A new generation of sodium-ion batteries is available, and trams have entered the era of "sodium batteries"?

Recently, CATL, the world's largest power battery manufacturer, released a new sodium-ion battery, which has attracted widespread attention in the industry. Does the new generation of sodium-ion batteries mean that new energy vehicles will enter the era of "sodium batteries"?
In a short 10-minute online press conference on July 29, CATL demonstrated a number of technological innovations in the material system, battery performance and structural design of its first-generation sodium-ion battery. In particular, the energy density of the single cell has reached 160Wh/kg and the innovative lithium-sodium mashup battery pack has allowed the sodium-ion battery technology, which was once limited to the energy storage market, to have more applicable scenarios and space. new1

Advantages of sodium-ion batteries

Regarding the sodium-ion battery released this time, the data given by Ningde Times is: the energy density of the single cell is as high as 160Wh/kg; the power can reach more than 80% when charged for 15 minutes at room temperature; in a low temperature environment of -20°C, It also has a discharge retention rate of more than 90%; the system integration efficiency can reach more than 80%; the thermal stability far exceeds the safety requirements of the national strong standard.

In the previous battery industry, the energy density of a sodium-ion battery cell was only 120Wh/kg, which was much lower than the 180Wh/kg of lithium iron phosphate batteries and 240Wh/kg of ternary batteries. Today, the energy density of CATL's new sodium-ion battery is only slightly lower than the current lithium iron phosphate battery, but it has obvious advantages in low-temperature performance and fast charging, especially in high-power application scenarios in alpine regions. At the same time, CATL also stated that the energy density of the next-generation sodium-ion battery is expected to exceed 200Wh/kg.

Easy to get cheap "sodium", rare and scarce "lithium"

In fact, sodium-ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries were born at the same time, but the "growth background" is different.

Since both sodium and lithium belong to the alkali metal elements in the first main group element, they have similar chemical properties. Sodium-ion batteries work similarly to lithium-ion batteries, so it's not difficult to replace them in the manufacturing process. However, compared with lithium ions, sodium ions are larger in size and have stricter requirements in terms of material structural stability and dynamic performance, which is also the bottleneck that sodium ion batteries are difficult to commercialize.

However, sodium-ion batteries have been re-emphasized at this time, which is related to "easy availability of sodium" and "hardness to find lithium". The global lithium resources are mainly concentrated in South America and Oceania. my country only has 5.93% of the world's lithium resources reserves. Most of the lithium mines are located in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is difficult to mine.
Compared with the scarce lithium resources, the reserves of sodium are much more abundant, and the sodium resources are evenly distributed and the price is very low. The global content of sodium can be described as inexhaustible, "all in the sea".

It can be said that the development of sodium-ion batteries can not only avoid the constraints of "price" and supply when purchasing power batteries, but also fully serve as a supplement to lithium-ion batteries.

It's still early days for sodium-ion battery cars
From the application point of view, sodium-ion batteries are more cost-effective than lithium batteries in the field of energy storage. Sodium-ion batteries are safer, smaller, lighter and less expensive.

Sodium-ion batteries have so many advantages, is the era of sodium-ion electric vehicles coming? the answer is negative. Because of the larger volume of sodium ions than lithium ions, sodium-ion batteries have lower energy density. Although the new generation of sodium-ion batteries released by CATL has an energy density close to that of lithium iron phosphate, it is far from the current mainstream lithium-ion batteries. In a car as compact as a passenger car, it is difficult to have extra space for the battery.

Perhaps, sodium-ion batteries will be widely used in fields such as energy storage power stations that do not require high energy density.

However, according to industry institutions, the cost of sodium-ion batteries will be 30% lower than that of lithium-ion batteries after industrialization, but the energy density is relatively low, so they will not completely replace lithium batteries, but they are very likely to be used in low-speed new energy vehicles, two A large market has been formed in terms of wheel vehicles and energy storage power stations.

The favorable policies for the development of sodium-ion batteries also show the broad prospects of sodium-ion batteries in energy storage power stations. On July 15, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of New Energy Storage", pointing out that: New energy storage is an important technology and basic equipment supporting the new power system, and will promote carbon peaking in the energy field. Play a significant role in the neutralization process. It is necessary to speed up the large-scale demonstration of technologies such as flywheel energy storage and sodium-ion batteries.