cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/16261249
Lithium-free sodium batteries exit the lab and enter US production
70 Wh/Kg is indeed very low density comparing with today’s li-ion 300 Wh/kg.
Yeah but for many low-power applications, it’s a damn cool development. Like I have a bluetooth keyboard and a few controllers that could eaisly fit a battery 3x-4x the current size inside no problem, so there’s no need to waste lithium on that.
At 1000 times the abundancy, it is already 233 times better for stationary applications than lithium ion, no?
So what’s the deal, are they better, stronger, faster? Or take a hit for the cost/environment?
Potentially cheaper and uses more abundant materials than lithium ion, but not as energy dense, so not ready yet for automotive purposes. They have a much higher cycle life and faster charge/discharge rates, though, so good potential for applications that don’t need to move like data center power backups.
My first goto would be a cellphone battery. Having a cellphone battery lasting months longer than what I had to deal with on my old phone. I welcome this.
Its not as energy dense, overall battery life will be worse. The battery won’t degrade as fast overtime, so the battery will keep more total capacity over the years, as compared to a lithium ion battery that would have noticeably less battery after a few years of use.
