CATL Chief Scientist Wu Kai: Sodium-ion batteries have already solved the core manufacturing issues and will be mass-produced on a large scale within the year

At the 2026 “Super Technology Day” launch event held today, Wu Kai, Chief Scientist of CATL and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said in his remarks that adhering to a diversified development of battery materials across multiple chemical systems is a must, since every material has its own limitations and no single material can be perfect. Depending on different needs in different scenarios, only by building capabilities in a diversified system can users find answers that are more suitable for them. CATL currently mainly has three types of materials: lithium iron phosphate, ternary lithium, and sodium-ion, and is also advancing more frontier chemical systems in parallel. He said that sodium-ion batteries have broad application scenarios in travel settings such as high temperatures and extreme cold, as well as in the energy storage sector. They have already resolved the core issues in the manufacturing process, and large-scale mass production is expected within the year. (China Finance Network)