CATL's sodium battery matches LFP on cost in 2026, with 15,000 cycles and a 30-year life
CATL Sodium Battery Hits LFP Cost Parity in 2026: 15,000 Cycles, 30-Year Life
CATL's sodium-ion battery is set to reach cost parity with LFP in 2026, offering 15,000 cycles and a 30-year lifespan. Hacker News commenters welcome the prospect of cheaper, cold-tolerant home storage, but the safety debate is sharp: sodium cells resist punctures and shorts far better than lithium, yet some argue they are more prone to thermal runaway and vent more flammable, toxic gas, especially when charged to 100%.
People who think sodium-ion is "safer" are being sold a bill of goods.
- syntaxing
I’m so desperate for home battery using sodium batteries. Safer and lower temperature it can operate at. Low energy density but I don’t care for home battery.
- hbarka
I switched the 12v lead-acid batteries on my EV to the 12v Lithium from OHMMU. Best upgrade I've done. I recently saw that they now offer 12V Sodium, and their warranty now went up to 3 years on the sodium, from 1 year. They have new data on its robustness.
- topspin
That was fast. CATL is only now ramping up Naxtra production and it's already approaching price parity with LFP. This is early validation of the cost curve predictions for this chemistry.
Most of this is destined for stationary storage that would likely have used lithium-based chemistry instead, or not been built-out at all. Every GWh of capacity sodium offsets is a GWh that isn't supplied by lithium, so demand for higher-value battery chemistry should be lower, and take prices with it. Good news all around.
- KellyCriterion
Just imagine:
ALL the money that flew into "Fossil & Co" throughout the last, lets say, 50 or 60 years, including all implicit fundings, like state-building-streets or universities-masters-engineering-focus-ICE, all the money for lobbying, all the money for all the (counter)campaigns (from ALL sides), and all that money....
...WHAT IF we would have spent all of this money instead on Battery Research and all this Renewable Energy stuff?
Where would we be today on techdev curve? ;-) ;-)
- dzhiurgis
> approximately $200/kWh for LFP batteries
Huh?
Automotive grade are like 50 and storage ones are like 30.
Can someone confirm these prices because sounds a whole lot of BS or article not saying something (i.e. dancing around TCO).