The first electric car with a sodium battery is here. It is the cheap solution to the problems of lithium Ecuador South America

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The first electric car with a sodium battery is here. It is the cheap solution to lithium problems

The new electric Yiwei, from the Chinese manufacturer JAC Motors, is the first car with a sodium battery

Sodium batteries are the great alternative to lithium batteries. We have been listening to their advantages for several years and now we can finally say that they are already a reality. The first electric car with a sodium battery has already been presented. No lithium. A car that will begin to travel the streets next January.

JAC Motors is the pioneering Chinese manufacturer in this field. And it does so through its Yiwei brand, newly created in 2023. Behind this manufacturer is Volkswagen, which controls half of JAC. The other half is held by Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Holdings (JAG), controlled by China's government. In the case of the Yiwei brand, Volkswagen's control extends to 75%.

Electric car with sodium battery is here

At the beginning of the year, Yiwei presented the Sehol E10X, a vehicle with a range of about 252 kilometers, a 25 kWh and 120 Wh/kg battery. Now it has transformed into the new Yiwei EV, the same car presented months ago but with a sodium-ion battery, manufactured by HiNA and a rebranding.

JAC assembles sodium batteries in the company's own modular structure, similar to CATL's CTP and BYD's Blade.

The car has a 3C to 4C charge that promises to complete from 10% to 80% in about 20 minutes.

At the moment the price of this version with sodium batteries is unknown. The Yiwei 3 model, with a lithium battery and a greater range of 505 kilometers, has a cost that starts at 12,000 euros at direct exchange rate (89,900 yuan).

Sodium batteries have become a very serious bet as an alternative to lithium batteries. They have a clear disadvantage: they are even worse at storing energy. Its energy density is lower and that is why manufacturers continue to prefer lithium.

But they also have several advantages to take into account. The first of them is that they are much cheaper. The second is that they offer greater thermal stability. This means that the possibility of them catching fire is lower and that they cause fewer problems when used in extreme temperature conditions, such as in very cold or very hot environments.

"Sodium ion batteries will become an important type of battery, complementary to LFP batteries. They are a low-cost solution that will promote the popularization of electric cars among the population," Yiwei explains to Carsnewchina.

Yiwei is not the only manufacturer to bet on sodium batteries. Yes, it was the first, but brands like the Swedish Northvolt assure that sodium batteries will be on par with the current LFPs. European manufacturers such as BMW, Volvo, Polestar or Volkswagen itself have their own plans with these batteries. China has once again moved ahead, but it seems that the race will be long.