Changan Automobile has announced what it calls the world’s first mass‑production passenger car powered by sodium‑ion batteries, developed with long‑term partner CATL. This follows on from the winter trials as reported in bestmag.
The model was unveiled at the ‘CHANGAN SDA Intelligence Milestone Release & Sodium‑Ion Battery Global Strategy Launch’ and is due on the market by mid‑2026.
CATL will supply its Naxtra sodium‑ion batteries across Changans brands, including AVATR, Deepal, Qiyuan and UNI, marking a shift toward a dual‑chemistry approach where sodium‑ion and lithium‑ion technologies operate in parallel. Gao Huan, CTO of CATL’s China E‑car Business, said: “The arrival of sodium-ion technology marks the beginning of a dual-chemistry era. CHANGAN’s vision shows both its responsibility for energy security and its strategic foresight. Much as it embraced electric vehicles years ago, CHANGAN is once again taking the lead with its sodium-ion roadmap. At CATL, we value the opportunity to work alongside such an industry leader and fully support its strategy, combining our expertise to bring safe, reliable, and high-performance sodium-ion technology to market.”
The Naxtra battery delivers up to 175 Wh/kg and supports more than 400km of pure‑electric range, with future versions expected to reach 500–600km. Its cold‑weather performance is a standout feature, retaining over 90% capacity at -40 °C and maintaining power output at -50 °C. Safety tests involving crushing, drilling and sawing reportedly resulted in no smoke or fire.
Sodium‑ion batteries offer abundant raw materials, strong low‑temperature performance and easier recycling, with the global market forecast to grow sharply through the next decade. CATL plans to support wider adoption with more than 3,000 battery‑swap stations across China by 2026.
