1. What is sodium-ion, and why is it better than lithium-ion?

Sodium-ion retains 88% capacity at -20°C versus lithium-ion's 55-70%. That's the difference between driving confidently in winter and losing a third of your range. Sodium comes from seawater, eliminating cobalt mining harm and rare material extraction.

2. Why focus on cobalt mining and environmental justice?

Cobalt: 40,000+ children in DRC mines. Lithium: Atacama aquifer depletion killing indigenous crops. Copper: open-pit scars in Peru/Chile/Arizona with toxic tailings. Magnesium: energy-intensive processing. The entire lithium-ion supply chain extracts from vulnerable communities. Sodium-ion sidesteps all of it—sourced from seawater, zero extraction harm.

3. How do 1854 vehicles compare to Tesla or Rivian?

Superior cold-weather performance. Charges 10–80% in under 15 minutes. Lower production costs. But fundamentally different: we didn't compromise on supply chain ethics to hit price targets. Every design choice reflects refusing the industry's false trade-offs.

4. When will vehicles be available for pre-order?

Public reveal and pre-order launch after SXSW 2026. Join our mailing list now to be first in line. We're also building community through Discord and Substack where we share real development progress.

5. Who are these vehicles designed for?

People who understand that values and performance align, not conflict. Cultural Architects who see patterns others miss, make decisions based on values, and respect companies willing to choose the harder path when it's right.

6. What does "1854" mean?

July 4, 1854: Framingham Anti-Slavery Rally where abolitionists declared they'd refuse to build their future on exploitation, even at cost. That moral clarity guides us. We're not hypothetically values-driven—we bet the company on it.

7. Is sodium-ion really scalable for mass adoption?

Sodium is 1,000x more abundant than lithium. The technology is proven in production today. The Western auto industry ignored it because "different is risky." Their hesitation is our opportunity. We're profitable at 3,500 annual units.

8. What's the bigger vision beyond the Pierce?

Sodium-ion becomes a platform across vehicles (Hayden SUV, Abolitionist UTV, Truth sedan) and into stationary storage and grid applications. The addressable market extends far beyond automotive—we're proving the technology through vehicles first.