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Sodium to Debut in Small Microcars First for Mobility Applications, Reports IDTechEx

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CAMBRIDGE, England, Feb. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ —

Sodium to Debut in Small Microcars First for Mobility Applications, Reports IDTechEx

Author: Shazan Siddiqi, Senior Technology Analyst at IDTechEx

Many people were surprised when HiNa revealed their lineup of sodium-ion battery cells, as well as a prototype of an electric car, in February 2023. But it had been a long time coming. The low-cost Sehol E10X microcar uses a 25 kWh battery pack made from cylindrical sodium-ion cells from HiNa. The business commissioned its first 1 GWh/year production line in December 2022. The complex will host five such lines; another for 30 GWh/year is planned, and more batteries will be manufactured under license.

Plenty of competition, like CATL, Svolt, Farasis, Lifun, DFD, Transimage, and others are currently working on their own sodium-ion batteries to be mass-produced this year. Market analysis by IDTechEx in November 2023 suggests an anticipated growth of approximately 40 GWh of SIBs alone by 2030 at a minimum, but up to an additional 100 GWh of manufacturing capacity is projected if the market is successful by 2025. The scene is set for another upset in the battery industry in the coming years, similar to the large-scale emergence of LFP in 2020.

IDTechEx anticipates that sodium-ion batteries will first penetrate the A00 vehicle segment (small, low-speed EVs) in China as they are mostly used as urban commuters and do not require an extended range. The energy density of A00 class vehicles in production is mainly concentrated between 140 and 160 Wh/kg (pack level), and the cruising range is typically under 250 km, according to IDTechEx research. Current sodium-ion batteries can largely meet these requirements, as shown in the IDTechEx report “Sodium-ion Batteries 2024-2034: Technology, Players, Markets, and Forecasts“, which benchmarks cells from various players in the market.

Very recently, a race has emerged in China to be the first to use sodium-ion cells in high-volume electric microcars, with Farasis, HiNa, and CATL announcing plans to supply sodium-ion cells to JMEV, Sehol, and Chery for use in their A00 class models respectively. A00 electric vehicle manufacturers are highly sensitive to costs, and the application of sodium-ion batteries has certain advantages. In the long run, when sodium-ion batteries can be manufactured at scale, they are expected to have a 20-30% price advantage over Li-ion batteries.

While LFP batteries have improved since 2015, what has improved even more is the engineering of battery packs. The Sehol E10X’s battery pack is air-cooled, using racks of cylindrical cells, retaining an energy density of 120 Wh/kg on the pack level. In terms of weight, this is 96% of the 125 Wh/kg energy density of the 54 kWh LFP pack in the standard range Tesla Model 3 first announced in 2020. But in terms of volume, this air-cooled pack would not be competitive. Nor do the prismatic cells from HiNa with their volumetric energy density of 263-283 Wh/L seem to be a useful replacement for LFP cells with 380-450 Wh/L at first glance. However, the engineering of cell-to-pack (CTP) battery packs has improved immensely even in the few years since they were first talked about in 2019.

CATL announced their sodium-ion batteries in 2021 alongside a prospected integration efficiency of over 80%. Such packs make even first-generation sodium-ion batteries viable as a direct replacement for older generations of cars with LFP battery packs of the early 2020s. Even based on performance, the sodium-based battery would be preferable to cars with older LFP packs. They can fast charge from 10% to 80% within 15 to 20 minutes and only lose 10% of capacity at -20°C. Sodium-ion batteries can also be fully discharged without the risk of catastrophic battery failure upon recharge, as would be the case in lithium-ion batteries due to copper current collectors in the anode.

CATL expects to sell their batteries with Prussian blue cathodes for as little as US$30/kWh to US$45/kWh in mass production due to the lower material cost of iron-based cathode and synthesis without the need for high-temperature calcination. Cells with more advanced layered oxide cathodes are widely expected to reach 200-220 Wh/kg and between 400-500 Wh/l in the next few years before the end of the decade. This will enable EVs to reach over 500 km range without the use of lithium. This will fundamentally change the battery market. However, the energy density of high nickel NMC cathodes is 20-40% higher than any known sodium-based cathodes that might be commercialized.

But this will not make sodium-ion batteries redundant. Cost matters more than energy density. It is important to remember that to this day, there is a 400 GWh/year industry for lead-acid batteries despite their low energy density of just 35 Wh/kg. Sodium-ion batteries, based only on abundant materials like sodium, iron, manganese, carbon, aluminum, and the like, are sufficient for EVs with a practical range of around 300 km — even in their current primitive form. With no constraints on critical resources, this should help alleviate many geopolitical tensions currently building up around access to battery materials like lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite. The IDTechEx report “Sodium-ion Batteries 2024-2034: Technology, Players, Markets, and Forecasts” provides in-depth coverage of this emerging industry.

