BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle and battery giant, has officially initiated plans to build a new multi-billion dollar sodium-based battery factory under a new partnership.
Plan highlights
According to local publication CnEVPost, BYD’s FinDreams and Huaihai Holding Group inked an agreement to produce sodium-based batteries with an annual capacity of 30 GWh on November 18 in Shenzhen.
BYD’s battery subsidiary plans to develop the Sodium battery factory in Xuzhou, Jiangsu. It will apparently receive a total investment of MB 10 billion ($1.4 billion).
With this enormous capacity and investment, the factory can potentially advance as the top sodium battery supplier for microcars.
Partnership progress
On June 8, BYD and Huaihai signed a strategic partnership to develop a joint venture that would focus on developing a sodium-ion battery factory in the Xuzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone.
Huaihai committed to offering its expertise and resources, such as marketing and application techniques. In return, FinDreams will provide the products and services.
FinDreams CEO stated in a press release the company’s plans to ramp up the development of the planned Xuzhou battery factory amid the increasing popularity of sodium-ion batteries.
Sodium-based battery benefits
The Driven noted that sodium-based batteries are more affordable than standard li-ion batteries. It is also less reliant on rare or volatile minerals.
Interestingly, this kind of battery is more likely to be equipped in smaller models like BYD Seagull. For context, the brand recently launched the pre-sale of the model equipped with an LFP battery for a base price of 78,800 yuan (€10,500). In that sense, replacing expensive lithium with sodium will substantially reduce the Seagull EV’s price.
Moreover, it will also give the Chinese car manufacturer a backup plan in case Lithium Carbonate prices increase rapidly in the upcoming years. However, sodium-based batteries have a lower energy density than li-ion batteries, which may reduce BYD cars’ driving range.
Advancing the development of sodium-ion batteries is also crucial for non-Chinese automakers as they seek to cut reliance on China’s lithium supply. Despite the declining prices of lithium carbonate this year, they seem to be taking the risk of having their own battery supply chain rather than benefiting from lower raw material costs.
