All articles tagged with #sodium batteries
Researchers have developed a sodium-based solid-state battery that performs reliably from room temperature to below freezing, offering a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to lithium batteries, and advancing the field of energy storage technology.
The Shanghai auto show, the largest in China since before the pandemic, showcased the dominance of electric vehicles in the world’s largest car market. Volkswagen forecasted that half the cars sold in China will be electric within two years, up from 6 percent in 2020. Chinese automakers are leading the field with unusual electric car designs, while foreign companies and their Chinese joint ventures have played it safe. Most of the cars displayed at the auto show use lithium batteries, but long term, many in the industry believe sodium can become a viable alternative or supplement to lithium as a key ingredient in EV batteries.
China is leading the way in the development of sodium batteries, which are cheaper and more abundant than lithium batteries. Sodium batteries can be recharged daily for years and keep almost all of their charge in freezing temperatures. Chinese companies have figured out how to make sodium battery cells similar to lithium ones, and the world's largest electric car battery manufacturer, CATL, has discovered a way to use sodium and lithium cells in a single battery pack. Sodium batteries are expected to be used for electric grids and could replace lithium for certain applications.