Tech Desk 
Apr 22, 2025
With the realm of electric vehicles (EVs) having vastly expanded over the past few years, CATL, a Chinese company specialising in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries for EVs, has launched its new sodium-ion battery, promising a 520 km range on a five-minute charge.
The company successfully established itself as the first automotive battery maker to launch a sodium-ion battery in 2021, with Naxtra, the battery maker's new EV battery brand, being a second-generation fast-charging EV battery.
According claim that sodium is affordable and abundant, and the chemistry makes it suitable to prevent fire eruption risks in the EVs, The News reported.
The first battery production units under CATL's Naxtra brand will be of a new sodium-ion battery, with an energy density of 175 watt-hours per kilogram, which is the same as the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries mostly used in EVs and grid energy storage systems.
CATL's founder Robin Zeng believes that sodium-ion batteries will soon replace approximately half the market for LFP batteries, which CATL currently dominates.
On the sidelines of affordability and safety, CATL's second-generation of fast-charging battery has been reported to reach 80% charging from 0% in 15 minutes in cold weather.
