BYD rumoured to be interested in sodium-ion batteries
There are rumours in China that BYD wants to start mass production of sodium-ion batteries for electric cars. Local media report that BYD plans to manufacture them from the second quarter of 2023 and initially use them in some versions of the Qin EV, the Dolphin and the new Seagull model.
According to local media group LatePost, the development of sodium-ion batteries is said to be based at BYD’s battery division FinDreams and is currently in the sample validation phase. BYD has since denied the rumours.
Sodium-ion batteries are a technology that has re-emerged in recent years and would bring a clear cost reduction in the electric car sector. After all, comparatively-cheap sodium replaces lithium, which has become very expensive in the meantime. But there is a problem: sodium-ion batteries have a lower energy density than their LPF counterparts.
In China, the battery giant CATL is planning the production of sodium-ion cells from 2023. On this occasion, we had experts evaluate the advantages and disadvantages as well as the potential of the technology last year. Customers who want to use this technology in their electric cars are not yet known. Here, BYD would theoretically have an advantage due to its deep vertical integration: the Chinese manufacturer could install the sodium-ion batteries it produces itself – as mentioned above – in its own electric cars.
