July 7, 2026
Pass the salt, start the drama
Sodium-ion "salt" batteries will revolutionize electric-vehicle and grid storage
Cheap ‘salt batteries’ are coming for EVs, and the comments are already fighting
TLDR: China’s Changan says one of the first mass-produced electric cars with a sodium-ion battery is coming soon, raising hopes for cheaper and more practical energy storage. Commenters are torn between excitement over safety and cost, skepticism about whether it’s actually cheaper yet, and wild dreams of giant home batteries.
A Chinese carmaker just sent an electric sedan flying across an icy test track in minus 32°C weather, tyre burst and all, to show off a big claim: so-called salt batteries may be ready for the real world. The car, Changan’s upcoming Nevo A06, is set to use a new sodium-ion battery from battery giant CATL later this year. Translation for everyone else: a battery made from far more common stuff than lithium, with hopes of making electric cars and home energy storage cheaper.
But the real action was in the comments, where the crowd instantly split into camps. One group was cautiously hyped, with users pointing out sodium batteries are no longer absurdly heavy, saying the weight penalty is now more like 33%, not the old “brick on wheels” nightmare. Others immediately hit the brakes: if these batteries aren’t yet cheaper because production is still small, then isn’t low cost supposed to be the whole point? That sparked the thread’s biggest eyebrow-raise.
Then came the safety squad. One commenter bluntly summed up a very real fear: lithium fires are scary. Another took things in a more delightfully unhinged direction, basically saying, why stop at cars — give me a swimming-pool-sized battery under my house if it’s cheap and hard to destroy. Meanwhile, one hot take asked why China is leading these breakthroughs if it benefits from the world needing its mined materials, while another commenter demanded battery standardization like car wheels. In other words: part science breakthrough, part consumer wishlist, part comment-section cage match.
Key Points
- •The article says most rechargeable batteries currently use lithium-ion chemistry, while sodium-ion batteries could offer a cheaper alternative.
- •A cold-weather demonstration in northern China showed a sedan operating on an icy track at 95 km/h in -32°C conditions.
- •The demonstration was presented by Changan as evidence that harsh conditions do not prevent use of its new EV line.
- •Changan’s lineup includes what the article describes as the first mass-produced electric vehicle with a sodium-ion battery.
- •Changan’s Nevo AO6 is expected to launch later this year using a newer, more powerful sodium-ion battery made by CATL.