BYD bets on largest sodium-ion battery factory as VW partner outs EV without lithium to end cold weather range anxiety

Sodium-ion battery EV range is immune to cold weather (image: JAC)

The world’s largest electric car maker is betting big on sodium-ion batteries that will allow the launch of cheap mass market EVs that don’t use lithium in their battery cells. It better, as the competition is already launching their first electric cars with sodium-ion battery.

BYD, which recently surpassed Tesla to become the world’s biggest electric vehicle manufacturer, has broken grounds on a $1.6 billion sodium-ion battery factory, the world’s largest. When operational, the innovative sodium-ion battery facility will be able to churn out 30 GWh of cell capacity a year.

Considering that the cheap and lithium-less sodium batteries are mainly targeted towards compact mass market electric vehicles, as well as energy storage, the advertised BYD factory capacity could make it one of the main suppliers of this budding battery tech.

Besides the world’s largest electric car maker, BYD is also the second largest battery manufacturer and a foothold in the promising sodium-ion battery market will go a long way to solidify its market positions. Sodium-ion batteries have lower energy density than current EV battery technologies, but they are much cheaper to produce, very fast to charge, and the range of electric cars powered of them is less affected by cold weather.

These advantages make them the next frontier in the personal transport electrification battle and BYD doesn’t want to be left behind considering that VW’s joint venture with JAC just launched its first mass-produced EV with sodium-ion battery. The compact city hatch is powered by a 23.2 kWh sodium-ion battery by HiNa and offers a CLTC range of 230 km (about 140 miles) on a charge.

The battery charges from 10-80% in 20 minutes, much faster than the LFP packs used in bestselling EVs like the Tesla Model 3, and it also retains 92% capacity even at -20 degrees (-4 Fahrenheit) temperatures, making it ideal for cheap and unpretentious city mobility.

Sodium-ion batteries don’t even target sub-$15,000 electric cars like the BYD Seagull, bur rather sub-$10,000 EVs and even two-wheelers, of which automakers intend to sell many millions, so BYD’s new 30 GWh factory seems like a timely investment.

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Daniel Zlatev – Senior Tech Writer – 1023 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2021

Wooed by tech since the industrial espionage of Apple computers and the times of pixelized Nintendos, Daniel went and opened a gaming club when personal computers and consoles were still an expensive rarity. Nowadays, fascination is not with specs and speed but rather the lifestyle that computers in our pocket, house, and car have shoehorned us in, from the infinite scroll and the privacy hazards to authenticating every bit and move of our existence.

Daniel Zlatev, 2024-01- 8 (Update: 2024-01- 8)

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