JAC Motors, a Chinese automaker backed by Volkswagen, is set to launch the first mass-produced electric vehicle (EV) with a sodium-ion battery through its new Yiwei brand. Although sodium-ion battery technology has a lower density (and is less mature) than lithium-ion, its lower costs, more abundant supplies, and superior performance in cold climates could help accelerate mass vehicle adoption. electrical. CarNewsChina reports that deliveries of the JAC Yiwei EV hatchback will begin in January.
Yiwei is a new brand in 2023 for JAC. Volkswagen has a 75 percent stake in (and management control of) JAC and owns 50 percent of JAC's parent company, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Holdings (JAG). The Chinese government owns the other half of JAG, making it one of the auto industry's strangest couples.
The Yiwei EV appears to be a rebranded version of the Sehol E10X hatchback (above), announced earlier this year. CarNewsChina describes the Sehol model as having a range of 252 km (157 miles) with a capacity of 25 kWh, an energy density of 120 Wh/kg, 3C to 4C charging and a HiNa NaCR32140 cell. When JAC revealed the Yiwei brand in May, it said it would remove the Sehol label and rename all of its vehicles JAC or Yiwei, which brings us to this week's electric vehicle reveal. JAC has not yet said whether the Yiwei-branded model will keep the E10X moniker.
In April, JAC exhibited a standalone electric vehicle called Yiwei 3 at the Shanghai Auto Show. That model launched in June with an LFP lithium battery, promising that the sodium-ion variant would be released later.
The new Yiwei EV reportedly uses cylindrical sodium-ion cells from HiNA Battery. JAC assembles the batteries in the company's UE (Unitized Encapsulation) modular honeycomb structure, similar to CATL's CTP (cell-to-pack) and BYD's Blade. The design can provide greater stability and performance.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-first-ev-with-a-lithium-free-sodium-battery-hits-the-road-in-january-214828536.html?src =rss