To find out more about this IDTechEx report, including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Sodium.

About IDTechEx

IDTechEx guides your strategic business decisions through its Research, Subscription and Consultancy products, helping you profit from emerging technologies. For more information, contact research@IDTechEx.com or visit www.IDTechEx.com.

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press@IDTechEx.com
+44(0)1223 812300

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Media Advisory – Minister Hodgson to deliver keynote speech on One Year of Nation Building

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April 22, 2026

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TORONTO, April 22, 2026 /CNW/ – The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, the Honourable Tim Hodgson, will speak at the Empire Club of Canada regarding this past year’s accomplishments and future strategic directions.

Date: April 24, 2026

Time: 11:30 a.m. ET

All accredited media are asked to register using the Empire Club’s press accreditation and registration form. Details on how to participate will be provided upon registration.

Follow Natural Resources Canada on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Natural Resources Canada

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Harness Delivers Unified AI Intelligence Across Software Delivery with Google Cloud

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April 22, 2026

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Harness integrates Google Cloud’s Developer Connect into its Software Delivery Knowledge Graph to give engineering teams smarter, faster AI-driven insights

SAN FRANCISCO, April 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Harness, the AI Software Delivery Platform™ company, today announced that it will bring together Harness’s Software Delivery Knowledge Graph and Google Cloud’s Developer Connect. The initiative gives joint customers a unified, AI-ready view of their entire software delivery lifecycle, and the intelligence to act on it with confidence.

The announcement was made at Google Cloud Next, where Harness also won the 2026 Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year Award in the Application Development – DevOps category.

The Missing Piece in AI Software Delivery

Modern software delivery environments are inherently complex. Pipelines, services, build and deploy infrastructure, artifacts, and dependencies are deeply interconnected — and the data that describes how they relate to one another is scattered across dozens of tools. As organizations accelerate their adoption of AI-powered engineering, that fragmentation becomes a critical liability. AI is only as effective as the context it can access, and today, most AI agents are operating with an incomplete picture.

Harness is addressing this challenge head-on. By integrating Google Cloud Developer Connect insights into the Harness Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, joint customers gain a continuously updated, relationship-aware model of their software delivery environment that spans both platforms, bridging the visibility gap between development and production so that AI agents can operate with complete and reliable context. For engineering teams, this translates directly to making decisions grounded in situational awareness rather than generic training data, allowing them to execute complex workflows with greater accuracy.

Where the Partnership Comes to Life

For joint customers of Harness and Google Cloud, this integration means Harness AI can now make smarter, faster decisions on their behalf. By bringing together deployment event logs, runtime data, and application dependency information from Google Cloud into the Harness Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, teams gain a continuously updated, comprehensive view of their software delivery environment. When an issue arises, engineers can diagnose and remediate faster, trace problems back to specific source files or infrastructure, and link artifacts to the teams responsible for them, without having to manually piece together context from multiple systems.

The result is AI that works harder for customers. With richer context available upfront, AI agents can operate more efficiently, delivering answers and recommendations that reflect the true state of the environment. Everything teams need is in one place, and their AI has everything it needs to act on it confidently.

Security is central to how this integration was built. Data shared between Harness and Google Cloud is governed by enterprise-grade access controls, ensuring the right information reaches the right people within the guardrails organizations require.

“AI is only as powerful as the context behind it. Without it, teams fall into the AI Velocity Paradox: moving code faster than ever, but risking shipping software that is unverified, insecure, and unreliable,” said Jyoti Bansal, co-founder and CEO of Harness. “This is exactly what our expanded work with Google Cloud directly addresses, giving joint customers a unified view of their software delivery environment and AI that can actually reason across it. When context is complete, speed and confidence go hand in hand.”

A Collaboration That Keeps Deepening

This integration is the latest evolution of a long-standing collaboration between Harness and Google Cloud. Harness AI runs on Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, and joint customers already benefit from expanded access through Google Cloud Marketplace. With this announcement, that work expands from the infrastructure layer into the application layer — and directly into how AI understands and acts on the software delivery environment. And it doesn’t stop there. The Harness MCP Server is now accessible within Google’s Gemini Enterprise app environment, enabling Gemini Enterprise customers to leverage Harness capabilities directly from their existing AI interface.

“Google Cloud provides cutting-edge technology that helps partners innovate and deliver more impactful solutions for business transformation,” said Ritika Suri, Managing Director, AI and Data Partnerships at Google Cloud. “Through our partnership with Harness, we will provide customers with innovative capabilities that can improve operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive innovation.”

