BYD & Huaihai planning Na-ion battery factory in China

BYD is going to set up a production facility for sodium-ion batteries in China. In cooperation with the Huaihai Holding Group, BYD wants to become the world's largest supplier of sodium battery systems for small electric vehicles.

BYD’s battery subsidiary FinDreams has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Chinese conglomerate Huaihai Holding Group. Among other things, the agreement provides for the establishment of a joint venture to build the aforementioned production facility for Na-Ion batteries in Xuzhou in Jiangsu province. CNEVPost reported the move with reference to an official press release of the Huaihai Holding Group. The news website said the official press statement does not reveal the schedule for the start of construction and the planned commissioning. Details about the plant’s planned production capacity have also not been revealed. The batteries appear to be planned for micro cars and other light electric vehicles like two and three-wheelers.

Sodium-ion batteries are a technology that has recently re-emerged with a view to substantially reducing costs in the electric vehicle sector. The much cheaper sodium replaces lithium, which has seen considerable price fluctuations recently. The downside is that sodium-ion batteries have a lower energy density. In China, the battery giant CATL is planning the production of sodium-ion cells from this year onwards. We evaluated the technology’s advantages, disadvantages, and potential in a special report.

In April, it was leaked that besides CATL, BYD is also planning to use sodium-ion batteries in series-produced electric cars this year, although initially, it will be a hybrid of sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries. The move was revealed by the news site 36kr, which is usually reliably well-informed about Asian cell manufacturers, with reference to insiders. However, this is by no means about microcars and other light electric vehicles: CATL is said to be planning the introduction of the new energy storage units initially in the first model of Chery’s iCar brand, which is to be launched on the market in the fourth quarter of this year. CATL confirmed Chery as the launch customer for its sodium-ion batteries shortly before, but without giving details.