Quote:
Sodium-ion batteries could become a viable solution for the auto industry as its transitions to electrification. CATL's first generation sodium-ion batteries have high-energy density, fast-charging capability, excellent thermal stability, as well as excellent low-temperature performance, according to the company.
The new sodium-ion battery chemistry could lead to widespread adoption of EVs by reducing costs significantly, making electric vehicles more affordable. In addition, sodium-ion batteries contain no lithium, cobalt or nickel, which are the primary metals used in nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA), nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.
But perhaps the biggest advantage of sodium-ion batteries is the natural abundance of inexpensive sodium as a raw material. It can be extracted in mass quantities from seawater at low cost.
The availability of inexpensive sodium could make commercial production of sodium-ion batteries much less than lithium-ion batteries today, which currently cost around $126 per kWh to produce, according to the latest data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), which tracks the battery industry.
CATL did not provide the costs per kWh to produce its new sodium-ion batteries.
CATL says its sodium-ion battery offers an energy density of 160Wh/kg, currently the highest energy density in the world for this type of battery. At room temperature, the battery can be charged to 80% of its capacity within 15 minutes.
Although an energy density of 160Wh/kg for CATL's sodium-ion battery is less than a lithium-ion battery's average energy density of 250-270 Wh/kg, CATL expects the energy density of its next-generation sodium-ion battery to exceed 200Wh/kg in the future as improvements are made.
Cold weather performance is even more impressive. CATL claims that in extreme temperatures of -20°C, the sodium-ion battery's capacity retention rate is more than 90%. A typical lithium ion battery would typically lose around 40% of available capacity at this temperature, representing a retention rate of just 60%.
Quote:
Covering the topics of Sodium-Ion Batteries Vs Lithium-Ion Batteries, CATL Na-Ion Battery, CATL AB System, BYD Blade Battery, Tesla 4680 Battery, and more!