Techno | The battery that is not afraid of the cold

The autonomy of our batteries has improved a lot over the years. The time when the driver had to wear a tuque to be able to reduce heating and save enough energy to be able to go to destination is indeed over. Fortunately.

However, as we do not stop progress, a new advance in the world of batteries points to the horizon with the promise to warm us even more, with very little energy. The news comes from the Chinese company Catl, the world leader worldwide in the world of electric cars. This firm recently announced that it would reveal, in 2025, an accumulator capable of operating in cold weather, even extreme cold. What delight the residents of the Nordic countries, of which we are a part.

China dominates and innovates

China already occupies a preponderant place in the different categories of lithium batteries. Except that for its part, Catl multiplies its research to maximize a new type of chemistry. Instead of lithium, she turned to sodium.

The operation of these two types of batteries is however similar. In both cases, the ions circulate between positive and negative electrodes during load and discharge cycles. This is how energy is transported.

But it seems that sodium batteries would be cheaper to make and that they would be safer than those with lithium. Cheaper because sodium is found in abundance in our natural resources, much more than lithium. Therefore, it is less expensive.

It is also said that these batteries are safer since they are more stable and that they are not flammable. Less risks of overheating, therefore.

But the most beautiful in this story from China is that Catl announces that the second generation of these batteries will be operational up to – 40 ° C, without losing autonomy. They would therefore be completely viable in cold climates.

It is precisely this aspect that draws attention here, since this resistance to cold could remove any concern about the performance of electric vehicles in extreme climatic conditions, such as those we meet in North America and in certain Scandinavian countries, which are already large followers of electric vehicles.

This is what distinguishes her in a beautiful way from the lithium battery which sees her performance decreases significantly when the climate is extremely cold, or extremely hot.

It is in low temperature, lithium ions circulate less well, which slows the chemical processes, resulting in a loss of autonomy in the end. This problem does not arise with sodium-ion cells.

Faced with the enthusiasm raised by this battery, we have already started its production in China. Some vehicles already use this first generation technology, including the JMEV EV3, as well as the Yiwei EV, which is built by Jac, a company supported by Volkswagen.

CATL therefore plans to launch its second generation of batteries to sodium ions this year and aims for large -scale production in 2027.

Current limits

Sodium ion batteries have great advantages, of course, but are still not free from any criticism.

In this chapter, the energy density presents itself as the main difficulty which should be overcome so that these batteries are welcomed without reservation. Which is not trivial when you know that energy density is what determines the autonomy of an electric vehicle.

To make some comparisons, note that to date, Tesla lithium cells have an energy density which can reach 296 watthers per kilogram. For its part, CATL has not yet disclosed the precise energy density of its new cells, but the company would aim at a density of around 200 watthers per kilogram, an already ambitious objective. Lithium batteries only reached this threshold recently, that is to say.

In this context, sodium ion batteries would probably be better suited to electric vehicles of compact models, which have more limited autonomies.

That said, despite these limitations, the enthusiasm for batteries with sodium ions remains large, especially because this technology is still very young. Some analysts believe that in the coming years, it could take ownership of 20 to 30 % of the market, a market which is currently dominated by lithium batteries.

In the report of the United States National Library of Medicine, library specializing in medicine and associated sciences and techniques, the batteries of sodium ions of “new rising star” in the sector, nothing less. A star that we will probably want to see shine so far in the not too distant future. It will be followed.