Volkswagen-JAC Venture Unveils EV Running on Sodium-Ion Battery

On Feb. 23, at the second national sodium battery seminar, Sihao New Energy demonstrated the industry's first sodium-ion battery test vehicle.

Sihao, an electric vehicle (EV) brand of a joint venture between Volkswagen AG and Chinese automaker Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp. Ltd. (JAC), has unveiled its first car powered by sodium-ion batteries, which it said will be produced at a lower cost than its lithium-based peers that are used in most EVs.

The experimental vehicle, which was revealed at an industry seminar last week, is equipped with a 25 kilowatt-hour sodium-ion battery pack capable of supporting a range of 252 kilometers on a single charge, said Hu Yongsheng, chairman of the car’s battery supplier HiNa Battery Technology Co. Ltd. A typical EV can travel around 500 kilometers on a full charge.