Natron to launch mass production of long-life sodium-ion batteries

To limit climate change, countries and companies are increasingly committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Achieving this goal could stimulate large-scale demand for new alternatives to existing batteries, for example lithium-ion batteries.

Sodium-ion batteries could be a great alternative to lithium, but no one has managed to build a commercially viable NA-ion battery so far. Today, a California company, Natron, has partnered with Clarios International to manufacture the world’s first mass-produced sodium-ion batteries.

Natron Energy’s sodium-ion battery products are based on unique Prussian blue electrode chemistry for a wide variety of industrial power applications ranging from critical backup power systems to fast electric vehicle charging and applications behind the meter. Natron says its design offers a high volumetric power density somewhere between that of lead-acid and lithium-ion, with ultra-fast charging allowing for 0-99% charges in as little as eight minutes and lasting Significantly longer life of over 50,000 cycles. – between 5 and 25 times superior to lithium-ion competitors. Additionally, they are said to be extremely thermally stable, making them safe to transport, deploy and dispose of without risk of fire.

The Clarios Meadowbrook plant will become the world’s largest sodium-ion battery plant when mass production begins in 2023. Currently, these facilities are for lithium-ion batteries, and it says its sodium-ion batteries can be manufactured using the same tools and equipment.

With support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E agency under the SCALEUP program, Natron will install new cell assembly equipment at the Clarios Meadowbrook plant to enable mass production of sodium cells -ion ​​for its customers in the industrial electricity market.

The company’s mission is to transform the industrial and grid energy storage markets by providing customers with lower cost, longer lasting, more efficient and safer batteries.

This is not the first time this alternative has been used. Last year, the Chinese company CATL launched a sodium-ion battery for the electric vehicle market, with a specific energy of 160 Wh/kg, more than half the density offered by current lithium batteries.