The World's First Sodium-Ion Battery in Commercial EVs - Great at Low Temperatures (insideevs.com)
- Reference: 0180755270
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/02/08/0113249/the-worlds-first-sodium-ion-battery-in-commercial-evs---great-at-low-temperatures
- Source link: https://insideevs.com/news/786509/catl-changan-worlds-first-sodium-ion-battery-ev/
> Chinese battery giant CATL and automaker Changan Automobile are preparing to put the world's first passenger car powered by sodium-ion batteries on public roads by mid-2026. And if the launch is successful, it could usher in an era where electric vehicles present less of a fire risk and can better handle extreme temperatures.
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> The CATL Naxtra sodium-ion battery will debut in the Changan Nevo A06 sedan, delivering an estimated range of around 400 kilometers (249 miles) on the China Light-Duty Test Cycle. From there, the battery will roll out across Changan's broader portfolio, including EVs from Avatr, Deepal, Qiyuan and Uni, the company said. "The launch represents a major step in the industry's transition toward a dual-chemistry ecosystem, where sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries complement each other to meet diverse customer needs," CATL said in a press release...
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> It delivers 175 watt-hours per kilogram of energy density, which is lower than nickel-rich chemistries but roughly on par with lithium ion phosphate batteries... Where the Naxtra battery really stands out, however, is cold-weather performance. CATL says its discharge power at -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) is three times higher than that of lithium ion phosphate batteries.
[1] https://www.slashdot.org/~Geoffrey.landis
[2] https://insideevs.com/news/786509/catl-changan-worlds-first-sodium-ion-battery-ev/
Lithium Titanate Oxide also worked for +10 years (Score:2)
Thousands of vehicles are running around with these batteries for +10 years.
Excellent. Now I need these for other devices (Score:2)
But even getting LiFePo4 (already much safer than Li-Ion and LiPo), is difficult and I found only a 100Wh power-bank. Nothing I use, including laptop and phone, actually needs Li-Ion or LiPo energy densities. They are either excessive or significantly too low.
Good approach. (Score:2)
> industry’s transition toward a dual-chemistry ecosystem, where sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries complement each other to meet diverse customer needs,
While you normally get less range from sodium-ion, it balances out the low-temperature discharge problem. As such, while you sacrifice peak range, you get a more stable stable year-round range in environments prone to very cold weather. If integrated correctly, it could also act as a bulkhead against thermal runaway destroying the entire battery pack. However, solid state lithium-ion batteries are on the horizon (2030-ish) so that's not a huge issue.
Regardless, sodium-ion battery technology needs to be deve
Re: (Score:2)
> While you normally get less range from sodium-ion, it balances out the low-temperature discharge problem. As such, while you sacrifice peak range, you get a more stable stable year-round range in environments prone to very cold weather.
Even in cold weather, it seems questionable. I've read that lithium ion batteries recover about 80% of the lost capacity when you bring them from -15C to 15C, not counting the energy wasted on heating the battery. The sodium ion batteries supposedly keep up to 85% of their capacity at ridiculously cold temperatures, but as far as I know, they still have to be heated to provide normal current levels on output. So maybe the sodium ion batteries lose 5% to 10% less range in the cold, but because they start
confusion reigns (Score:2)
In the summary, that's lithium iron phosphate, not lithium ion phosphate. I wish people would stop calling them that and instead call them lithium ferro-phosphate (from which comes the LFP acronym) because this is a mistake just waiting to happen.
Sodium is more suited to static installations (Score:3)
It's heavier, more expensive, and has a lower power density than any Li batteries. With lithium prices way down, sodium is no longer economically viable, at least for vehicles. Sodium's place is in whole home power systems, particularly in regions with very cold weather, where weight is not an issue and the longer cycle life helps offset the greater costs.
If you're in a cold weather climate you're better off with an ICE or Hybrid vehicle. You can always charge your hybrid from your home sodium reserve.
Re: Sodium is more suited to static installations (Score:2)
It literally says in the 3rd paragraph above:
"It delivers 175 watt-hours per kilogram of energy density, which is lower than nickel-rich chemistries but roughly on par with lithium ion phosphate batteries... "
Re: (Score:3)
LFP batteries for vehicle use are currently around 220Wh/kq, that's nearly a 25% power to weight difference. Every extra kg you have to haul around consumes more power so you need more of a charge to get the same distance, not to mention the additional tire wear due to the vehicle being heavy.
I stand by my position - if you want to electrify your vehicle in the north, your best bet is a hybrid.
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> LFP batteries for vehicle use are currently around 220Wh/kq, that's nearly a 25% power to weight difference.
Slightly more than. 220/175 = 1.257. Sodium ion batteries would have 26% more mass per unit of energy.
But it gets worse. You're also consuming additional energy to drag around that extra mass. About a quarter of the weight of a car comes from the battery, so by increasing the weight of the battery by 25.7% to get the same kWh capacity, the car probably weighs 6.4% more.
A quarter of your extra power consumption from the larger battery is wasted, which means you need to increase the capacity by at least 4
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Exactly. But it definitely has a place in ground based power storage. Homes with solar or large scale solar farms that need to cycle reliably every day. The greater cycle reliability makes them very attractive for that. Especially true in the north of course, but attractive anywhere really.
Now if all that hype surrounding the new solid state batteries turns out to be true, the entire industry is going to be overturned.
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CATL's LFP batteries hit 205 Wh/kg in 2024, so "roughly" is doing a lot of lifting there. It's 17% heavier for equivalent capacity. And it's not just a little lower than nickel-rich chemistries, it's a bit more than half as much.
It's also not clear how valuable cold weather performance is, newer EVs use heat pumps instead of resistance heating, and share the cooling loops between the powertrain, battery, and cabin, so that the heat removed from the motors can heat the cabin and battery. They're going to nee
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"If you're in a cold weather climate you're better off with an ICE or Hybrid vehicle. "
But the planet isn't.
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> It's heavier, more expensive, and has a lower power density than any Li batteries.
No, sodium is much cheaper than lithium in the form that is needed to make batteries; recent commodity prices for NaOH have been 10x to 20x cheaper than bulk LiOH, although this isn't all the cost. The technology development is now to a state where complete sodium batteries are cheaper the lithium ones and has been for a year or so, and the technology is improving fast.
You are correct that the energy density is indeed worse, but that gap has also been closing in recent years. Modern Na batteries have bet
Re: (Score:2)
> sodium is much cheaper than lithium
Sodium USED to be cheaper... but the market is currently flooded with lithium which has completed eroded the economic advantage to sodium.
Take a look at the prices for consumer LFP right now - you can get 16kwh packs for under $2k.