard certification。
CATL previously announced in April that its Naxtra sodium-ion battery would begin mass production in December 2025, with initial deployment in its Choco-swap electric vehicle models. The battery maintains 90% usable capacity at temperatures as low as -40°C and features an energy density of 175Wh/kg, comparable to lithium iron phosphate batteries. It supports peak charging rates of 5C, offers a 500km range, and has a lifespan exceeding 10,000 cycles."

 

[neptronix]

They mentioned a new law about battery fires.
This probably insinuates that by next year, they'll only have sodium ion and solid state batteries in their cars.



I imagine we'll be seeing a lot of sodium ion in electric vehicles soon.

But unfortunately not from a stateside producer:
Sodium-ion battery maker Natron Energy shuts down, halts $1.4B factory plans

 

[BatteryMooch]

They mentioned a new law about battery fires.
This probably insinuates that by next year, they'll only have sodium ion and solid state batteries in their cars.

True solid-state is a ways away from full production (couple of years) but it’s coming.
I agree about Na-Ion…lots more can be done there as the tech matures many EV’s will use it. BESS too probably.

That GB standard is for the battery pack so any chemistry can be used. CATL’s new LFP packs pass the testing and even go a step further than “no fire, no explosion”, they add “no smoke” too. They call the tech No Propagation 3.0 (jump to 38:12 in the video below):

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[neptronix]

Okay, so it's a pack level thing.

But that means if you're using potentially explosive chemistries, you've probably gotta make that pack bigger now to add all kinds of safety features you didn't need before. Which drives up the expense and lowers the net battery pack density.. making the option way less competitive.

I've watched a lot of talks with this chick:

..who persistently insists that sodium ion can reach the whrs/kg of current lithium chemistries.
So i'm thinking China's govt is betting on advancements materializing at a fast speed.

 

[BatteryMooch]

…who persistently insists that sodium ion can reach the whrs/kg of current lithium chemistries.
So i'm thinking China's govt is betting on advancements materializing at a fast speed.

I think Na-Ion has already reached “average” LFP energy densities but now needs to catch up with the more advanced LFP cells out there. Inevitable IMO but with LFP’s several-year lead the state-of-the-art LFP might always beat out the same from Na-Ion just due to sodium‘s energy density limitations.

I’m thinking you‘re right, China will do everything they can to get Na-Ion going foward as quickly as possible like they did for LFP.

But that means if you're using potentially explosive chemistries, you've probably gotta make that pack bigger now to add all kinds of safety features you didn't need before. Which drives up the expense and lowers the net battery pack density.. making the option way less competitive.

Definitely.
But all of the chemistries need protection to meet China’s new safety standard. Even LFP will create enough toxic smoke/gases to kill the occupants of an EV if they don’t get out quickly.

The more volatile the chemistry, the higher the energy and power density. If this safety tech proves effective then NMC-based packs can be used to hugely increase the range and/or power of EV’s.

It will be a battle between the higher energy/power density, but more volatile and requiring more expensive protection, chemistries against the lower density but “safer” chemistries which requiring less expensive protection.

Some of it can be just for the luxury markets too. Added protection being used just for high end vehicles that can absorb the additional cost. The mass market low cost vehicles can use “safer” cells (Na-Ion and LFP) at lower cost but just not go as far or fast.

It’s going to be verrrrrry interesting to see which mix of chemistries and degrees-of-safety and cost survive and are widely adopted!

 

[neptronix]

I agree.

2010's biggest problem: power density / capacity tradeoff
2020's biggest problem: safety / capacity tradeoff

Personally i'd be happy to make the capacity / safety tradeoff, i live in an apartment and chose a smaller battery than i like in hopes that nobody dies if it has bad day. I'd rather accept 2x the weight so i that i could fill the entire triangle with battery and not worry about a fire potential that matches the size of the battery.

Amazing to know that no smoke lifepo4 exists!

 

[BatteryMooch]

Amazing to know that no smoke lifepo4 exists!

No smoke external to the LFP battery pack.
All of the cells still smoke unfortunately. But almost never flames.

