RE: Let's shorten the wait for DFS16 Oct 2025 07:28
Graeme Purdy ( ilika ) on sodium batteies:-
"Sodium ion battery technology on the one hand is being flagged as a potential replacement for lithium ion. Some really big players—the biggest of all, CATL in China—is talking about using sodium ion technology, probably primarily initially in China in smaller, low-cost vehicles that are used in an urban environment. But on the other hand, we've seen some high-profile failures of sodium ion technology. There's a US company, Natron, that recently shut down because of a lack of commercial momentum and investor interest. I would say that sodium ion technology is at a fairly early stage and it will have very specific uses for inexpensive, low-cost vehicles—not performance vehicles—because one of the problems of course of sodium ion technology is that it has a pretty low energy density. So the amount of energy for a given weight of battery in a sodium ion battery is much less than the lithium equivalent. Sodium is quite a heavy material relative to lithium and so it hasn't got some of the advantages that you look to lithium ion for. It may have broader use in stationary storage. Actually, there may be a better market for that."