ArtikBananaNorth Carolina is getting a $1.4B sodium-ion battery gigafactory
These will be useless for EV’s, but great for storage. They aren’t energy dense enough for what the EV market needs.
Samsungs solid state EV batteries are currently the only positive step towards EV replacement and production vehicles are set to start rolling out around 2027. They’re supposed to be lighter, last more cycles, charge faster, more energy dense, and safer than current EV liquid lithium batteries.
The sodium ion batteries will be great for large scale solar storage and house/business solar storage. They should let someone build a solar powered house that could continuously run completely off grid without needing to use lithium batteries that would need replaced every 10 to 15 years.
Why not? From what I’ve seen, they’re about 75% as energy dense as lithium, and a lot cheaper. So if the Chevy Bolt gets 200-250 miles range on lithium batteries, I’d expect 150+ miles w/ sodium-ion, which is plenty for my commute. If the battery costs half as much and lasts 5-10 years, I’d buy that to replace my commuter in a heartbeat. Give me a commuter at $15-20k w/ 150 miles range and I’ll buy.
Explain that to the average car buyer who sees the lower number and rules it out.
If they also see a lower price, they’ll be more interested.
And this doesn’t need to appeal to every car buyer, there’s a market for budget-friendly cars with a narrow use-case. 150 miles is plenty for a second car, and would probably not appeal to people looking for a primary car, whereas 250 miles kind of bridges that gap. Segment the market and it should do well.
skulblakaThese would also make bank as fleet vehicles for local deliveries or shuttle services.
or you could also just, make a hybrid, which solves all of the problems, though it’s a little more complex.
It’s a lot more complex, and would drive up the price a lot. A simple EV with limited range has a lot of value for cases that only need short range.
i guess so but whats your argument for not just buying an older used prius instead
That’s what I currently drive. It would be nice to never have to fill up gas again.
Lower price and longer life.
50,000 complete cycles. That’s 136 years of complete empty to complete full. Most of these will outlast their mounting hardware.
Sure. Drop them in budget cars, and when the cars are ready to EOL, move the batteries to energy storage.
Yep. And decommissioning time? The sodium is all recyclable without major effort, and the Prussian Blue analogs can be discarded.