Sodium battery is far more superior to lithium battery in terms of cost and richness of resources. The richness of sodium resources in the crust is up to 2.74% (lithium only 0.006%), and the raw material sodium carbonate’s price is approximately ¥3,000/ton (lithium carbonate highest ¥600,000/ton), which can reduce the material cost of sodium battery by 30%-40%. According to Ningde era data, the cost of mass-produced sodium batteries is ¥0.5 per Wh (¥0.7 for lithium iron phosphate), and no such rare metals as cobalt and nickel are required, and the risk of the supply chain is reduced by 90%. The Chinese Academy of Sciences’ 2023 invention of the stacked sodium oxide battery has a BOM cost 42% less than NCM811 lithium batteries and can be compressed to ¥0.35/Wh after mass production.
The energy density is still behind. The current production model of sodium batteries has an energy density of 90-160Wh/kg (160-220Wh/kg in lithium iron phosphate), which restricts its application to the field of high-end electric vehicles. Byd tests show that the range of sodium battery electric vehicles is 35% less than lithium battery vehicles of identical model (500km vs 770km), but low-temperature driving is excellent: capacity retention rate is 85% at -20 ° C (65% for lithium ion batteries), and charging speed is increased 40% (30 minutes to 80%). Sodium batteries’ cycle life (4,000 times) is 33% higher than that of lithium batteries (3,000 times), and attenuation rate under 100% depth of discharge is only 0.01%/time (lithium battery 0.03%/time).
Safety and temperature resistance are paramount. thermal runaway temperature of sodium battery has been up to 300℃ (ternary lithium only 150℃), there was no fire explosion in acupuncture test. The sodium battery energy storage system that Ningde Era launched in 2023 retains 92% of its capacity after 3,000 cycles in a -40 ° C environment in Xinjiang, while the lithium battery system deteriorates to 78% under the same conditions. UL laboratory tests show that the calendar life of high-temperature (60 ° C) sodium batteries is 2.3 times greater than for lithium batteries, and this is valid for photovoltaic energy storage in tropical climates.
Rate of charging is comparable with energy efficiency performance. Honeycomb Energy’s sodium battery has 4C fast charging, 80% in 10 minutes (5C for same spec lithium battery), and energy conversion efficiency of 97% (95% for lithium battery). Under the GAC Aean test, the sodium battery pack retains 88% capacity after 5,000 fast charges (15 minutes to 80%), while the NCM battery pack only retains 76%. But the low energy density of mass for sodium batteries causes a weight gain of 25% per the same amount of electricity, limiting their use in light equipment such as drones.
It is more environmentally friendly. The carbon footprint of the production of sodium batteries is 12kg CO₂/kWh (ternary lithium is 35kg CO₂/kWh), and the recycling process is simpler: sodium can be recovered by aqueous solution (98% of recovery rate), while lithium batteries require high-temperature melting (below 70% of recovery rate). Northvolt’s sodium battery production plant in Sweden has established the water usage per GWh capacity at 60% below that of lithium batteries and waste generation at 45% less.
Market application differentiation structure. By 2024, the global manufacturing capacity of sodium batteries will be 200GWh (5GWh in 2022), mainly for two-wheeled vehicles (Yadi sodium electric model price reduced by ¥800/vehicle), A00 class new energy cars (Chery QQ sodium electric model price ¥49,800, Huayang Group’s 1MWh sodium battery energy storage system’s LCOS is ¥0.3/kWh, 28% less than lithium battery. BNEF predicts that by 2030, sodium batteries will capture 25% of the energy storage market share, and the price will be 65% of lithium batteries, and will become a key complementary technology for energy transformation.