May 30, 2026 – CATL is gearing up to mass-produce a lineup of sodium-ion battery products this year, according to Wu Kai, the company’s chief scientist and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, who spoke at the 2026 Equipment Power Forum. The rollout underscores a strategic bet on a chemistry that relies on far more abundant raw materials and promises substantially lower costs than conventional lithium-ion cells.
The announcement builds on a milestone CATL reached last year when it officially unveiled its sodium-ion power battery and, in early September, became the first company worldwide to have a sodium-ion cell pass China’s updated national safety standard.
Beyond cost and resource advantages, Wu emphasized that sodium-ion technology reduces the industry’s heavy dependence on lithium, paving the way for a safer and more carbon-efficient battery ecosystem. Perhaps most notably for the EV market, it tackles a long-standing weakness of lithium batteries in frigid climates — a breakthrough that could accelerate electric vehicle adoption across northern China and other high-latitude regions.
On paper, the numbers are impressive. CATL’s sodium-ion batteries deliver an industry-leading energy density of 175 Wh/kg. In hybrid configurations, they enable over 200 km of pure electric driving, while full-EV setups push past 500 km. The cells support 5C ultra-fast charging and are rated for a remarkable 10,000 charge-discharge cycles.
Safety credentials are equally strong. The batteries have been subjected to extreme abuse tests — including multi-surface crushing, nail penetration, electric drill perforation, and being cut with a saw — and did not ignite or explode in a single case.
Where sodium-ion truly differentiates itself, however, is cold-weather performance. In real-world testing at -30°C, the batteries charged from 30% to 80% in just 30 minutes, with 93% of that energy remaining usable. Even at a critically low 10% state of charge, a vehicle equipped with the cells could sustain highway speeds of 120 km/h.
Wu also hinted at what lies further down the road. CATL plans to invest in lithium-air battery research, a technology with a theoretical energy density five to ten times that of today’s lithium batteries — widely seen as the next major frontier in the global race for next-generation energy storage.
