• Source:JND
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A dramatic shift from the conventional lithium-ion hegemony, China has taken a breathtaking step ahead by launching sodium-ion battery-fueled electric scooters, ushering in a new era of green mobility. With scores of shiny scooters waiting outside shopping malls in metropolises like Hangzhou, the world is seeing the break of day of a possible battery revolution, fuelled not with lithium but with salt. These fashion mopeds, developed by top electric two-wheeler manufacturer Yadea, cost from Rs 33,000 to Rs 55,000 (around 300 Euros to 500 Euros), and are quickly winning over green-conscious commuters and market observers alike.

China's move into sodium-ion battery technology is a key turning point away from resource-intensive lithium-ion batteries. Sodium, found plentifully in seawater and Earth's crust, is 400 times more accessible than lithium, so it offers a practical and affordable energy storage option. In contrast with lithium, which involves difficult mining and refining procedures, highly localized in a few nations, sodium can be harvested in a more environmentally friendly manner, potentially mitigating worldwide supply chain constraints as well as geopolitical sensitivities. During Yadea's promotion event last spring in Hangzhou, the company unveiled an instant-charging infrastructure to charge scooters from 0 per cent to 80 per cent in merely 15 minutes. Moreover, battery-swapping depots enable customers to swap spent batteries with full ones in less than 30 seconds, a notion rapidly being embraced in cities like Shenzhen, now known as China's "Battery-Swapping City". Shenzhen is ambitious in its goals, projecting 20,000 battery pods by 2025 and 50,000 by 2027, hoping to have one swap station every five minutes within reach.

Sodium Scooters for the Masses: Targeting Everyday Riders

"Little electric donkeys" in China, two-wheelers are already a ubiquitous means of transport around Asia. With 55 million electric two-wheelers sold in China in 2023 alone, the scope for sodium-ion adoption is huge. Unlike automobiles, these scooters run over short distances and need less energy density, and so sodium-ion is the ideal choice. To mass-produce the technology, Yadea rolled out a pilot program with 150,000 food delivery riders in Shenzhen. Riders can now exchange used batteries easily at swap stations all over the city, establishing a seamless user experience and demonstrating the workability of the system in real-world, high-demand environments.

The revolution in sodium does not stop at two-wheelers. CATL, the globe's biggest battery manufacturer, said it will mass-produce sodium-ion batteries under its new Naxtra brand for heavy-duty trucks and energy storage networks by the end of 2025. At the same time, Chinese grid operators are installing sodium-ion-powered energy storage facilities to ensure stable renewable energy feed, underpinning the country's clean-tech push on all fronts, ranging from personal mobility to the power grid.

Why Sodium, Why Now?

Sodium-ion batteries, while initially researched during the 1970s along with lithium-ion, were mostly put aside in anticipation of lithium's early commercialization. Today, with world demand for inexpensive, safer, and more sustainable energy solutions increasing exponentially, China is reviving this erstwhile-abandoned technology—and taking the world along. “Sodium-ion batteries may not have the energy density of lithium, but they are safer, cheaper, and better suited for urban two-wheeler applications,” Chen Xi, a battery expert at Xi’an-Jiaotong Liverpool University, said to the BBC.

While Western automakers and governments race to scale lithium supply chains, China’s move to commercialize sodium-ion technology ahead of global rivals could shift the future of mobility and energy independence.