Changan Nevo A06 EV with sodium-ion battery

Yesterday I posted some information about sodium-ion batteries and pondered when we will see them in EVs:

https://bkhome.org/news/202602/when-will-we-see-sodium-ion-batteries-in-evs.html

The first EV to have sodium-ion has been announced, the Changan Nevo A06:

"Changan and CATL unveil world’s first mass-produced sodium-ion passenger EV"
https://carnewschina.com/2026/02/05/changan-and-catl-unveil-worlds-first-mass-produced-sodium-ion-passenger-ev/

...it is being promoted as exceptional in cold climates. Tests have been conducted at Yakeshi, in northern China.

I don't have the link, but there was recently a test of several different EVs somewhere very cold in northern Europe. They were driven until they stopped, and the degradation in range reported. I think the degradation was between 20 and 45%. Ah, found it, it was 24 EVs, and tested in Norway:

"Real-World Range: 24 Electric Vehicles Tested in the Coldest Test on Record"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUDJRF8Kmh4&t=502s

Some points about that degradation: it is not permanent, if temperature rises battery capacity will come up. However, charging a very cold lithium battery can permanently damage it. More information here:

"Understanding Low-Temperature Behavior of LiFePO4 Batteries"
https://www.large-battery.com/blog/low-temperature-performance-lifepo4-batteries/

Quoting, about cell damage:

Capacity loss reached 25% after just 40 cycles at a 0.5C charge rate. Even at 0°C, a single charge cycle at 1C caused a 3.6% irreversible capacity loss in a 7.5 Ah cell.

...1C charge rate is very low. Fast charging would be a disaster.

In the Norway test, the reason that some EVs had better range, would probably be due to the thermal management, warming up the batteries.

I can see EVs with sodium-ion batteries becoming very popular in northern Europe, Russia and Canada.

Low-temperature performance of sodium-ion batteries is great, but there are other advantages over lithium. One of those is safety. Quoting from the link at top of this post:

The Naxtra battery exceeds national standards. Under extreme abuse conditions, including multi-directional extrusion, electric drill penetration, and complete sawing while fully charged, the battery exhibited no smoke, no sensation, no fire, and no explosion, remarkably continuing to discharge normally even after being sawn through.

That mention of "national standards"; the Chinese authorities have raised the bar for battery safety. I don't recall when it comes into effect, early this year I think, all new EVs must have batteries that meet this standard, and CATL's Naxtra sodium-ion battery has been accredited to meet the standard.

Going the other way, high temperatures over 40 degrees C, it is a similar scenario. So in hot climates there might be a market for sodium-ion also.

Fascinating!   

Tags: ethos