Momentum is building for sodium-ion battery technology, with new announcements coming thick and fast. While largely seen as a good fit for stationary storage applications, a number of companies are exploring their potential in mobility applications, including battery industry behemoths CATL and BYD.
The latest company to unveil its own sodium-ion technology is China-based two-wheeler specialist TAILG. The company is implementing the technology in its luxury e-bike range for the mid-to-premium consumer market.
With the global electric two-wheeler market growing at a rate of over 20% per year, TAILG aims to capitalize on its first-mover advantage to create a complete ecosystem for long-range, sodium-ion battery-powered, light electric vehicles.
According to TAILG, its sodium-ion battery has a super long range, capable of reaching 115 kilometers even in temperatures below 0 C, while maintaining a speed of 25 kmh.
The lifecycle exceeds 2,000 cycles. The battery retains about 93% of its capacity in temperatures as low as -20 C, making it ideal for winter use. The battery's safety performance also exceeds industry standards due to the IPX7-grade waterproof technology that covers the entire pack, said the company.
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Sodium-ion batteries are often touted as the most promising alternative to ubiquitous lithium-ion technology. A recent research paper authored by researchers at Sweden's Chalmers University found that sodium-ion batteries have “considerably lower mineral resource scarcity impacts than nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC)-type LIB cells in a cradle-to-gate perspective, while their global warming impacts are on par.”
According to the research team, sodium-ion batteries end up between 60 and just over 100 kilograms of CO2e per kWh (theoretical) electricity storage capacity.
“This is lower than previously reported for this type of sodium-ion battery,” says Rickard Arvidsson, associate professor of environmental systems analysis at Chalmers University. “It’s clearly a promising technology.”
The researchers have also identified a number of measures with the potential to further reduce climate impact, such as developing an environmentally better electrolyte, as it accounts for a large part of the battery's total impact. They also recommended the use of hard carbon anodes.
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