CATL says sodium batteries are mainstream-ready, signs 60 GWh deal

https://electrek.co/2026/04/27/catl-sodium-ion-battery-60gwh-energy-storage-deal/

by epistasis • 3 months ago

18 8 3 months ago

electrek.co

pixelpoet2• 3 months ago

it’s not about EVs — it’s about energy storage.

Where have I seen this writing style before...

epistasis• 3 months ago

As writer who has loved using em-dashes and bulleted-lists in email for decades, it really pains me to see this. It's like Michael Bolton in Office Space for me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhxRAsnizbk

pixelpoet2• 3 months ago

I get it, but this one's a double-whammy with "it's not X, but Y".

People call me a bot all the time just because I write in paragraphs without basic spelling or grammatical mistakes.

robocat• 3 months ago

Battery dimensions are same as CATL's 587 Ah lithium storage cell:

Length 73.5mm

Width 286mm

Height 216mm

Apparently dimensions for the lithium cell were designed based on constraints: maritime transport weight limits (50t), 1500V max system voltage ceiling, 20-foot container (turn key system - image https://www.ess-news.com/2025/04/16/hithium-unveils-587-ah-c... ).

I assume the Sodium cells are heavier but they chose the same cell size for physical backwards compatibility.

laurencerowe2• 3 months ago

The “DeepSeek moment” comparison is a bit hyperbolic, but the underlying point holds. If sodium-ion can deliver 15,000+ cycles at a fraction of lithium’s raw material cost, it could fundamentally reshape the economics of grid-scale storage. That matters enormously for the energy transition — cheap, long-lasting stationary storage is arguably the single biggest bottleneck to scaling renewable energy. We’ll be watching closely to see if CATL can actually deliver at this scale, but the commitment from HyperStrong suggests the technology is no longer a research project. It’s a product.

This is great to see but LFP cells are already so cheap this will likely be more of an incremental improvement than a fundamental reshaping of the economics of grid scale storage.

Average costs of a new utility scale system are around $125/kWh of which $75/kWh is equipment of which $40/kWh is the LFP cells. [1] This brings cell cost down by over 50% to $19/kWh [2] but that only reduces equipment costs by a bit over 25% and total capital costs by 17%.

[1] https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/how-cheap-is-batter...

[2] https://www.circularbusinessreview.com/catls-19-kwh-sodium-i...

Kirby64• 3 months ago

Is this not less about the LFP lifespan per say, but more about the extended abilities of sodium battery tech? To my understanding it can withstand extended temps better. No need to have heaters above freezing…

laurencerowe2• 3 months ago

I think that’s probably important in some places. I don’t know how important it is generally though.

dzhiurgis• 3 months ago

FWIW latest LFP's can withstand cold too. And both Tesla and others have been using some sort of "ripple" frequency to internally preheat cells when on supercharger, for a while now.

All that said of course not having to do that is great. Cost parity is not going to be there for 10-15 years tho.

CATL says sodium batteries are mainstream-ready, signs 60 GWh deal

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