Chinese battery giant CATL to supply first sodium-ion batteries to Chery EVs

Chinese battery giant CATL has signed a new partnership with car maker Chery that will deliver, for the first time, sodium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

CATL unveiled its sodium-ion batteries back in July 2021, but this will be the first time they are being used in EVs, according to local reports. Designed to combat an increasingly expensive resource supply bottleneck, the sodium-ion batteries were also promised to achieve energy density in excess of 200Wh/kg.

CATL has made no official announcement save for a brief Tweet, and Chery’s press announcement to journalists focused more on the wider strategic cooperation between the two companies, which will entail “all-round cooperation in various fields, such as products, commerce, and market promotion.

But with sodium-ion batteries promising up to 50% cost savings thanks to the more available materials needed and offering a range of up to 400 kilometres, this partnership could serve as an important step for the EV industry.

Additionally, CATL has made mention in the past of pairing traditional lithium-ion battery packs with sodium-ion batteries thanks to its AB battery system integration technology, which has supposedly the ability to support EV ranges up to 500km.

The good news for Australians is that Chery considers the country a “hub for sea-land-air transportation and communication in Oceania, as well as a strategic market which Chery Automobile attaches great importance to.”

As such, according to Chery, they are continuing to develop their presence in Australia and “will introduce more new energy technologies and achievements into the Australian market so as to provide more green and environmental travel solutions for the local consumers.”