There is already a Chinese EV that uses sodium ion a sodium ion battery, the JMEV EV3.
It’s a tradeoff of range vs price. The EV3 only has 251 km of range, but thanks in part to its sodium ion battery it costs only $9220 new. Which is a price that will probably drop even more as more sodium ion plants come online and economies of scale kick in.
macarthur_park@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
The volumetric energy density is 60% of lithium ion batteries, but the energy density per kg is more like 75% since the batteries are lighter. Assuming that scales to the ev range, that’s probably sufficient for a lot of use cases.
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 4 weeks ago
EVs are already too heavy and wear tires out quickly. The upcoming solid state batteries are what will go into future EVs. Samsung is producing them right now and they’re currently set to start going in higher end E vehicles in 2027. At best the sodium ion batts may be good for hybrids.
SuperCub@sh.itjust.works 4 weeks ago
You’re forgetting that these batteries are going to be cheap because the compounds needed are readily available. This tech is not going to replace every lithium battery out there, but it’s going to give consumers another, more economic choice vs lithium. Plus it’s a safer technology than lithium.
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 4 weeks ago
They’ll be cheap, but weighing more and taking up more space is not that viable of a trade off. Except for hybrid vehicles.
cygnus@lemmy.ca 4 weeks ago
I could see it being useful for semi trucks where volume isn’t as much of an issue, especially if the batteries are hanging under the trailer.
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 4 weeks ago
Too much weight. Thus far, electric semi trucks aren’t viable outside of shorter range delivery fleets.