The industrial progress of sodium-ion batteries is accelerating comprehensively, driving continuous expansion in the sodium battery market scale.

A project team led by the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with several partners, has achieved a major breakthrough in sodium-ion battery technology. They successfully tackled long-standing technical barriers, developing a long-life, wide-temperature-range, and high-safety sodium-ion energy storage battery. Alongside this, they also introduced the first large-capacity sodium-ion battery energy storage system, positioning their achievement at the international forefront of the industry.

Why Sodium-Ion Batteries Matter

Compared with lithium batteries, sodium-ion batteries bring several notable advantages:

• Better temperature tolerance – performing well in both high and low temperatures.
• Higher safety levels – with reduced risk under extreme conditions.
• Lower costs – thanks to abundant sodium resources and more accessible raw materials.

On average, sodium-ion batteries can reduce costs by about 30% compared with lithium iron phosphate batteries of similar performance.

Current Applications

Although still in the early stages of industrialization, sodium-ion batteries are gradually entering practical markets such as:

• Large-scale energy storage
• Electric two-wheeled vehicles
• New energy vehicles

From a technical standpoint, sodium-ion batteries are highly similar to lithium-ion batteries in terms of structure, working principles, and production processes, which makes industrial adaptation smoother.

Cost Advantages: Materials and Collectors

One of the biggest drivers of sodium-ion battery competitiveness is cost savings:

• Cathode materials: Compared with lithium iron phosphate batteries, the copper-based cathode materials used in sodium-ion batteries can cut costs by nearly 60%.
• Current collectors: Since sodium and aluminum do not undergo alloying reactions, aluminum foil can fully replace copper foil, reducing costs by up to 70%.

Despite these advantages, achieving large-scale industrialization and truly unlocking the lowest cost potential will still take time. Commercial mass production is expected around 2025.

Industry Chain and Resource Supply

The sodium-ion battery industry benefits from the existing lithium battery ecosystem, but with some changes:

• Core components still include cathodes, anodes, electrolytes, and separators.
• Cathode materials are where the biggest shifts are happening:
  • Layered transition metal oxides – well-suited for industrialization.
  • Polyanionic compounds – excellent cycling performance, but limited by high costs and lower energy density.
  • Prussian blue/white compounds – strong in cost control and rate performance, increasingly favored.

Meanwhile, the anode, electrolyte, and separator markets remain largely similar to lithium batteries, except that copper foil collectors are no longer needed, further lowering costs.

On the resource side, the contrast between lithium and sodium is striking:

• Lithium accounts for just 0.0065% of Earth’s resources and is unevenly distributed, leading to price volatility.
• Sodium, by contrast, makes up about 2.75% of Earth’s resources and is widely distributed, free from geographical constraints.

Market Outlook

The sodium battery industry is still in the early commercialization stage, and its competitive landscape remains in flux. However, leading players are already showing early advantages. As production scales up, costs are expected to fall further, creating momentum for rapid market growth.

With mass production anticipated around 2025, sodium-ion batteries are poised to become a powerful complement to lithium-ion technology, especially in large-scale energy storage and cost-sensitive applications.