Naxtra sodium-ion by CATL · The Techno Optimist

Milestones

Next · Volume production ramp

First-gen sodium-ion cell unveiled (160 Wh/kg)Jul 2021Complete.
Naxtra brand launched at Tech DayApr 2025Complete.
Volume production rampNowCurrent milestone.
Passenger-car deploymentTarget 2026Not yet reached.

Most important updates

16 Jul 2026
22 Jun 2026
27 Apr 2026
Feb 2026
21 Apr 2025

Upcoming

2026Passenger-car deployment (next)
Jun 2027Tener Sodium storage system begins global rollout

Current obstacles

Cost edge depends on lithium pricesWhen lithium gets cheap, sodium-ion's price edge over LFP shrinks and much of its case goes.
Hard-carbon supply chainMaking hard carbon is far less mature than making graphite.

Physics limits

Sodium is heavier and larger than lithiumSodium weighs 23 u to lithium's 7, its ion is ~30% larger, and its cells run ~0.3 V lower, so the best sodium cells reach ~175 Wh/kg, below good LFP and far below nickel cells.
Graphite won't hold sodiumSodium does not form stable compounds with graphite, so anodes use disordered hard carbon, which stores less per gram and traps some sodium on the first charge.

How it works

3 parts

Small sodium-ion cells from another maker: the same chemistry as Naxtra, with sodium in place of lithiumPhoto: Vladimir022009 · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens commons.wikimedia.org)

Ion

Sodium instead of lithium

Sodium ions shuttle between the two sides like lithium does, but they're bigger, so the electrodes are redesigned.

Anode

Hard carbon

Graphite can't hold sodium well; disordered 'hard' carbon has pores and defects that can.

Trade-off

Cheaper and safer, but less dense

Sodium doesn't alloy with aluminium, so cheap aluminium foil replaces copper at the anode; the trade-off is less energy per kilo, but better cold performance.

Spec sheet

vs 1st-gen sodium-ion (2021)

Spec	Naxtra sodium-ion	1st-gen sodium-ion (2021)	Change
Cell energy density	175 Wh/kg^R (reported)	160 Wh/kg	▲ 15 Wh/kg
Cycle life	>10,000 cycles^R (reported)	—	—no comparable change
Operating temperature floor	-40 °C^R (reported)	—	—no comparable change
Lithium content	None^R (reported)	—	—no comparable change
Chemistry	Sodium-ion, hard-carbon anode^R (reported)	—	—no comparable change

^R reported by the company

Papers & demos

1 item

Apr 2025demo
Tech Day 2025: Naxtra sodium-ion and Freevoy dual-chemistry packs (opens catl.com)Took sodium-ion from the lab into production vehicles.

Update log

6 updates

Thu 16 Jul

Minor: PressCommercial

Mon 22 Jun

Minor: PressHardware

Sat 9 May

Minor: PressManufacturing

Mon 27 Apr

Major: PressCommercial

Feb 2026

Major: PressCommercial

Mon 21 Apr 2025

Major: PressHardware

About CATL

The team behind Naxtra sodium-ion

CATL

EV and grid batteries, LFP, sodium-ion, cell-to-pack

China's CATL is the world's largest battery maker, with over a third of the global EV battery market. It supplies Tesla, BMW, Volkswagen and most Chinese carmakers, and licenses LFP tech to Ford. Listed in Shenzhen and, since May 2025, Hong Kong.

EV battery leader with ~37-38% global market share in 2024-2025 (SNE Research).
Launched Naxtra, a lithium-free 175 Wh/kg sodium-ion cell, in April 2025 for cars and storage.
Raised ~$4.6B in a May 2025 Hong Kong listing, partly to fund its plant in Debrecen, Hungary.

catl.com (opens catl.com)Company profile →

Founded: 201115 yrs
Headquarters: China
Status: Public
Listed: 300750 (opens google.com)SZSE
Valuation: public
Works in: EnergyBatteriesVehiclesMaterials
Coverage: 2 programs · 14 updateslatest 16 Jul 2026checked 25 Sep
Customers: TeslaBMW (opens bmwgroup.com)
Partners: Ford (opens fromtheroad.ford.com)Stellantis (opens stellantis.com)
People: Robin Zeng (Zeng Yuqun) (opens en.wikipedia.org)Founder & Chairman