Since the release of the first generation of sodium-ion batteries by Ningde Times in July 2021, sodium-ion battery technology has continued to develop and mass production is imminent.
In 2023, it is expected that more sodium-ion battery projects will be put into operation in China, the upstream material support is gradually complete, and the downstream market application continues to increase. Industry insiders expect that 2023 is likely to become the first year of sodium-ion battery industrialisation.
So, what is the significance of accelerating the research and development of sodium-ion batteries?
In terms of energy density, lithium-ion batteries can be said to dump the sodium-ion battery several blocks, but from the safety, operating temperature, cycle time and economy compared to lithium-ion batteries can only be in front of sodium-ion batteries bowed down.
The most important thing is that the sodium-ion battery production process does not require the use of precious metals, in addition to greatly reducing the cost of the battery, the greater significance is to reduce dependence on scarce resources. Speaking of scarce resources, the current market of ternary lithium batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries will be used in lithium raw materials, and lithium this resource is relatively scarce in the country, and mainly stored in the salt lake. And lithium is difficult to extract, so at present our country is mainly imported lithium ore, about 70% of the demand is dependent on imports, of which the proportion of imports from Australia is the highest, followed by the South American region.
All along, BYD insisted on using lithium iron phosphate batteries, the main reason behind this is that ternary batteries use a lot of cobalt and nickel, and these raw materials China does not have, cobalt and nickel is very little, China can not be transformed from the neck of the petroleum to the neck of cobalt and nickel. The real large-scale use of the battery can not rely on rare metals, so whether it is lithium iron phosphate battery or lithium ternary battery, must use a lot of lithium.
China, as the world’s largest electric vehicle production and marketing countries, there is a huge demand for lithium resources. However, the current global situation is uncertain, and there are many variables in the supply of lithium resources. In order to avoid the recurrence of events like the chip, research and development of new materials to replace lithium is an important step to ensure the long-term development of the industry.
As we all know, there is no scarce or precious metal in sodium-ion batteries, and the element sodium is extremely abundant in nature, with a large amount of sodium salt in the ocean, so there is basically no need to worry about supply and resource shortage.
Although the energy density of sodium-ion batteries is lower than that of lithium batteries, they have unique advantages in terms of power density and cycle life.
For example, the operating temperature of sodium-ion batteries is from minus 30 degrees to minus 55 degrees, which is excellent than lithium iron phosphate batteries; the cycle can be up to 4500 times or more, which is also higher than lithium iron phosphate batteries.
In addition, if there is a capacity difference of the cells in the sodium-ion battery, the whole battery pack can be completely discharged to keep the cells inside at the same level, which makes the regulation of BMS relatively simple. The characteristics of sodium-ion battery over-discharge can also be applied to battery transport, and transporting battery packs without a charge can reduce the probability of accidents.
Sodium-ion batteries have many advantages, but with the current technology, the battery energy density of the problem has to be improved. It is understood that the current technology can be sodium-ion battery energy density to 160Wh/kg, the future is expected to be raised to 180Wh/kg, compared with lithium iron phosphate batteries slightly lower. However, the data is experimental test data, from mass production will take some time.
At the same time, the current new energy vehicles more concerned about the range, sodium-ion batteries are difficult to meet the market requirements of six or seven hundred kilometres of range, but in the category of small or micro-electric car range demand is not too large models, sodium-ion batteries are more suitable for the application.
In short, the current positioning of sodium-ion is not to compete with or replace lithium-ion batteries, but a new line of development that can guarantee the long-term development of new energy vehicles programme. Sodium-ion battery has the corresponding application scenarios, has its own market, I believe that in the future, with the development of technology, sodium-ion battery technology will have a greater enhancement, whether in the new energy vehicles or energy storage systems, have their own market, while solving the problem of resource choke point, conducive to the country’s long-term stable development.
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