“This is our North Star:” Auto giant backs sodium-ion EV battery technology

Dutch automotive giant Stellantis is one of several companies to announce last week it will invest in French company Tiamat which is developing and commercialising sodium-ion battery technology.

Stellantis, through its corporate venture fund Stellantis Ventures, announced its participation as a strategic investor in Tiamat late last week. Other investors in the €22-million funding round included specialty materials manufacturer Arkema France and French missile developer and manufacturer MBDA Group.

Already one of 11 top-performing technology start-ups honoured with a Stellantis Ventures Award in 2023, Tiamat is reportedly the first company in the world to have commercialised a sodium-ion technology in an electrified product.

Sodium-ion battery technology offers a lower cost per kilowatt-hour compared to other battery technologies and is free of both expensive rare earth materials such as lithium and cobalt – relying instead on the much more abundant sodium, increasing sustainability and material sovereignty.

A study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Power Sources in December of 2023 by a team from Tiamat and ABB Switzerland concluded that Tiamat’s commercialised sodium-ion battery was “a well-suited candidate for high-power energy storage applications.”

Stellantis’ investment in Tiamat is part of the company’s wider transition towards electric vehicles. Stellantis hopes that sodium-ion battery technology such as that developed by Tiamat will deliver a more cost-effective EV battery technology compared with traditional lithium-ion battery technologies.

“Exploring new options for more sustainable and affordable batteries that use widely available raw materials is a key part of our ambitions of the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan that will see us reach carbon net zero by 2038,” said Ned Curic, Stellantis chief engineering and technology officer.

“Our customers are asking for emissions-free vehicles that offer a combination of robust driving range, performance and affordability. This is our North Star, as Stellantis and its partners work today to develop ground-breaking technologies for the future.”

Tiamat’s first capital round is expected, with support from France and the European Union, to provide the funds to construct a French sodium-ion gigafactory with a capacity of 5GWh.

Tiamat and its investors expect a first production tranche worth 0.7GWh could be operational by the end of 2025.