Natron Sodium-ion Battery Plant to Come on Line in Michigan
Natron sodium-ion battery plant will soon come on line in Michigan. According to reports, the sodium-ion batteries developed by Natron, a U.S.-based company, have high quality performances, such as extremely long cycle life, practical power density, excellent safety, and ultra-high-speed charging, and the Natron sodium-ion battery plant will soon come on line in Michigan.
Natron's sodium-ion battery factory will soon go into production in Michigan.1According to foreign media reports, Natron Energy, a leading manufacturer of sodium-ion batteries, and Clarios International, a low-voltage advanced battery technology company, have announced a strategic agreement to manufacture the world's first mass-produced sodium-ion battery.
Clarios' Meadowbrook facility will become the world's largest sodium-ion battery factory when mass production begins in 2023. With this partnership, the United States will be at the forefront of sodium-ion battery manufacturing.
Natron spent 10 years perfecting its sodium-ion battery chemistry for mass production and launched the world's first UL-certified sodium-ion battery product in 2021. Several Fortune 500 companies have validated Natron's technology through independent testing and real-world deployments.
Crucially, Natron's sodium-ion batteries do not contain lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, or other minerals that have contributed to the recent price volatility in the lithium-ion supply chain, so customers can be confident in Natron's price-stable battery supply. In addition, Natron's sodium-ion batteries do not experience thermal runaway, so they can be safely transported and disposed of without fire.
Today, Natron's batteries are used in critical power applications such as data centers and telecom networks, and in the future may also be used in electric vehicles and grid energy storage.
Natron batteries are manufactured using the same tools and equipment as lithium-ion, so Natron and Ceres were able to utilize part of Ceres' Meadowbrook lithium-ion facility for sodium-ion manufacturing. This resulted in a lower cost and faster time to market than building a new plant.
Craig Rigby, Vice President of Technology at Ceres, said, "We are pleased to be working with Natron on promising energy storage solutions. As the demand for energy storage increases across a variety of applications, we see the potential for this technology to fulfill a critical need. As a global leader in battery technology, Coruscant is committed to sharing its experience in the emerging battery space and providing expertise in manufacturing advanced technologies at scale."
Under the agreement, electrodes and large-scale batteries based on Natron's proprietary Prussian Blue Electrode sodium-ion chemistry will be manufactured at Kresge's existing facility in Holland, Michigan.
With support from the U.S. Department of Energy's ARPA-E agency through the SCALEUP program, Natron will be installing new cell assembly equipment at the Kreis Meadowbrook facility to enable large-scale production of sodium-ion cells for its customers in the industrial power market.
Colin Wessells, Natron's founder and CEO, said, "This project marks the beginning of a new era for Natron as we move from product development to serving customers at scale."
Natron's sodium-ion battery plant will soon be in production in Michigan.2The sodium-ion batteries developed by Natron in the United States reportedly offer premium performance such as extremely long `cycle life, practical power density, superior safety, and ultra-high-speed charging without the use of any lithium.
Through a partnership with automotive battery maker Clarios, Natron's sodium-ion batteries will be mass-produced in Michigan, USA next year.
Some experts say that current battery technology is heading for a lithium shortage crisis, and that known lithium reserves are simply not enough to meet the level of demand expected in the electric car market, let alone other industries looking to move to battery power in the coming years.
Sodium-ion battery projects have been popping up regularly over the past few years in the hopes of taking a bite out of the battery market. Notably, China's Ningde Times last year launched a sodium-ion battery for the electric vehicle market with a specific energy of 160 Wh/kg, more than half the energy density of current mass-market lithium-ion battery packs.
Natron chose a different target, using a different chemical based on Prussian blue. Prussian blue is a common pigment, best known for providing the blue color of blueprints, and is also widely used in traditional Japanese woodblock prints, such as Hokusai's The Great Wave of Kanagawa.
It is well known that battery design is often a compromise between many factors, including thermal performance, weight or energy and power density per unit volume, safety, charging time, and cycle life.
