Hyundai Motor Group has completed testing of Unigrid’s sodium-ion battery technology and plans to develop battery energy storage systems using the company’s sodium chromium oxide chemistry.
The work was carried out through Hyundai’s ZER01NE Accelerator programme, which Unigrid joined in 2025. The programme was intended to identify non-flammable battery technologies suitable for high-safety energy storage infrastructure.
Unigrid said its 210Ah sodium-ion cells passed abuse testing without catching fire or causing thermal propagation. Testing also demonstrated operation across a temperature range of –20°C to 60°C.
The cells were cycled at 100% depth of discharge and reportedly showed minimal capacity degradation under continuous cycling. However, the company did not disclose the number of cycles completed, remaining capacity, test conditions or the particular abuse tests performed.
The company’s chemistry uses sodium chromium oxide, NaCrO₂, as the cathode material. Unigrid is developing the technology for stationary energy storage and electric mobility applications.
Darren HS Tan, chief executive officer and co-founder of Unigrid, said: “Validating our chemistry under the Group’s rigorous standards confirms that our NCO technology solves the dual challenges of safety and longevity required to successfully deploy sodium-ion to solve emerging grid energy needs.”
Jongguk Bae, senior manager in Hyundai Motor Group’s green factory development team, said: “Unigrid’s impressive validation performance demonstrates that their advanced sodium-ion chemistry is well positioned to meet the high safety and performance criteria of our upcoming energy initiatives.”
Hyundai and Korean system integration partners will now work with Unigrid to develop a sodium-ion BESS based on the NCO cells. The systems are intended to support distributed energy resources at Hyundai Motor Group’s manufacturing plants and within its wider energy business.
No capacity, power rating or deployment timetable has been disclosed for the planned systems.
Unigrid was founded in 2021 as a spin-out from the University of California San Diego. Earlier this month, the company agreed a partnership with Syntropic Power to commercialise its sodium-ion technology in North America.
