As a strong competitor of lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries have shown great potential in large-scale energy storage, electric vehicles and other fields due to their advantages of abundant raw materials and low cost. However, the development of sodium-ion batteries also faces many challenges.
Cost challenges
Although the raw material cost of sodium-ion batteries is relatively low, its theoretical cost advantage has not yet emerged, resulting in shipments and industrialization progress not meeting expectations. For example, when the price of battery-grade lithium carbonate is less than 20 yuan/Wh, the average production cost of sodium-ion batteries is still higher than that of competing products such as ternary lithium-ion batteries, lithium iron carbonate batteries and lead-acid batteries.
Performance challenges
The ionic radius and relative mass of sodium ions are greater than those of lithium ions, which makes sodium-ion batteries have a natural disadvantage in energy density. That is, for the same volume or weight, sodium batteries store less energy than lithium batteries. This directly affects the range of electric vehicles in the power field, while in the energy storage field, it is related to the energy storage capacity and efficiency of the system in the unit volume.
Figure: Comparison of energy density of sodium and lithium-ion batteries
Large-scale production challenges
At present, the sodium-ion battery industry chain system is still gradually being built, and there are a series of problems, such as the lack of a stable material supply chain, the lack of standardized production equipment, and the lack of unified product testing standards, which bring higher barriers and challenges to the large-scale production and application of sodium-ion batteries. Most of the production equipment of sodium ion is modified from the production line of lithium-ion batteries, and there is a lack of standardized production equipment specially designed for sodium-ion batteries, which limits the production efficiency and product consistency of sodium-ion batteries. In addition, the lack of special chargers for supporting sodium-ion battery product characteristics, the lack of controllers that match the discharge characteristics of sodium batteries, and the lack of BMS that match sodium battery modules and system management, etc., require re-matching electronic components suitable for their charging and discharging characteristics in the sodium-ion battery market applications.
Figure: Limitation of the elemental characteristics of sodium-ion batteries (Source: Qianzhan Industry Research Institute)
Application Challenges
As an emerging technology, sodium-ion batteries are still in the exploratory stage, and consumers have limited understanding of the performance, advantages and application scenarios of sodium-ion batteries, resulting in a wide range of market recognition and immature technology for sodium-ion batteries. Therefore, carbon-ion batteries have been in a passive position in the market competition for a long time. In addition, due to the gap in energy density and other properties, the application space of sodium-ion batteries is greatly affected by the price fluctuations of lithium carbonate. When the price of lithium carbonate falls, the cost-effective advantage of sodium batteries will weaken.
Coping strategies
In view of the challenges of sodium-ion batteries in terms of preparation cost, battery performance, and material supply, relevant departments should increase R&D investment and strive to improve the key technical indicators such as energy density, cycle life, and safety performance of sodium batteries. Through the innovative design of the material system, such as the development of high-performance cathode and anode materials and electrolytes, the battery performance can be improved. At the same time, it is necessary for the state to continue to support, organically combine the roles of the government and the market, promote the coordination and improvement of the sodium-ion battery industry, establish a standard system, promote product application demonstration, and enhance social awareness. For example, encourage downstream enterprises such as energy storage, data centers, and short-range electric vehicles to try the application of sodium-ion batteries; Promote the demonstration projects and promotion and application of sodium-ion batteries in different scales and scenarios, and cultivate market demand for sodium-ions.
Although sodium-ion batteries face many challenges in the development process, it is expected to overcome these challenges and achieve rapid development through the implementation of strategies such as technological innovation, improvement of the industrial chain, unified testing standards, marketing and awareness improvement, and policy support and guidance.
Related：
2024 China Sodium-ion Battery Report (1)
2024 China Sodium-ion Battery Report (2)
2024 China Sodium-ion Battery Report (3)
2024 China Sodium-ion Battery Report (4)
