Chinese language battery big CATL and automaker Changan introduced the launch of the Changan Nevo A06, the world’s first mass-production electrical automobile (EV) powered by sodium-ion batteries. It is as a consequence of hit the market mid-2026, and it marks the second a know-how lengthy trapped within the lab lastly steps onto the highway.
The center of the automotive is CATL’s Naxtra cell, the results of a decade of R&D and roughly 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) in funding. It is reported to succeed in an power density of 175 Wh/kg – the best achieved in mass manufacturing for sodium chemistry in line with the corporate – and delivers a variety of over 400 km (249 miles), with CATL concentrating on 500–600 km (310–373 miles) in future iterations.
Changan
Sodium nonetheless lags barely behind lithium iron phosphate (LFP), the dominant chemistry within the international EV market, on power density. However the Naxtra wasn’t constructed to win that race. The place it pulls forward is in excessive situations. CATL claims that at –30 °C (–22 °F), the Naxtra delivers almost triple the discharge energy of a comparable LFP pack. At –40 °C (–40 °F), it retains over 90% of its capability, and it retains functioning even at –50 °C (–58 °F). In crush, puncture, and noticed assessments, the battery produced no smoke or flames – a security profile that is arduous to disregard.
The Nevo A06 (additionally marketed because the Qiyuan A06) is Changan’s first compact electrical sedan, measuring 4,720 mm (15.5 ft) in size with a 2,750 mm (9 ft) wheelbase. It has been on sale since November 2025 in a lithium-ion plug-in hybrid (PHEV) model, providing a pure electrical vary of 136 km (85 miles) and a mixed vary of 1,160 km (721 miles). The upcoming sodium-ion Naxtra variant includes a utterly completely different pure-electric configuration. Whereas it is because of arrive in China within the coming months, full specs and worldwide availability have but to be introduced.
CATL
CATL says it has cleared the manufacturing hurdles wanted to scale sodium manufacturing to the gigawatt-hour stage, the identical threshold as a contemporary lithium gigafactory. The corporate’s roadmap, introduced at its provider convention in December 2025, laid out 4 deployment areas for 2026: battery swapping, passenger automobiles, industrial automobiles, and power storage. To date, it is monitoring on schedule, which isn’t one thing the battery business can usually declare.
CATL started its sodium-ion analysis in 2016. In 2021 the corporate unveiled a first-generation sodium-ion cell with an power density of 160 Wh/kg. By April 2025, the Naxtra line was prepared for passenger automobiles and heavy vans. And only recently, CATL unveiled the world’s first sodium-ion battery designed particularly for grid-scale power storage – set for industrial deployment earlier than the top of 2026.
That grid storage unit carries an power density of round 160 Wh/kg, a system power conversion effectivity of 97%, and a cycle lifetime of over 15,000 charge-discharge cycles whereas retaining 80% capability. Its working temperature vary stretches from –40 °C to 70 °C (–40 °F to 158 °F). This chemistry is freed from cobalt and nickel, and makes use of aluminum foil as a substitute of copper, giving it a significant value benefit over lithium options.
CATL
Sodium is much extra plentiful than lithium and isn’t concentrated in a handful of geopolitically delicate areas. That makes it a lovely basis for a really international power transition – significantly for functions like renewable power storage and AI knowledge facilities, the place value and thermal stability matter greater than most power density.
In response to Precedence Research, the worldwide sodium-ion battery market is projected to develop 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 determine might find yourself being conservative.
Supply: CATL
