Electric Car Battery: The biggest expense in manufacturing electric cars is its battery. Currently, lithium-ion batteries are used in vehicles, but this is soon going to change.
Sodium-ion Battery Electric Car: The demand for electric cars is increasing rapidly, but due to its high cost, customers are still avoiding buying it. The biggest expense in the manufacture of electric cars is its battery. Currently, lithium-ion batteries are used in vehicles, but this is soon going to change. China’s electric car maker JAC has introduced the world’s first electric vehicle that runs on a low-cost sodium-ion battery. Using this battery, the cost of future electric vehicles can be reduced by up to 10 percent.
Sodium-ion batteries use cheaper raw materials and could provide EV manufacturers an alternative to existing technologies that rely on lithium and cobalt as key ingredients. As reported by the South China Morning Post, the sodium-ion battery was developed by Beijing-based startup Hina Battery Technologies.
Hina said in a statement that the JAC EV has a 25 kilowatt hour (kWh) battery, which can go up to 250 kilometers on a single charge. “Last year’s rise in lithium carbonate prices exposed many battery makers and customers to increased cost pressures,” the company said. “So sodium-ion batteries are the best alternative to lithium-ion batteries, offering better cost-performance, high safety as well as excellent cycle performance.”
The density of sodium-ion batteries is lower than that of their lithium-ion counterparts. These batteries have advantages like low-temperature performance and charging speed. Meanwhile, Chinese electric car maker BYD is expanding operations overseas.
According to a report in Nikkei Asia, BYD, which operates in more than 40 countries, plans to sell around two million EVs this year, including Japan and countries in Southeast Asia and Europe. In December last year, BYD Auto continued to lead the global market, shipping over 5,37,000 EV units, a growth of 197 per cent (year-on-year).
