On September 5, according to a conference transcript published by Sina Finance, during the 2026 Yabuli Summer Forum (held September 4-6 in Chengdu, Sichuan), Tang Kun, co-founder of Beijing HiNa Battery Technology Co., Ltd., shared his views on sodium-ion battery industry development. He said sodium-ion batteries are a "Plan B" against resource crises and geopolitical risks, and the industry is currently seeking breakthroughs through technological innovation and scenario differentiation.
Tang acknowledged that global sodium-ion battery output last year was only 1 GWh, while lithium-ion batteries reached 1,800 GWh; although the theoretical cost of sodium-ion batteries is lower, due to the far smaller industry-chain scale, their actual cost remains high, and the industry faces a "chicken-and-egg" problem - when costs are above lithium-ion levels, burning money for scale is extremely difficult. It should be noted that this content is a shorthand record not reviewed by the speaker; specific wording is subject to the speaker's own confirmation.
Regarding industry data background, Tang said sodium-ion batteries perform well in low-temperature performance, safety and fast charging/discharging; it took ten years for sodium-ion batteries to go from zero to 1 GWh, but global output is expected to reach 5 GWh this year, meaning the industry's growth "flywheel" has started turning.
: "expected to reach 5 GWh this year" is an output expectation, not actual results; the premise of "cost advantage enabling a large-scale market breakthrough" - the industry chain reaching the same scale as lithium batteries - is not yet in place; the shorthand transcript was not reviewed by the speaker, and individual figures or wording may deviate.