Sodium-ion batteries are closing the gap with the competition. They may not be as powerful, or as fast as lithium-ion, but they are far less likely to catch fire. That’s more important for grid-scale battery operators who need continuous reliability. Someday soon, we will see sodium-ion batteries in popular electric cars too.
Sodium-Ion Batteries Are Close to Entering Markets
We have been following this technology for several years on our blog. We were excited to learn that sodium is a constituent of salt. And that we can extract this abundant resource from the oceans, because they have already extracted it from the Earth for us.
But that simple fact is not good enough on its own. Sodium also has to make a good battery, and here sodium-ion batteries are closing the gap with lithium-ion. In fact, the take-up rate is accelerating.
You see, sodium-ion batteries are as easy to manufacture as lithium-ion, because they use the same basic design. We just need to swap the lithium with sodium. For the rest, we already have the process and the production lines.
CATL and BYD Are Adopting Sodium-Ion Technology
CATL and BYD are leading, by investing heavily in sodium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. CATL claimed a first-gen sodium-ion battery in 2021. Late last year we heard they started manufacturing a proprietary ‘Nextra’ version.
BYD is not lagging in the race either. They are building a huge sodium-ion mega battery factory, to churn out millions of these cells in China. So yes, sodium-ion batteries are closing the gap with lithium-ion rapidly.
MIT Technology Review hints that electric vehicles may be relatively small fry for these products though. They see the real action occurring in grid-scale energy storage, where reliability and safety, not capacity is what matters most.
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