How soon to see rare-earth-free paired with CATL Sodium batteries? Seems a price war, range war is imminent.

cogman10 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Could be wrong, but AFAIK the CATL Sodium batteries haven't yet hit LFP pricing.

You are unlikely to see a vehicle with sodium batteries until after that happens, and it needs to be significantly less than LFPs as you Na batteries have more weight per Wh. I believe they also have a shorter lifespan (but not NMC short). Edit correction, looks like CATL is promising 15000 cycles, which is much longer than LFPs which usually come in at 7000 to 10000.

It seems far more likely to me that if the Na prices tank, you'll probably first see them deployed as grid and home battery solutions.

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Manuel_D 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The energy density of LFP batteries are also 30-50% higher than sodium based battery chemistries. Even if sodium battery prices drop, the lower energy density is a big disadvantage. My understanding is that sodium batteries are aimed at stationary use-cases, like battery buffers for fast charging.

	▲	jillesvangurp 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		At the cell level yes. But at the pack level, you need less/no cooling and there is virtually no risk of runaway fires. This means the cells can be packed more densely and you get some weight benefits for all the stuff you no longer need for fire safety. CATL already put sodium ion in cheap cars. And there are other benefits to this type of battery like a wider range of operating temperatures that cover essentially all of the extreme temperatures you'd find in the arctic and the hottest deserts. I would not be surprised to find some of these batteries in big semis a few years down the line when the cost benefits make the space/weight sacrifices worth the trade off. But you are right that domestic and grid storage are also going to be huge use cases.

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MaKey 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

One of the most interesting features of sodium batteries is that they still perform good in cold temperatures.

	▲	cromka 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		And high temperatures, too. Meaning they don't require cooling nor heating, basically matching the per kg capacity of ready modules with LFP while being significantly safer and less complex.

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gpm 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

They're promising to start selling a Qiyuan A06 variant with Sodium batteries sometime this year... so if you went looking you could probably see one... or will be able to soon.

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nine_k 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Looks ideal for a power wall at home.

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AtlasBarfed 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Superior temperature range in cold weather as well IIRC.

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alephnerd 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Unlikely.

EESMs are primarily manufactured by European OEMs (ZF, MAHLE, Schaffler, AEM) and their Indian JV partners (Sona Comstar, Sterling, and the India branches of the OEMs listed). Both have been blocked via export controls from accessing battery tech from China over the past few years, and a major reason for the push for EESMs was for an ex-China supply chain, especially after China began export controlling rare earths to the EU [6].

Additonally, Chinese and American EVs tend to use PMSMs unlike European and now Indian EVs. Also, the EU is cracking down on automotive exports (cars and OEMs) from non-FTA states as part of the EU Industrial Accelerator Act (which btw has made China go ballistic [2][3][4][5]).

On the other hand, they will most likely use Japanese or Korean solid-state batteries as Idemetsu Kosan is in the process of mass producing them [0][1] as is LG [7], and both Japan+SK are FTA partners with the EU.

[0] - https://www.chiyodacorp.com/en/projects/solidelectrolytefaci...

[1] - https://battery-tech.net/battery-markets-news/idemitsu-kosan...

[2] - https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202605/1361926.shtml

[3] - https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202605/1362200.shtml

[4] - https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202605/1362161.shtml

[5] - https://www.ft.com/content/5903318c-319b-426e-b05d-062f7620f...

[6] - https://www.reuters.com/world/china/eu-lawmakers-rebuke-chin...

[7] - https://blog.lgchem.com/en/2026/03/25_solid_state_battery/