TotalEnergies-owned Saft is to jointly develop next-gen sodium ion batteries under an agreement with Mana Battery.

The firms announced on August 4 the agreement included validating the technology and paving the way for commercialisation — expanding cooperation on technical evaluation that began last year.

Target markets for the collaboration include those such as defence and industry, which are already sectors served by lithium ion products from France-based Saft.

Colorado-headquartered Mana is a developer of high-energy Na ion batteries using a proprietary electrolyte platform and anode-free cell architecture.

Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed, but the partners said Mana’s technology will be combined with Saft’s market access and expertise in cell design, prototyping, manufacturing, testing and qualification.

The firms will develop and validate cells and demonstrate the technology under “rigorous performance and safety conditions” required by defence and critical-infrastructure customers.

Anode-free Na ion cells are assembled without an anode active material, with the sodium anode forming in situ during initial operation. The partners claim the architecture delivers a step change in energy density over conventional Na ion designs, while retaining the fundamental advantages of sodium chemistry — including abundant, low-cost raw materials free of lithium, cobalt and nickel supply constraints.

The partners said Na ion can also be an attractive battery technology for datacentre and UPS customers.

Mana CEO Tyler Evans said: “This agreement validates the maturity of our electrolyte and anode-free platform and puts it on the fastest possible path from the lab to the field, where its energy density, safety and supply-chain advantages matter most.”