Are Sodium Batteries the Better Alternative to Lithium-ion in Automobiles?

Utilities Tech Outlook | Friday, November 30, 2018

New battery development is fairly slow in the projected electric car market size, and so far no innovation has proved to be as economical as lithium-ion except maybe the Stanford battery that uses sodium, which is a cheaper, more abundant material than lithium and is still in the development stages.

The Stanford battery’s cathode is made up of sodium, and the anode is made from phosphorus, which may be a reason it yields efficiency rates comparable to that of lithium-ion batteries at a much lesser cost. Sodium battery is cheaper right now, but its creators have yet to figure out how to keep it less expensive as they try to match lithium-ion batteries’ storage capacity.

The main advantage of the sodium battery lies in the fact that sodium is much more abundant than lithium and along with the performance optimization efforts of the researchers, has turned the battery into a less costly alternative to lithium-ion batteries. However, that might not be enough to ensure takeoff for the sodium battery, although the drive to find alternatives to the lithium-ion concoction are bound to continue as the world prepares for a fossil fuel-free future

Volkswagen is among the most ambitious newcomers in the EV space and Bosch, another German company and the world’s top car supplier is considering a hefty investment in battery cell production.

So, carmakers without a strong position in battery manufacturing are keeping an eye out for new battery tech which might be a motivating factor to garner more research into lithium-ion alternatives and encouraging further cost reductions for the dominant technology.

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