- Yadea smashes forward with a number of sodium-ion-driven two-wheeled
- Sodium plays a key role in China’s wider battery swap systems
- The country is already pushing mass production of the technology
The presence of sodium in batteries is nothing new as the first documented use of it dates back to the 1960s when the Ford Motor Company considered using them for very early EVs.
But last year, Chinese carmaker Jac (a joint venture with Volkswagen in China) produced the world’s first sodium-ion battery production car in Hua Xianzi (it translates roughly into ‘flowerfea’) that uses a small 25kwh sodium-ion battery that can travel up to 155 miles on a single charge.
Although technology does not exactly have a global sales success, the technology has found a place among China’s flowering microcar economy and perhaps more important still, its fierce demand for diminishing two-wheeled scooters.
In a place like Shenzhen, a megacity with a population of approx. 17.8 million people, the humble scooter is one of the most popular modes of transport, with over 55 million sold in 2023 alone, and Yadea is among the most popular brands.
The global leader in electric two-wheeled two-wheeler has released three sodium-ion-powered electric scooters to date, according to BBC, with plans in pipeline to offer much more.
These battery packs are designed in a similar way as their lithium-ion colleagues, but transmit sodium ions between electrodes during charging and discharge rather than other rare soil materials.
Currently, lead-acid batteries continue to dominate the electric scooter landscape as the technology is cheap and produced in a mass scale, but the demand for sodium-ion devices is gradually increasing.
By 2030, 15% of China’s electric scooters will be driven by them compared to 0.04% in 2023, according to an analysis from the Shenzhen-based starting point research institute, which assesses China’s battery industry.
Analysis: Sodium ion reaches far beyond transport
Electric two-wheel maker Yadea also builds one of the most robust electric scooter charging networks in China with plans to install more than 1,000 quick charging columns specifically designed for sodium-ion batteries this year in Hangzhou, which would allow commuters to find a station every 2 km (1.2 miles).
It also pushes forward with a massive battery swap program in Shenzen with a target of 20,000 barter stations this year, which allows riders to replace a used battery for a fully charged device of approx. 30 seconds. This number will grow to 50,000 in 2027.
Right now, sodium-ion batteries are still very rising, as the price and demand for lithium-ion devices has fallen since it is constantly high post-pandemic.
A relatively low energy density (some pitch-height-sodium-ion batteries as a 30% less energy tight than lithium-ion colleagues) have also exposed the big car players, all of which are constantly looking for the easiest, most energy-tight opportunities on the market.
But China’s vision for salt batteries goes far beyond transport, with the BBC reporting that it is already on its way to the mass scale of sodium-based energy storage solutions that help balance the grid and store excess energy from persistent sources when they are not in use-altogether without competing with the automotive industry and its joyful appetite on Lithium.
