Chinese power battery manufacturer Eve Energy has begun construction of a new sodium battery business headquarters, intensifying its push into next-generation battery technologies as competition accelerates across China’s energy storage sector.
The project, which also incorporates an artificial intelligence and robotics centre, broke ground on Dec. 22 at District D of Eve Energy’s headquarters campus in Huizhou, Guangdong province, the company said.
The sodium-ion battery facility represents a total planned investment of about 1 billion yuan ($140 million) and will cover roughly 90,000 square metres. The site will house research and development, pilot production and large-scale manufacturing functions. Eve Energy said the sodium battery project is designed for an annual production capacity of 2 gigawatt-hours and will focus on developing self-degradable, non-combustible sodium-ion battery products.
Alongside battery development, the project includes a 50,000-square-metre Jinyuan robotics AI centre, covering the full chain from robotics research and development to mass production. Once completed, the campus is intended to serve as a major base for sodium battery industrialisation and the integration of AI and robotics applications in China, the company said.
Eve Energy ranks among China’s largest battery suppliers. In November, it placed fifth in the domestic market with battery installations of 3.59 GWh, accounting for a 3.84% share, according to data from the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance. Globally, the company held a 2.6% share of the electric vehicle battery market from January to October, ranking ninth, based on figures from SNE Research.
Sodium-ion batteries have drawn growing interest in recent years due to the abundance of raw materials and stronger performance in low-temperature conditions compared with lithium-ion alternatives. China’s largest battery maker, CATL, launched its second-generation sodium-ion battery product, branded Naxtra, in April.
CATL has also been expanding into robotics, recently announcing the deployment of humanoid robots on battery pack production lines at its Luoyang facility in Henan province, a move it described as the world’s first large-scale application of humanoid robots in battery pack manufacturing.
