Recently, Gao Huan, chief technology officer of CATL, released a major signal about the development of sodium batteries in an interview.Gao Huan bluntly said, "The formation of sodium batteries in certain fields to replace lithium batteries is a starting point for the reconstruction of the entire energy. To achieve freedom of resources or energy, our goal is to promote sodium batteries in large quantities."
Recently, sodium batteries have become a hot topic in the battery industry, stemming from the Tianxing II light commercial series solutions released by CATL. The low-temperature version of the product is the first sodium-ion battery to be mass-produced in the light commercial field.
This 45-degree sodium-ion battery has outstanding low-temperature performance. It can still retain 90% of the available power in the extremely cold environment of -40℃, and can be plugged and charged in the frozen state of -30℃, effectively solving the industry pain points of winter use of commercial vehicles in the northern region.
In terms of safety, sodium-ion batteries far outperform traditional lithium batteries. This product has undergone multiple rigorous safety tests such as multi-sided extrusion, needle penetration, electric drill penetration, and battery sawing. It has achieved no fire or explosion during the entire process, and its safety performance has been fully verified.
In terms of cost and resources, sodium has significant advantages. Its abundance in the earth's crust is more than 1,000 times that of lithium, and its extraction cost is only 1/20 of lithium.
According to previous reports, CATL’s sodium battery layout has been clearly advanced.
At the end of 2025, at the CATL Supplier Conference, CATL has announced plans to achieve large-scale application of sodium batteries in multiple fields such as battery replacement, passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and energy storage in 2026. It is expected to build a new industrial pattern of "sodium-lithium double stars shine".
Prior to this, the sodium-ion battery independently developed by CATL has passed the "Safety Requirements for Power Batteries for Electric Vehicles" (GB38031-2025) certification, becoming the world's first sodium-ion power battery to pass the new national standard certification.