Chinese EV maker JAC unveils world’s first car powered by cheaper sodium-ion battery
- The battery, developed by Beijing-based Hina Battery Technologies, could help reduce the cost of EVs by 10 per cent, CEO says
- JAC demo car shows Chinese carmakers and battery producers are working to make EVs more affordable, executive at EV battery supplier says
The battery, which could help reduce the cost of EVs by 10 per cent, was developed by Beijing-based start-up Hina Battery Technologies. The JAC EV, a demo car, is fitted with a 25 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery that can go as far as 250 kilometres on a single charge, Hina said in a statement.
“A surge in lithium carbonate prices last year made many battery manufacturers and downstream users face ever-rising cost pressures,” Hina said. “Therefore, sodium-ion batteries offering better cost-performance, high safety as well as excellent cycle performance, have been widely expected as the most promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries.”
Lithium prices more than doubled last year, peaking at 597,500 yuan (US$6,260) a tonne in China in November. They have since retreated, dropping to about 400,000 yuan per tonne as of Wednesday.
Sodium-ion batteries use cheaper raw materials and can offer EV makers an alternative to existing technologies that rely on lithium and cobalt as the main ingredients. Li Shujun, Hina’s president, told the Cailian news agency this week that the wider use of sodium-ion batteries could eventually slash the production costs of EVs by 10 per cent.
Such batteries have lower density than their lithium-ion counterparts. Their energy density of 140 watt-hours (Wh) per kilogram is lower than that of lithium-ion batteries which use nickel, manganese and cobalt as ingredients. Lithium-ion batteries have a higher capacity ranging from 240Wh to 350Wh per kg. But sodium-ion batteries have advantages such as low-temperature performance and charging speed.