Wales is a territory to the west of England, with over six hundred castles. Folk tales come down the ages replete with fire-breathing dragons, and there’s still one on the Welsh flag. By now, you may be wondering what this has to do with sodium car batteries. Bear with us for a moment, and all should be clear after a while.
Why Do Welsh Sodium Car Batteries Matter?
Sodium batteries are a group of rechargeable batteries that use sodium ions as charge carriers. Their working principles are in many cases similar to lithium-ion batteries. In fact, if we could successfully switch sodium for lithium, we could have a champion battery on our hands.
Sodium-ion batteries don’t require expensive, and socially and environmentally questionable cobalt for their electrodes. Their manufacturing process is similar to lithium-ion, and a factory could switch to making sodium car batteries relatively quickly and easily.
But there are a couple of caveats to this optimistic statement. Sodium-ion density – or the amount of energy it can store – lags behind lithium-ion, negatively affecting sodium electric vehicle driving range.
This is a deal breaker for purchasers eyeing the current range of expensive electric cars. However, if we lower our sights this does not have to be an insurmountable issue. Especially if all we need is a cheap city runabout for commuting and shopping.
How About an Era of Cheap Electric Vehicles Instead?
Automobiles have become more and more luxurious, as manufactures pile on luxuries and accessories to discriminate their products. A Welsh company called DG Innovate has been exploring cheaper electric vehicles with sodium batteries for a while, but has failed to make a profit to date.
The Telegraph news channel let slip on December 17, 2023 that several ex-Tesla managers have bought a stake in DG Innovate, in an attempt to break the stranglehold of imported lithium. Sodium is readily obtained from sea salt, which is a cheap abundant material so this one could be a runner.
More Information
Sodium Technology Steals a March on Li-Ion
