US battery rush spurs $1.4 billion sodium-ion factory in North Carolina

Natron Energy is one of the few U.S. companies focusing on sodium, an abundant mineral that can produce batteries that are cheaper and safer than the lithium-based batteries that power electric vehicles. Investors have poured roughly $300 million into the company, according to PitchBook. Natron has also gotten backing from Washington.

Businesses have pledged to build more than $100 billion in EV and battery factories in the U.S. in the two years since a climate law passed and introduced tax credits for domestic manufacturing. Natron’s technology is seen as one way the U.S. can build its own battery industry and reduce dependence on China for batteries and raw materials.

Subsidies and tariffs on Chinese imports are part of a global race to develop and control next-generation technologies, critical to making electric cars go farther and charge faster. Better batteries are also needed to store intermittent wind and solar power and stabilize power grids.

Natron’s batteries are coveted because they use sodium instead of lithium, which is expensive to produce and notoriously volatile in price. They also avoid troublesome metals such as cobalt and rare earths that pose supply-chain and human-rights risks to big battery users. The technology is less fire-prone and can operate in colder climates, proponents say.

Natron’s planned factory in eastern North Carolina’s Edgecombe County would follow an initial plant in Michigan that began making batteries for customers in April and would increase its production capacity. An announcement of the new plant could happen as soon as Thursday, the people said.

Natron, which counts Chevron and United Airlines among its backers, would need to raise a lot of money from the private sector to help get the plant built. The company has gotten funding from the Energy Department since it started and could receive further government support.

Co-Chief Executive Colin Wessells founded Natron a dozen years ago in his garage after researching sodium batteries at Stanford.

The company targets industrial customers such as data centers and oil drillers who need quick bursts of energy and rapid charging to level out peaks in their electricity usage or provide backup power. Natron has said its design using iron and manganese in a chemical compound called Prussian blue offers better performance than lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries for those markets.

An advantage is that Prussian blue particles have empty spaces that neatly fit sodium ions. Natron’s batteries last longer because they don’t expand and contract like lithium-ion batteries do during charging and discharging, the company has said.

Prussian blue got its name in the 18th century. It was used as a pigment by artists in Prussia and as the color worn by the Prussian Army. Natron is now trying to use a battery-grade version of the material to build a big business.

It isn’t clear whether Natron can reduce the size of its batteries so they could power EVs. Other battery makers are developing their own sodium-ion capabilities. Chinese auto and battery giants such as BYD and CATL are already ramping up capacity. In Europe, a startup called Northvolt that is backed by Volkswagen and BMW said late last year it has developed an advanced sodium-ion battery.

Battery and EV plants are part of a resurgence of U.S. manufacturing. State and local governments are competing to get a piece of the growth. Natron is expected to get more than $50 million in state and local grants for the project, the people said.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Natron would add to the list of unproven startups making investment promises that will test their ability to raise money in a difficult fundraising environment. High interest rates and supply-chain disruptions have battered battery startups lately.

Ambri, a Bill Gates-backed privately held startup working on batteries that could store energy for longer periods, recently filed for bankruptcy after failing to raise the money it needed for its first major manufacturing plant.