- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
" CATL has thrown its hat into the ring with the Naxtra sodium-ion battery, with 175 Wh/kg and 10,000 lifetime cycles along with operation from -40°C to 70°C. CATL is planning a start-stop battery for trucks using the technology. It has the potential to replace lead-acid batteries. CATL has announced battery pricing at the cell level in volume at $19/kWh. "
If I recall well, it isn’t a good fit for cars as it energy density per weight isn’t as good. But for residential batteries, that’s huge (if true).
Even with an energy density disparity the lower potential for fires and lower effective operating temps it’s a huge upgrade for automotive applications. It’ll definitely replace all 12v batteries.
12v batteries probaby, but EV I’d doubt it considering how much range was a major hurdle to overcome. More weight, less range with the same capacity, meaning you need to add even more capacity, which reduces the space available for everything else.
My vision would be Li-ion will still be the king for medium to high-end EV, but for low-end EV, or those for whom range isn’t as much of a problem than for other (short range commuters) that would indeed be a game changer.
In my case, a 300-400 km range sodium-ion battery car, with a decent fast charge (less that an hour from to 80 percent) would be ideal. I use trains for anything further than that, and my car is mainly used for short range duties (less than 40km a day), once or twice a month. For anything closer than 20km I got my trusty cargo bike (which I use extensively, 2700km last year).
This isn’t true any more, and it’s mentioned in the article. Sodium is at least equivalent to - and on pace to surpass - the energy density of Lithium. It’s already being used in passenger cars in the Far East.