Sodium-ion EV battery breakthrough delivers 11-min charging and 450 km range

https://electrek.co/2026/03/25/sodium-ion-ev-battery-delivers-11-min-charging-450-km-range/

Sodium-ion EV battery breakthrough delivers 11-min charging and 450 km range

The next generation of electric vehicle batteries is arriving, promising to be more efficient, safer, and lower cost. After another...

Electrek
BYD / Denza z9 gt claim 10-70% in 5 mins, 97% in 9 mins. With a range of ~1000km this seems to crush these results? I don't know enough about this space to know if I am missing something here, but would love to know because something about this feels more exciting than i think i am grasping. anyone know?
I see no charge rate numbers so there is no way to compare. however, these sodium batteries are cheaper, do not require lithium, and are operable at lower temperatures of -20C/-4F. Sounds like a bit of a win and opens the door for battery options in cars.
And the fire safety risks are significantly reduced (thermal runaway is much harder). They can also be transported and stored completely discharged, something not done with lithium ion batteries because of it degrades them much more than regular usage.

The sodium-ion batteries are said to work satisfactorily down to -40 Celsius = -40 Fahrenheit.

-20 Celsius just happens to be a temperature for which a retention ratio was specified in the parent article, and not the limit of the operation range.

Operating at -40 is one thing, charging at -40 is another.