China’s CATL Signals Sodium-Ion Battery Return as Lithium Prices Surge

China’s CATL says it will deploy sodium-ion batteries from 2026 as lithium prices surge, reviving a technology first introduced in 2021.
A model of China's CATL's 2nd generation Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery displayed at the Shanghai Auto Show in Shanghai on April 21, 2025. CATL says it will deploy sodium-ion batteries from 2026 as lithium prices surge, reviving a technology first introduced in 2021.(Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP)

CATL on Monday said it plans to deploy sodium-ion batteries at scale from 2026, as lithium battery raw-material prices surge.

The company first unveiled the technology in 2021 but later slowed commercialization as lithium prices fell.

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by Edwin Shri Bimo

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