With several countries around the world looking to replace the fossil fuel-powered vehicles on their roads with zero-emission electric vehicles (“EVs”), the battery technology space is poised to be a major sector. Presently, electric vehicles are powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, but many experts doubt whether the battery makers will be able to make enough EV battery packs to support an influx of electric vehicles. This is because the minerals that are used to build li-ion batteries such as lithium and cobalt are quite scarce, and since the industry hasn’t figured out an effective way to recycle these batteries from end-of-life EV batteries, their supply is bound to run out in the future.
Consequently, auto companies and battery makers have invested plenty of money and time into developing a cheaper EV battery that can support mass EV adoption. A Chinese company seems to have found a formulation that requires less-expensive raw materials and won’t run into supply line shortages in the future. Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (“CATL”), the largest battery manufacturer in the world, unveiled a sodium-ion battery back in July that uses sodium, which is much more abundant in nature than lithium, in its formulation. A month later, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that it would invest in developing, standardizing and commercializing sodium-ion battery packs.
These companies use much more abundant raw materials, minimizing the likelihood of supply chain shortages in the future; in addition, these materials are also more affordable and offer a safer, faster-charging alternative to the lithium-ion battery packs that are currently used in electric vehicles. Interestingly, sodium-ion batteries have been around for just as long as lithium-ion batteries, being researched back in the 1970s but falling to the wayside and losing mainstream appeal once lithium-ion batteries became the go-to power storage solution. But even though li-ion batteries are one of the greatest human inventions, they do not mesh well with electric vehicles.
Although sodium-ion batteries are better in certain regards, including being cheaper and safer, for instance, they aren’t a lot more energy-dense than their lithium counterparts. Still, their raw materials are not scarce, with the world’s sodium reserves being 300 times more than lithium, meaning they will be cheaper to produce. Sodium-ion battery packs would be 30–50% more affordable than current EV battery packs, and these savings can then be passed on to the consumers. Furthermore, they operate better at colder temperatures, are less likely to overheat and catch fire, have a longer lifespan and charge faster.
One of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co’s sodium-ion offerings, a 160 watt-hour per kilogram battery pack, takes only 15 minutes to charge to 80%. The company states that it will have developed a supply chain by 2023 in readiness for mass distribution of these batteries.
The electric vehicle industry is still in its infancy, and we are yet to see what intending sector entrants such as Net Element (NASDAQ: NETE) will bring to the table as battery tech evolves to cut the overall cost of this green form of transport.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Net Element (NASDAQ: NETE) are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/NETE
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