JAC, a Chinese automaker, has begun delivering electric vehicles with sodium-ion batteries in China, marking the official market entry of EVs with the new power batteries.
In the Yiwei 3 hatchback, sodium-ion batteries are used. Yiwei is a new JAC brand that focuses on the electric vehicle market. HiNa Battery, a company affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Physics, created the batteries. The first batch of ten vehicles was purchased by the local government. According to JAC, more units of the same model will be produced soon.
During the delivery ceremony, Xia Shunli, deputy chief engineer of JAC Group, stated that the industrialization of sodium-ion batteries will play a critical role in ensuring China’s resource security in the development of new energy vehicles. The scarcity and high cost of lithium have long been a problem in the battery industry.
According to a previous report by Guotai Junan Securities, China currently imports 70% of its lithium, and the development of the country’s EV industry may be hampered due to the metal’s limited supply. According to Li Shunjun, companies around the world have spent years looking for an alternative, and sodium-ion battery technology has emerged as one of the most promising candidates.