 

[Pajda]

It is always unfortunate when marketing interests highlight one parameter and ignore those that are not convenient. Yes, it can be said that LFP technology is almost fire-safe, but that does not mean it is completely safe. During thermal runaway, LFP generates a very large amount of gases, which are toxic and also form a potentially explosive mixture due to the high hydrogen content. These weaknesses of LFP technology can be in many cases solved by proper ventilation system design, but the user of the battery system must be clearly informed about this behaviour!

 

[Hillhater]

But probably the most significant factor in this development is that CATL claim this chemistry will be able to reduce the cost of battery storage to $10.0 $/kWh !

 

[harrisonpatm]

But probably the most significant factor in this development is that CATL claim this chemistry will be able to reduce the cost of battery storage to $10.0 $/kWh !

Nothing from Matt Farrell's videos should ever be taken for fact. They're surface level puff pieces based off press releases. It's hype for clicks.

 

[BatteryMooch]

But probably the most significant factor in this development is that CATL claim this chemistry will be able to reduce the cost of battery storage to $10.0 $/kWh !

It would be wonderful if it came to be but, for now, that are only claiming that they hope they can get it that low. And I’m not sure that includes anything but the cells. The rest of what‘s required…case, BMS, interconnects, etc…can bring that cost up a lot.

But as the video mentioned, even $50/kWh would be good!

 

[Hillhater]

Nothing from Matt Farrell's videos should ever be taken for fact. They're surface level puff pieces based off press releases. It's hype for clicks.

Yes,…… much the same as 90% of all media reporting and manufacturers PR these days !
But even Farrell made the point that these claims from CATL were highly suspect and yet to be demonstrated .

 

[Hillhater]

Will Prowse points out some of the unspoken realities of Sodium ion batteries..

Voltage range for full capacity is challenging for both inverters/controllers, and also for charging.
(16-64 volts for a 48v pack ?)
and whilst they may be fire and explosion safe, it seems they may emit some lethal gasses (Hydrogen Cyanide) if they fail !

 

[neptronix]

Voltage curve is a known downside.

Total gas output is really low for these when they go, and they don't seem to produce a flame that causes other nearby cells to explode, which lowers the total gas output even more.

Here's the only legitimate looking tests i could find.

Versus a typical NMC:

This is a big improvement over the total gas volume output by an average lifepo4. And an exponentially bigger improvement over NMC.


Do you really not think it's a safety improvement? please quantify why. The gases must be extremely toxic for it to be a real problem considering the volume of gases is tiny compared to competing technology. it's such a small amount of gas that it may mostly hang out in the battery case and diffuse out over the course of hours-days

 

[amberwolf]

The gases must be extremely toxic for it to be a real problem considering the volume of gases is tiny compared to competing technology. it's such a small amount of gas that it may mostly hang out in the battery case and diffuse out over the course of hours-days

Well, here's the toxicity page from NCBI for Hydrogen Cyanide:

Hydrogen Cyanide: Acute Exposure Guideline Levels - Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals - NCBI Bookshelf

I don't know what gases are produced by other cell chemistries, to look up their toxicities.

 

[BatteryMooch]

This is a big improvement over the total gas volume output by an average lifepo4. And an exponentially bigger improvement over NMC.


Do you really not think it's a safety improvement? please quantify why. The gases must be extremely toxic for it to be a real problem considering the volume of gases is tiny compared to competing technology. it's such a small amount of gas that it may mostly hang out in the battery case and diffuse out over the course of hours-days

I haven’t seen any good data to quantify the differences for Na-Ion cells in thermal runaway but it seems that they can (but not always) produce less smoke/gas and that it’s a bit less toxic than LFP.

IIRC though, Na-Ion can still create even more total gas in runaway that the other two. It depends on the cell and how the runaway proceeds. But its toxicity is lower due to there not being any lithium salts in the electrolyte to create HF in runaway…very bad stuff. Lower Na-Ion runaway temps can also reduce the number and quantities of toxic byproducts.

Bottom line…Na-Ion smoke is still toxic as hell but not as bad as LFP and (possibly) much better than NMC (or NCA).

