In China, the big players are turning to sodium-ion battery technology one after the other: CATL, for example, is also planning to produce sodium-ion cells. The Chinese startup Zoolnasm is also planning to produce sodium-ion cells from 2024, and the first two small electric cars with sodium-ion batteries recently went into production in China.
In Europe, only the Swedish battery cell manufacturer Northvolt has announced its entry into the sodium-ion battery business. BYD has started construction of its first factory for sodium-ion batteries in China. The factory in Xuzhou in Jiangsu province is designed for an annual production capacity of 30 gigawatt-hours.
Chinese companies have since taken the lead in commercializing the technology. Out of 20 sodium battery factories now planned or already under construction around the world, 16 are in China, according to Benchmark Minerals, a consulting firm. In two years, China will have nearly 95 percent of the world’s capacity to make sodium batteries.
Most of the push by battery companies to build sodium-ion systems is happening in China, but some of it is happening in other markets, including a plan by California-based Natron Energy to open its first large plant in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
The industrialization of sodium ion batteries will play a key role in safeguarding China's resource security in the development of new energy vehicles, Xia said. The scarcity and cost of lithium have been a long-standing challenge in the battery industry.
In two years, China will have nearly 95 percent of the world’s capacity to make sodium batteries. Lithium battery production will still dwarf sodium battery output at that point, Benchmark predicts, but advances in sodium are accelerating.