Join Us

As our Knowledge Graph ecosystem continues to grow, Harness remains committed to expanding the breadth of integrations available to customers with the goal of being the most comprehensive AI-ready software delivery platform on the market.

To connect with the Harness team in person, visit the Harness booth at Google Cloud Next.

About Harness
Harness is the AI Software Delivery Platform™ company, enabling engineering teams to build, test, and deliver software faster and more securely. Powered by Harness AI and the Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, the platform brings intelligent automation to every stage of the software delivery lifecycle after code — removing toil and freeing developers from manual, repetitive work. Companies like United Airlines, Morningstar, and Choice Hotels use Harness to deploy up to 70% faster, reduce change failure rates by 50%, cut deployment effort by 80%, and lower security noise by 65%. Based in San Francisco, Harness is backed by Menlo Ventures, IVP, Unusual Ventures, and Citi Ventures.

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SOURCE Harness

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H.I.G. Capital Announces the Sale of Celerion

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April 22, 2026

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MIAMI, April 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global alternative investment firm with $74 billion of capital under management, is pleased to announce that one of its affiliates has signed a definitive agreement to sell its portfolio company, Celerion Holdings, Inc. (“Celerion” or the “Company”), a global CRO and leader in clinical pharmacology and bioanalytical sciences, to funds affiliated with THL Partners (“THL”).

Headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, Celerion is a leading provider of highly specialized clinical pharmacology and bioanalytical sciences with deep expertise in first-in-human dose escalation, cardiac safety (TQT), drug-drug interaction, and other complex clinical pharmacology studies that support regulatory approval and drug labeling. Celerion offers an integrated suite of services spanning data management, biostatistics, and clinical monitoring that supports a global base of pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers through its purpose-built clinical and laboratory infrastructure with facilities in Lincoln, Phoenix, Zurich, and Belfast.

H.I.G. acquired Celerion in November 2022 and worked closely with management to accelerate growth and strengthen the Company’s market position. During its ownership, H.I.G. supported strategic investments across commercial, operational, and technology initiatives, including the expansion of Celerion’s clinical and bioanalytical laboratory footprint. These efforts drove exceptional growth and solidified Celerion’s standing as a leading, clinical pharmacology-focused, contract research organization.

Susan Thornton, Celerion’s President & CEO, commented, “H.I.G. has been an exceptional partner to Celerion, helping us accelerate key strategic initiatives and invest meaningfully in our people, capabilities, and infrastructure. These efforts have strengthened our platform and enhanced the quality and consistency of outcomes we deliver to customers. We are excited to carry this momentum forward with THL as we enter our next phase of growth.”

Mike Gallagher, Managing Director at H.I.G., commented, “We are proud of what Celerion’s best-in-class team has accomplished during our partnership. The team has delivered industry- leading growth during our ownership, and we are confident it is uniquely positioned for its next chapter.”

Michael Kuritzky, Managing Director at H.I.G., added, “We are very proud of the work Celerion does to help drug sponsors worldwide navigate the complexities of clinical trial management. It has been a privilege to partner with Susan and her team, and we look forward to Celerion’s continued success.”

BofA Securities, Inc. and Lazard Frères & Co. LLC were financial advisors to H.I.G. and Celerion. McDermott Will & Schulte LLP was legal counsel for H.I.G. and Celerion in connection with the transaction.

About Celerion

Celerion is a clinical research organization that provides comprehensive clinical trial solutions to pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients conducting early clinical research throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. The Company serves its clients through a global network of facilities and provides first-in-human to proof-of-concept studies as well as bioanalytical laboratory services, data management and biometrics, and drug development services. For more information, visit celerion.com.

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. Capital is a leading global alternative investment firm with $74 billion of capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Stamford in the United States, as well as international affiliate offices in Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Dubai, and Hong Kong, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to middle market companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/value-added approach:

H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations, and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche, and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. also manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.H.I.G. Infrastructure focuses on making value-add and core plus investments in the infrastructure sector.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 400 companies worldwide. The Firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $53 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at hig.com.

*Based on total capital raised by H.I.G. Capital and its affiliates.

Contact:

Mike Gallagher
Managing Director
mgallagher@hig.com

Michael Kuritzky
Managing Director
mkuritzky@hig.com

Alex Zisson
Managing Director
azisson@hig.com

H.I.G. Capital
1450 Brickell Avenue
31st Floor
Miami, FL 33131
P: 305.379.2322
hig.com

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SOURCE H.I.G. Capital

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