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CATL's sodium-ion batteries, which the company claims may eventually cost a fraction of lithium batteries, have passed a significant milestone. (self.futurology)

submitted 1 day ago by Lugh to c/futurology

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People often complain about lab breakthroughs going nowhere in the real world. That makes CATL's claims for its Naxtra sodium-ion batteries interesting. CATL is the world's biggest battery maker. If anyone can bring a product to market, it can.

Current lithium-ion battery pack prices are around $100-150/kWh. CATL says one day sodium-ion batteries could cost just $10/kWh. That would require a lot to go right, and massive economies of scale. But that has worked for lithium batteries, and CATL has the heft to make economies of scale plausible.

If fossil fuels and nuclear energy are already feeling the heat from renewables plus lithium being cheaper, renewables plus sodium-ion batteries at $10/kWh would be an annihilation event for other energy sources. They could also usher in an age of micro-grids and decentralized energy, reducing reliance on big business, autocratic countries, and large corporations. Fingers crossed it happens soon.

CATL’s sodium-ion EV battery passes China’s new certification with 15-minute fast-charging capability

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[–] Prove_your_argument@piefed.social 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Lower energy density means higher weight and size to accomplish the same as what lithium ion does.

They have some big benefits with being able to be charged to 100% and discharged down to 0% without ruining the cell. This is handled with some electronics today in most real world implementations.

They also work in colder temps than Lithium based battery chemistries, and sodium batteries are already being used for cold-start use cases in China with lithium ion batteries being the lion's share of a vehicle's cells, and a handful of sodium ones there to start up the car and then heat up the lithium ones to then take over.

[–] 0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 8 hours ago

Lower energy density means higher weight and size to accomplish the same as what lithium ion does.

That sounds good for home power backup systems or solar(?). If they cost significantly less, weight is not much of a problem if you own your home. It can probably be buried underground in a secure manner.