Sodium battery latest battery technology

By combining anode materials used in conventional batteries with cathodes from supercapacitors — batteries that can store and deliver energy at very high rates –– the scientists created a new type of sodium-ion battery that offers both high capacity and rapid-charging capabilities.

Sodium batteries have a lower incidence of battery fires than conventional lithium batteries. The official energy density of the new sodium-ion battery has not been reported — however, CATL said it aims to exceed 200Wh/kg. Although the battery should launch in 2025, mass production is unlikely until 2027.

But sodium-ion batteries have some disadvantages. The big one is low energy density compared to lithium-ion. As a result, an EV running on a sodium-ion battery will go fewer miles per charge than a lithium-ion battery of the same size. “That is just what nature has given us,” Srinivasan said.

A typical sodium-ion battery has an energy density of about 150 watt-hours per kilogram at the cell level, he said. Lithium-ion batteries can range from about 180 to nearly 300 watt-hours per kilogram. I asked Srinivasan what he makes of CATL's claim of a sodium-ion battery with 200 watt-hours per kilogram.

And crucially, sodium-based batteries have recently been cramming more energy into a smaller package. In 2022, the energy density of sodium-ion batteries was right around where some lower-end lithium-ion batteries were a decade ago—when early commercial EVs like the Tesla Roadster had already hit the road.

CATL is not the only battery manufacturer developing sodium-ion batteries. In January, its rival BYD, the second-largest battery manufacturer in the world started construction of a sodium-ion factory with an annual production capacity of 30 GWh.