CATL Sodium Ion: Stop overpaying for rigid, expensive SaaS tools or waiting months for web development agencies. Emergent is an advanced AI app builder that allows founders, operators, and small business owners to build fully functional custom software engines using nothing but a simple written prompt. Whether you need a custom client portal, an automated operations dashboard, or an internal database manager, Emergent’s autonomous AI coding agents build the frontend, backend logic, and database architecture for you in real-time. Build your custom app today: https://app.emergent.sh/?utm_shift=redirect&via=twobitdavinci This past June, the world's biggest battery company walked on stage in Munich and revealed a grid storage system with zero lithium inside. So why is CATL — the king of lithium-ion — suddenly pouring billions into sodium, a chemistry it could have built 30 years ago? In this video we break down CATL's TENER Sodium grid system and Naxtra sodium car battery: what's actually inside the cell, why sodium lost the race to lithium in the first place, and the one supply-chain question that changes everything. It's not about energy density — it's about building batteries by the billions out of stuff we can never run out of. We cover how a battery really works, lithium's three big problems (fire, cold, and concentrated supply chains), the grid storage crisis nobody talks about, and where sodium wins — and where lithium still stays king. 》》》SUPPORT THE SHOW!《《《 Become a MEMBER! https://twobit.link/Member Our Podcast! https://twobit.link/Podcast Join our Newsletter! https://twobit.link/Newsletter Join our Discord! https://twobit.link/Discord Buying a Tesla? https://twobit.link/Tesla 》》》OUR PARTNERS《《《 Protect Yourself Online: https://twobit.link/DeleteMe 》》》GOING SOLAR?《《《 Energy Sage for Solar ⟫ https://twobit.link/EnergySage 》》》COMPANY OUTREACH 《《《 Sponsor A Video! [email protected] 》》》CONNECT WITH US 《《《 Twitter 》 https://twitter.com/TwoBitDaVinci Facebook 》 https://www.facebook.com/twobitdavinci Instagram 》https://www.instagram.com/twobitdavinci/ 0:00 The Zero-Lithium Battery 0:31 CATL's TENER Sodium Reveal in Munich 2:12 Why Abundance Beats Performance (the titanium lesson) 3:14 How a Battery Actually Works 4:07 Lithium's 3 Big Problems: Fire, Cold & Supply Chains 6:17 Why Sodium Lost the Race (1960s–2000) 8:44 The Grid Storage Problem Nobody Talks About 11:37 Inside a CATL Sodium Cell 13:19 How Big a Deal Is This, Really? 14:20 Sodium vs Lithium: The Tradeoffs 15:44 Will Sodium Be Cheaper? The Price Question 16:42 Why CATL Is Betting on the Oldest Chemistry 18:06 Final Thoughts
ADVERTISEMENT
I’ve had faith for the past few years that battery and renewable tech would accelerate rapidly just because we are so low on the development curve. ICE tech is VERY mature at this point and while that has a lot of advantages, it just isn’t going to progress as quickly as batteries are going to in the next decade. I’m thrilled to see sodium get commercialized like this. The advantages are huge and cheap storage is going to mean easy decentralization of the grid. I live in the far north of Canada and that -40 operational capability is going to be MASSIVE here. Great segment, Ricky!
Having an alternative to Li and LFP is very important. The cold weather performance is going to make Sodium very popular right away.
‘The part people miss’ I’d prompt your LLM to drop the common LLM turns of phrase when generating your scripts. All the YouTube scripts are starting to sound the same. And once you hear it you can’t unhear it
CATL are far from ditching lithium. They said their total addressable market for sodium batteries is about 40% of the current lithium battery market.
There's been alot of hype lately in the world of batteries, but honestly, this is one of the most promising changes.
The key to renewable energy is not generation, that has been a solved problem for some time now, and currently being rapidly scaled up around the world. The key to it, the critical missing component, was readily deployable large scale storage to smooth out the variability in renewable generation. Solve that and the whole thing comes together and leaves carbon energy behind, besides a few niche applications. These sodium batteries are the big step forward we needed. We now have all the tech components to cover the full energy system, in almost all environments and applications, along with the production capacity and logistics, and the economics of it all are working out. The energy future is looking good. 🙂
This is a GREAT video, especially as a "how batteries work" with history and the view into the future. I've shared with friends to get them up to speed. Nice job man!
Actualy, the comparison between Al vs Ti and Na vs Li fits quite well.
This tech will be great even for cameras and other tools when working in cold weather.
Sodium makes far more sense for storage batteries. As for vehicle batteries, that's a different matter...
Your videos should form part of the curriculum for senior high and university students. I believe they would be among their most popular subjects.
Thanks for another great video.
In Europe, Finland has been been found graphite which is enough for European battery production. Graphite is a strategic material, and exports outside Europe are restricted and monitored.
There is no ability as good as availability. Abundance is sodium's superpower. Cycle life and lack of active heating and cooling are pretty special too.
After the donut debacle this is good to see.
Ricky, I've watched you for years and have so enjoyed your ability to lecture those of us who lack any sort deep scientific understanding. I bought a modest solar array, several LPF batteries, and an all-in-one 5kW inverter, back at the beginning of the pandemic. They all still reside in their original packages in my garage. A couple of years later, I was watching reviews on my inverter and learned that it wasn't reliable, so I bought 2 newer 6.5kW. They also remain in the original boxes and have since learned that they are unreliable. So, my wife reminds me often of the $20K "waste of money" and I just cringe every time. I'm not looking for any particular product endorsement but, with so many affordable solar arrays and battery banks coming to market, many DIY types, like me, are hopeful to see a simple and reliable all-in-one inverter so that widespread adoption will happen. I just retired so I've run out of excuses to answer my bride! Any guidance is appreciated and I welcome any comments and guidance from those here visiting the channel. Keep up the great work sir!
Good............Learn something new. Thanks for making this kind of content.
Very informative video. Thanks for producing.
Great video, sodium is big for me, I need home batteries BUT I've never trusted Lithium - too many horror stories. Sodium seems ideal for Home storage, cheap and long lived. I have a 5K Ducted AC unit, it eats energy, I don't want to bankrupt myself drawing it from the grid.
Finally - I live on Maui, and I can’t buy a Lithium battery from Amazon - the airlines won’t fly them, and the cargo ships are afraid of them. Let’s see if the other kind of battery makes it - probably not, but I bet the airline won’t fly them either.