How sodium ion batteries could slash the price of EVs
As we know, the technology used to power our cars is undergoing continuous development, which means it isn't likely to stay the same forever.
Historically, in fact, early engineers didn't seem to take as much notice of the things modern-day ones do. For example, the single-cylinder engine of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen of 1885 had a crankshaft exposed to the elements, something that’s unthinkable today.
One way in which it could change is through the mass adoption of the sodium ion battery, which could replace the current lithium-ion battery.
Lithium ion batteries, while a proven piece of efficient and reasonably cost-effective technology, have drawbacks in terms of sustainability, energy security and cost.
One significant advantage of sodium-ion batteries is that they contain no lithium or cobalt, which means you don't need to set up a large, environmentally-unfriendly mine in order to source the materials from which they are constructed. In actual fact, sodium is abundant around the world.
And to top it all off, the electrodes (the conductor used to make electrical contact with the non-metallic part of an electrical circuit) can be made out of aluminium instead of copper, which is more sustainable and cheaper.
As a result, sodium-ion batteries are said to be around 30% cheaper than lithium-ion ones. And because the cost of a battery accounts for 40% of the cost of the entire car, sodium-ion batteries can make an EV cheaper to purchase.
SIBs work well in cold weather, are safe and cost less than lithium ion so they have a variety of non-automotive uses too. Chinese battery manufacturing giant CATL, which provides units for Xpeng, is also developing them.
In fact, China is beginning to get more involved in the development of this kind of battery. Electric car manufacturer JAC has created what it claims to be the world's first electric car to be powered by sodium-ion batteries. The batteries have been sourced by Farasis Energy in Germany.
Called the JMEV EV3 (Youth Edition), it promises an electric range of 156 miles and is said to maintain over 90% of its capacity retention even at an ambient temperature of -20deg.
The Chinese firm wants to further improve the efficiency of these batteries and deploy them on other vehicles, such as electric motorcycles and bikes, micro-cars and energy storage systems.
