Company to Develop Sodium-Ion Batteries for Grid Storage and Enable EV-to-Grid Power Flow

The company said it will develop sodium-ion battery cells designed for grid-scale energy storage and will allow its electric vehicles to send power back to the grid. Sodium-ion cells are expected to operate across wider temperature ranges and deliver more charge cycles than current lithium-based systems.

The company stated these traits could reduce the need for active cooling and lower overall system complexity.

More than 250,000 of the company's electric vehicles already on the road can support bidirectional power flow when paired with its home energy systems. Officials said the vehicles can sustain a residence for several days during localized outages. The systems are engineered to enable vehicle-to-grid transfers without requiring additional hardware changes.

The company added that bidirectional capability will become a standard feature across its full vehicle lineup.

The New York Times reported the company is following another automaker that already supplies large batteries to utilities and data centers for managing power fluctuations.

“We are developing next-generation sodium-ion battery cells purpose built for grid-scale storage. Compared with incumbent chemistries, sodium-ion can perform across a wider range of temperatures and for more cycles." — Company statement The same statement noted that the technology could support residential backup power and broader grid services from high-volume models to flagship vehicles.”