 

[BatteryMooch]

I don't know what gases are produced by other cell chemistries, to look up their toxicities.

I made this post public, from two years ago. A good overview of what’s in the smoke/gases and a bunch of links: https://www.patreon.com/posts/why-is-smoke-li-90793779

 

[BlueSwordM]

Will Prowse points out some of the unspoken realities of Sodium ion batteries..

Voltage range for full capacity is challenging for both inverters/controllers, and also for charging.
(16-64 volts for a 48v pack ?)
and whilst they may be fire and explosion safe, it seems they may emit some lethal gasses (Hydrogen Cyanide) if they fail !

He'll change his mind once he finds his hands on CATL's monster cells.

 

[Hillhater]

He'll change his mind once he finds his hands on CATL's monster cells.

But will it eliminate the range of the voltage curve ?
As Will points out, that 4 to 1 ratio on voltage implies a similar ratio for current if you expect a constant power output to use all of the capacity available.
that is challenging for inverter designs

 

[BlueSwordM]

But will it eliminate the range of the voltage curve ?
As Will points out, that 4 to 1 ratio on voltage implies a similar ratio for current if you expect a constant power output to use all of the capacity available.
that is challenging for inverter designs

It will certainly force battery pack makers to move to higher voltages.

Also, since CATL's cells use a sodium metal anode, it should bring the average voltage up.

 

[neptronix]

I've seen many differing voltage curves on sodium ion batteries, but most of them are very slopey. Some are a bit flatter.

This technology is improving quickly but it's still pretty young.

 

[Hillhater]

It will certainly force battery pack makers to move to higher voltages.

How would that overcome the voltage range issues ?

 

[BlueSwordM]

How would that overcome the voltage range issues ?

For one, since native metal anodes tend to increase the available energy at higher voltages due to their higher reduction potential (0V for sodium metal vs -0.2-0.3V for hard carbon depending on temperature), that will bring the average voltage up signficantly up to 3.3-3.4V. Since a lot more of the energy available will be at higher voltages, that will make inverter design simpler.

Second, higher voltages require less current in general, which makes inverter design simpler. A wider voltage range is much more annoying at 12V than at 48V for example.

 

[BatteryMooch]

For one, since native metal anodes tend to increase the available energy at higher voltages due to their higher reduction potential (0V for sodium metal vs -0.2-0.3V for hard carbon depending on temperature), that will bring the average voltage up signficantly up to 3.3-3.4V. Since a lot more of the energy available will be at higher voltages, that will make inverter design simpler.

Second, higher voltages require less current in general, which makes inverter design simpler. A wider voltage range is much more annoying at 12V than at 48V for example.

It all depends on the cathode composition of course but IIRC there’s a pretty small difference between a sodium-metal anode (or sodiated Cu/Al current collector) and a hard carbon anode…down near 0.1V. Not zero but the much larger contributions (to nominal cell voltage differences) by the cathode chemistry choice makes the anode composition less important IMO.

The anode-less cells (Li or Na) can offer greater energy density though, always a plus!

 

[BlueSwordM]

It all depends on the cathode composition of course but IIRC there’s a pretty small difference between a sodium-metal anode (or sodiated Cu/Al current collector) and a hard carbon anode…down near 0.1V. Not zero but the much larger contributions (to nominal cell voltage differences) by the cathode chemistry choice makes the anode composition less important IMO.

The anode-less cells (Li or Na) can offer greater energy density though, always a plus!

Nah, that 0.1V vs Li/Li+ is closer to graphite than to hard carbon.
Hard carbon is closer to 0.2-0.3V for both Li and Na: https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/11/4/123

It's not huge obviously, but like silicon, it's enough to curve the voltage downward.

That's why I really want someone to test CATL's leading edge sodium-ion sodium metal cells: if they've managed to fix the slope that hard-carbon anodes tend to create when you want to extract >300mAh/g from it, that'll bring the average voltage profile to something a lot closer to what LFP is.

That would also allow CATL to make the minimum voltage for cycling a lot higher, making it easier for inverter and controller designers.