Chinese battery maker Hina has just given sodium-ion batteries a more serious seat at the table. In new tests, its commercial batteries showed strong consistency across a large sample, solid power output, and a design that borrows ideas familiar from Tesla’s battery playbook – all while leaning on cheaper, more abundant sodium instead of lithium.
That does not mean lithium-ion is suddenly in trouble everywhere. The catch is the same one sodium-ion has always faced: lower energy density and weaker performance in cold charging, both of which matter a lot for long-range EVs and cold-weather markets. But for fleets, city cars, and grid storage, cheaper chemistry can be enough to change the buying decision fast.
What Hina’s 120-cell sodium-ion battery test showed
The test program covered 120 battery cells and used impedance spectroscopy to study internal resistance and how the cells behave under load. That kind of sampling is more useful than a glossy launch slide because mass production lives or dies on repeatability, not one heroic demo unit.
The cells were pushed across a wide temperature range, from −20 to +45 °C, and under different current levels. Researchers also used X-ray methods and teardown analysis to inspect the internal structure, which gave a fuller picture of durability and design choices rather than just peak output.
Why sodium-ion batteries can undercut lithium on cost
The obvious advantage is raw material economics. Sodium is cheaper and more abundant than lithium, which reduces exposure to the supply swings that have spent years keeping lithium-ion prices uncomfortable.
Hina’s construction also looks intentionally cost-conscious. The cathode mix includes sodium, copper, nickel, iron, and manganese, and the use of copper is structured to reduce dependence on pricier nickel and cobalt. The cell architecture also uses a dual aluminum current collector, which works because sodium does not react with aluminum the way lithium does. That lets the battery use aluminum foil on both sides and simplifies the build.
The two problems that still block wider sodium-ion adoption
Cold charging remains the awkward part. At low temperatures, sodium-ion cells are still not stable enough to shrug off winter without serious thermal management, so this is not a drop-in answer for every EV market.
Energy density is the other hard wall. Even with better chemistry and cleaner manufacturing, today’s sodium-ion batteries still trail the best lithium-ion systems, which is why they are a poor fit for vehicles that need maximum range rather than minimum cost. In other words: the chemistry is improving, but physics is still the boss.
Where sodium-ion batteries are most likely to win
The likely battleground is not premium EVs. It is the duller, more profitable stuff: urban electric vehicles, commercial fleets, and stationary storage for power grids, where price and durability matter more than headline range.
If Hina and its rivals keep improving electrolyte chemistry, hard-carbon anodes, and low-temperature performance, sodium-ion could move from curiosity to real volume. The first big shift will probably not be a luxury car with a sodium pack. It will be a vehicle or storage product where the buyer asks one question: ”How cheap can it get?”