Que: Do you think diversifying battery chemistry is no longer optional but essential, especially for a country like India with high import dependence?

Ans: Diversification is absolutely essential for a country like India, which has no lithium reserves. This comes at a critical time when energy storage and EV demands are skyrocketing as multiple industries are getting electrified. Battery demand is going to exponentially increase. Relying on imports to meet those demands will only leave us vulnerable to supply chain disruptions or trade wars. This can drastically hinder our economy. Diversifying not only protects us from these shocks but also helps build alternate industries, leading to technologies specifically developed for India’s unique environment.

Que: What makes Sodium-ion a strategically important technology for India’s energy transition?

Ans: By adopting SIB technology, we can localise up to 95% of the supply chain for the raw materials required for its production. This would not only help us secure ourselves from geopolitical shocks, pricing wars, or other supply chain disruptions, but it would also give rise to an entirely new industry and economy that has, to date, not taken hold in India, further helping develop our nation’s industrial prowess, adding billions to our GDP, and strengthening our technical manpower.

Que: What are the biggest challenges in building a 100 percent local supply chain in India? And which parts of the supply chain can be localised fastest?

Ans: About 90% of the supply chain can be completely localised with current resources. Iron, manganese, carbon, aluminium, and sodium are abundantly available in India. Processing capabilities need to be ramped up to meet cell manufacturing demand, but that is not a technology problem, just a matter of time. The only current gaps are electrolyte salts and separator film manufacturing, both of which are solvable through international JVs or domestic chemical scaling.

Although all of the above can be achieved with domestically available technology, it will still take a significant amount of collaboration and organisation at both industry and government levels to accelerate progress.

Que: How can Sodium-ion technologies accelerate solar and wind integration into India’s grid?

Ans: Currently, unequal and irregular supply from wind and solar has caused grid instabilities and substation failures. With cheaper energy storage solutions, we can avoid such downtimes by co-locating large BESS systems with renewable energy sources to offload power during peak generation hours and export it during peak demand hours. Increased and affordable storage options can also help at the substation level by providing temporary relief to equipment during peak demand hours, when transformer failures have been common.

Que: What makes Sodium-ion chemistry suitable for heavy vehicles, machinery, marine applications, and industrial equipment?

Ans: Apart from manufacturing advantages, SIBs also provide several performance benefits that make them well suited for heavy vehicles, industrial machinery, and marine applications. Most such vehicles operate in extreme environments and dangerous conditions. SIBs have wide operating temperature ranges, high thermal stability, and are non-flammable. These applications also have high power demands and require fast charging, both of which SIBs can deliver.

SIBs have higher charging and discharging rates than traditional batteries, allowing industries to operate high-load vehicles while also reducing downtime through faster charging. Marine applications, in particular, require high safety due to unstable operating conditions.

At Naxion, we are currently finalising the prototyping and testing of our large agricultural machinery batteries and forklift batteries.

Que: How does safety performance differ from lithium-based chemistries, especially in high-temperature Indian conditions?

Ans: SIBs have the following characteristics, which give them very high safety standards:
• No fire risk (non-flammable)
• No lead acid, no lithium
• No toxic or rare-earth materials
• Much wider operating temperature range

This makes them perfectly suited for India’s extreme conditions. Lithium, on the other hand, has a relatively higher risk of thermal runaway and uncontrollable fires at rest. During fast charging and discharging, lithium cells tend to increase in temperature. SIBs are also resistant to catching fire or short-circuiting even when the cells undergo physical damage.

Que: What upcoming product launches can we expect from Naxion Energy in the coming months?

Ans: We have a large list of products planned for launch in the coming months. These include our SIB-based containerised BESS systems, specially engineered for Indian conditions. Another product in the pipeline is our all-in-one UPS systems for uninterruptible power in critical applications.

As mentioned earlier, our mobility packs for heavy equipment, industrial, and agricultural harvesting vehicles are already being beta tested and are expected to be launched by the end of 2026.