Changan, in partnership with CATL, has unveiled the world’s first mass-production passenger electric vehicle equipped with sodium-ion batteries, with the vehicle set to reach the market by mid-2026.
As Changan’s sodium-ion battery partner, CATL will supply its advanced Naxtra sodium-ion batteries across Changan’s full brand portfolio, including Avatr, Deepal, Qiyuan and Uni.
“The arrival of sodium-ion technology marks the beginning of a dual-chemistry era,” said Gao Huan, CTO of CATL’s China E-car Business. “Changan’s vision shows both its responsibility for energy security and its strategic foresight. Much as it embraced electric vehicles years ago, Changan is once again taking the lead with its sodium-ion roadmap. At CATL, we value the opportunity to work alongside such an industry leader and fully support its strategy, combining our expertise to bring safe, reliable and high-performance sodium-ion technology to market.”
Cold-weather performance and safety
CATL’s Naxtra sodium-ion battery has an energy density of up to 175 Wh/kg, which sets the current benchmark for mass production. Its Cell-to-Pack system and intelligent BMS enable a pure-electric range exceeding 400km. As the sodium-ion supply chain advances, ranges are projected to reach 500km-600km for pure-electric variants and 300km-400km for range-extended/hybrid configurations – covering over 50% of the range requirements in the new energy vehicle market.
It operates reliably under extreme cold, delivering nearly triple the discharge power of equivalent LFP batteries at –30 °C, while maintaining over 90% capacity retention at -40°C and stable power delivery at temperatures as low as -50°C. The battery remained smoke and fire free and continued to provide power when tested under tough conditions such as crushing, drilling and sawing.
CATL began sodium-ion research in 2016, investing nearly ¥10bn (US$1.5bn) to develop nearly 300,000 test cells.
By combining technical innovation with industrial scale, CATL and Changan are moving sodium-ion batteries from laboratory breakthroughs to mass-market adoption, establishing them as a viable mainstream solution for electric mobility.
Look out for the upcoming March 2026 issue of Automotive Testing Technology International, in which we will explore the feedback from Changan about the rollout of the CATL Naxtra sodium-ion battery in its portfolio of electric vehicles. You can read the back catalog of issues here.
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