Alternative Battery Technology: Sodium Could be a Game-Changer Element for Electric Cars

Electric cars have long relied on lithium batteries as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels and pave the way for cleaner energy. Lithium is a chemical element and is also a key component of most electric car batteries. However, the extremely large lithium price increase since 2020 has proven to be a burden for some consumers. This trend is reportedly likely to continue in the coming years.

Previous studies have shown lithium mining has both environmental and ecological repercussions. With this, the quest for finding alternative battery technology has started to take place to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, which emits climate-damaging greenhouse gases that warms the planet. Since lithium is expected to become obsolete in the future, scientists are looking for another chemical element: sodium.

Now, a new report suggests that sodium, also one of the most common minerals and the sixth most abundant element on Earth, is being considered as a game-changer element. The increasing potential of sodium as a candidate for alternative technology for electric cars are based on its said abundance. For this reason, future sodium batteries could finally deviate us from our reliance on fossil fuels.

Alternative Battery Technology

Lithium has increased by 900% since 2020 and could persist since US President Joe Biden's objective is to make electric cars as part of 50% of US vehicle sales by the year 2030 and will allow for the increase in global demand for lithium by a factor of six by the year 2032, according to analysts, as cited by Newsweek.

Lithium mining and other hazardous human activities have led use to engage in global energy transition to reduce the harvesting and burning of fossil fuels. When it comes to electric cars, scientists have attempted to look for alternative electric car batteries to achieve our net-zero goals of harmful airborne particles. Yet, it has also allowed use to rely heavily on scarce resources, even harming ecosystems.

In April 2022, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) reported what was at stake amid the lithium mining in Chile's Atacama Region, which endangers indigenous communities and leaves them in dry conditions. The NRDC report highlights that while the activity is driven by thought that the metal fuels a clean technology, it also drains water resources, which also leaves animals with nothing to drink.

Future Sodium Batteries

Due to the 'double-edged sword' nature of lithium mining and lithium batteries in general, a UK based startup company called Faradion, has been experimenting in sodium-based alternative battery technology since 2011.

Faradion Director of Technology Ruth Sayers told Newsweek that operational principle is the same when using lithium-ion battery, but the difference is that the cathode and electrolyte contains sodium rather than lithium. The estimated production cost of sodium batteries is between 20% and 35% cheaper than lithium iron phosphate cells.

In May 2022, a so-called "sodium-ion battery technology" took a spotlight in the battery world when it comes to potentially ousting lithium-ion battery technology. Faradion reported that a sodium-based battery is now ready and cheap yet safe to use, according to the American Chemical Society.