Natron claims that its design provides a strong capacity power density between lead acid and lithium ion, an ultra-high speed charging facility that can charge 0-99% in 8 minutes, and a cycle life of more than 50,000 cycles, which is still 5 to 25 times better than competing lithium ion batteries. They are said to be very thermally stable, making them safe to transport, deploy and dispose of with no risk of fire.
For now, though, the energy density is relatively low, both in terms of weight and volume, so Natron won't be marketing this to EV makers. The company is targeting industrial battery use cases: data center backup power, forklifts and other industrial vehicles, telecom equipment, and so on. There may also be some electric vehicle applications, such as as buffer batteries for electric vehicle charging stations that store energy between grid supply and fast chargers to charge car batteries as fast as possible.
Natron has reportedly partnered with Clarios International to mass-produce these sodium-ion batteries at the Clarios Meadowbrook plant in Michigan starting in 2023. This is currently a lithium-ion battery plant, and Natron says that their sodium-ion technology can be produced using the same equipment, so the partnership will allow it to bring these products to market faster and cheaper than if it were to build the plant from scratch itself.
Natron said that once it goes into production, it will be the largest sodium-ion battery plant in the world. In addition, the abundant supply of the required material should lead to very stable prices, which could be a key advantage over lithium, which is dependent on what happens with supply and geopolitics in the coming decades.
Natron's sodium-ion battery plant is coming to Michigan.3Natron's sodium-ion batteries are said to offer tremendous cycle life, practical power density, superior safety, and ultra-high-speed charging without the use of any lithium. They will be mass-produced in Michigan, USA next year through a partnership with automotive battery manufacturer Clarios.
Some experts say that current battery technology is heading for a lithium shortage, and that there is simply not enough lithium in known reserves to meet the level of demand expected in the electric car market, let alone all the other industries looking to move to battery power in the coming years.
As a result, alternatives will be absolutely critical because their performance characteristics make sense, and sodium-ion battery projects have been popping up regularly over the past few years, aiming to get a piece of the battery market. Notably, China's Ningde Times last year introduced a sodium-ion battery for the electric vehicle market with a specific energy of 160 Wh/kg, which is more than half the density of today's mass-market lithium-ion battery packs.
Natron, a California company, chose a different target, using a different chemical based on Prussian blue. Prussian blue is a common pigment, best known for providing the blue color of blueprints, and is also widely used in traditional Japanese woodblock prints, such as Hokusai's The Great Wave of Kanagawa.
ABOVE: Natron's end-products are primarily rack-mounted battery systems for large data centers, electric vehicle charging stations, and other industrial uses.
In fact, battery design is often a compromise between many factors, including thermal performance, energy and power density by weight and volume, safety, charge time and cycle life.
Natron claims that its design provides a strong capacity power density between lead acid and lithium-ion, ultra-high speed charging that allows for 0-99% charging in 8 minutes, and a cycle life of more than 50,000 cycles -- 5 to 25 times better than competing lithium-ion batteries. They are said to be very thermally stable, making them safe to transport, deploy and dispose of with no risk of fire.
We can assume that the energy density is relatively low, both in terms of weight and volume -- Natron won't be marketing this to EV makers, as their size and weight are key parameters.
Instead, Natron is targeting industrial battery use cases: data center backup power, forklifts and other industrial vehicles, telecom equipment, and so on. There may also be some electric vehicle applications -- for example, as a buffer battery for electric vehicle charging stations, storing energy between slow grid supply and fast chargers to inject it into the car battery as fast as possible.
Natron has partnered with Clarios International to mass-produce these sodium-ion batteries at the Clarios Meadowbrook plant in Michigan starting in 2023.
3 Currently, this is a lithium-ion battery plant, and Natron says that their sodium-ion technology can be produced using the same equipment. So the partnership will allow Natron to bring these products to market faster and cheaper than if they were to build the factory from scratch themselves. Once in production, Natron says it will be the world's largest sodium-ion battery plant.
Natron said the wide availability of the materials needed should make battery prices very stable -- which could be a key advantage over lithium, depending on what happens with supply and geopolitics in the coming decades.