Production EV packing sub-zero-operation sodium-ion batteries on its way

Chinese battery giant CATL and automaker Changan announced the launch of the Changan Nevo A06, the world's first mass-production electric vehicle (EV) powered by sodium-ion batteries. It's due to hit the market mid-2026, and it marks the moment a technology long trapped in the lab finally steps onto the road.

The heart of the car is CATL's Naxtra cell, the result of a decade of R&D and roughly 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) in investment. It's reported to reach an energy density of 175 Wh/kg – the highest achieved in mass production for sodium chemistry according to the company – and delivers a range of over 400 km (249 miles), with CATL targeting 500–600 km (310–373 miles) in future iterations.

Sodium still lags slightly behind lithium iron phosphate (LFP), the dominant chemistry in the global EV market, on energy density. But the Naxtra wasn't built to win that race. Where it pulls ahead is in extreme conditions. CATL claims that at –30 °C (–22 °F), the Naxtra delivers nearly triple the discharge power of a comparable LFP pack. At –40 °C (–40 °F), it retains over 90% of its capacity, and it keeps functioning even at –50 °C (–58 °F). In crush, puncture, and saw tests, the battery produced no smoke or flames – a safety profile that's hard to ignore.

The Nevo A06 (also marketed as the Qiyuan A06) is Changan's first compact electric sedan, measuring 4,720 mm (15.5 ft) in length with a 2,750 mm (9 ft) wheelbase. It has been on sale since November 2025 in a lithium-ion plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version, offering a pure electric range of 136 km (85 miles) and a combined range of 1,160 km (721 miles). The upcoming sodium-ion Naxtra variant features a completely different pure-electric configuration. While it is due to arrive in China in the coming months, full specifications and international availability have yet to be announced.

CATL says it has cleared the manufacturing hurdles needed to scale sodium production to the gigawatt-hour level, the same threshold as a modern lithium gigafactory. The company's roadmap, announced at its supplier conference in December 2025, laid out four deployment areas for 2026: battery swapping, passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and energy storage. So far, it's tracking on schedule, which is not something the battery industry can often claim.

CATL began its sodium-ion research in 2016. In 2021 the company unveiled a first-generation sodium-ion cell with an energy density of 160 Wh/kg. By April 2025, the Naxtra line was ready for passenger vehicles and heavy trucks. And just recently, CATL unveiled the world's first sodium-ion battery designed specifically for grid-scale energy storage – set for commercial deployment before the end of 2026.

That grid storage unit carries an energy density of around 160 Wh/kg, a system energy conversion efficiency of 97%, and a cycle life of over 15,000 charge-discharge cycles while retaining 80% capacity. Its operating temperature range stretches from –40 °C to 70 °C (–40 °F to 158 °F). This chemistry is free of cobalt and nickel, and uses aluminum foil instead of copper, giving it a meaningful cost advantage over lithium alternatives.

Sodium is far more abundant than lithium and is not concentrated in a handful of geopolitically sensitive regions. That makes it an attractive foundation for a truly global energy transition – particularly for applications like renewable energy storage and AI data centers, where cost and thermal stability matter more than maximum energy density.

According to Precedence Research, the global sodium-ion battery market is projected to grow from $1.39 billion in 2025 to $7.81 billion by 2035. If CATL can translate its dominance in lithium into sodium – and the Naxtra rollout suggests it intends to – that figure may end up being conservative.

Source: CATL