Sodium-ion batteries set to go mainstream as they hit LFP price and energy density parity

Sodium-ion batteries have now reached the coveted manufacturing cost and energy density parity with the most common lithium-based packs found in mass market electric vehicles, according to industry insiders gathered for the 2025 Na-ion battery supply chain and standard development conference.

The energy density of sodium-based batteries used for commercial purposes has gone from 120 Wh/kg in the first electric car with sodium-ion battery, to 175 Wh/kg in the case of CATL's Naxtra breakthrough cells that are slated to enter mass production in 2026. Modern sodium-ion batteries now hit 165 Wh/kg and a lifespan of 10,000 cycles, with operating temperatures in a very wide -40°C to 45°C range without capacity loss.

Given the typical energy density of LFP batteries, of the type found in the RWD Model Y, or popular power stations like the Anker Solix C1000, sodium-ion cells are evidently encroaching on the capacity parity mark with the most ubiquitous lithium-based battery technology.

According to the industry analysts at the expo, however, the manufacturing costs of those new sodium-ion batteries have now also reached parity with that of LFP cells. This is the more important factor when it comes to their commercialization, as the big promise of the sodium-based chemistry was supposed to be its lower costs compared to lithium batteries.

That held true up until 2023, when the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate started to nosedive due to excess capacity and softening electric vehicle demand. Since then, manufacturers have been struggling to make the case for sodium-ion batteries, whose energy density used to fall behind LFP cells, while their small production scale made them more expensive to churn out.

The announced sodium-ion battery engineering breakthroughs by major manufacturers like CATL, however, have turned the mass production of Na-ion battery cells a viable proposition. The mass production cost of advanced sodium-ion batteries with high energy density is expected to stay at the comparatively high seven cents per Wh throughout 2026.

In 2027, however, it is expected to drift towards the $0.04/Wh mark typical for LFP batteries, at least in China, leaving sodium-ion cells to compete on all of their other advantages compared to lithium batteries, such as safety, charging speed, and cold weather performance.