Sodium Ion batteries are on the horizon.
I may not be remembering correctly, but I believe one
Chinese manufacturer is coming out with a car that uses
them. Others are.
While these may not quite be ready for primetime in the
more advanced electric vehicles, in the next few years
I believe they will be.
This and other developments are why I don’t quite see
the dire predictions for electric vehicles based on
lithium to be worth pondering over. Lithium is
recognized as bad, and it is probably already on its
way out.
https://thedriven.io/2022/12/02/byd-to-launch-electric-hatchbacks-with-new-sodium-ion-batteries/
“Lithium is recognized as bad, and it is probably already on its way out.”
The article is about ingredients for the magnets in the motors, none of which are lithium. The lithium is in the batteries.
The article says mere grams of the rare-earth elements are used in current motors and the elements are not described as pollutants.
CATL is the biggest battery manufacturer and they appear to be pushing forward with the sodium ion batteries despite only 80-90% (their claims) of the energy density of the lithium ion technology.
It will be a good trade-off because the cost of cobalt, nickel, and I believe lithium have risen 1500% in the past decade so economics is going to be the primary driver for different batteries.
From an environmental standpoint the sodium ion batteries are MUCH better than lithium ion. They are also far safer (fire).
Realistically, most EV drivers will be fine with a cheaper sodium ion battery because almost all EV usage is local commutes so “range” is not really the top priority outside of car magazines and YouTubers.