Chinese automaker JAC Group and battery maker HiNa Battery officially revealed their new battery breakthrough that claims to address the high cost of the currently available batteries in the market, TCD reports.
Hua Xianzi EV features the new battery tech
The two companies initially presented their new sodium-ion battery, Na-ion, at the Second Chinese National Conference in mid-February.
JAC Group and HiNa Battery equipped the battery technology in their co-developed compact electric car, Hua Xianzi.
The Hua Xianzi EV features a 25KWh Na-ion battery pack that enables a 140 Wh/kg energy density. It supports a driving range of up to 250 km between charges, local reports suggest.
Remarkably, the partnership’s Hua Xianzi EV signifies the first-ever model to have a sodium-ion battery in the world.
“The future of electric vehicles looks promising with the introduction of more affordable and sustainable battery technology. With the development of new battery technology, EV pricing will become more competitive, giving more car buyers access to new-energy vehicles.”
JAC Motors SA CEO, Karl-Heinz Göbel
Advantages
The Na-ion battery has the potential to revolutionize the electric vehicle industry. According to Times Live, sodium-ion batteries are cheaper to produce than traditional li-ion batteries.
Li-ion batteries continue to witness increasing costs as the minerals necessary for their production are hard to source, particularly lithium.
Therefore, the industry seeks viable options to address the affordability issues in electric vehicle batteries.
Sodium-ion emerges as an innovative battery tech with substantial cost, sustainability, and safety advantages over li-ion batteries. According to HiNa, the Na-ion battery can cut battery production costs by 10%. Despite initially having lower energy density, recent research efforts helped improve its design and material technology.
Innovations
Considering the rising lithium costs, reducing its content in batteries will substantially lower the production costs. That said, HiNa Battery has been actively working on sodium-ion application development in electric vehicles and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
The Jiangsu-based battery maker has focused on sodium-ion innovations in compact EVs, buses, and local BESS for the past ten years. According to the report, it successfully developed the world’s first-ever volume production sodium-ion materials factory.
See Also:
- BYD battery manufacturing expansion: $1 billion plant in India, Sodium-ion batteries in China
- Chinese automakers beat German giants in the EV industry
- BYD to partner with KG Mobility for a battery factory in South Korea
- BYD deploys sub-$40k Dolhin EV on roadshow in Australia
- BYD nudges local brands to penetrate the global market and “demolish the old legends,” gains Tesla CEO’s respect
The increasing costs of lithium generate substantial pressure in li-ion battery production. In effect, the prices of electric vehicle models are also getting more expensive. This affordability issue is among the top barriers that impede the shift to clean vehicles. That said, sodium-ion battery can significantly advance a key battery tech that may rival the traditional lithium-based batteries with more research and development.
