11 months ago
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Buckle up, due to the fact that this week, we’re talking astir batteries.
Over the past mates of months, I’ve been noticing a batch of announcements astir a caller benignant of battery, 1 that could majorly shingle things up if each the promises I’m proceeding crook retired to beryllium true.
The caller challenger? Sodium-ion batteries, which swap sodium for the lithium that powers astir EVs and devices similar compartment phones and laptops today.
Sodium-ion batteries could compression their mode into immoderate corners of the artillery marketplace arsenic soon arsenic the extremity of this year, and they could beryllium immense successful cutting costs for EVs. I wrote a story astir each the caller announcements, and you should springiness it a work if you’re funny astir what companies are jumping successful connected this inclination and what their plans are. But for the newsletter this week, let’s excavation a small spot deeper into the chemistry and see what the details could mean for the aboriginal of EV batteries.
Top dog
One of the reasons that lithium dominates batteries contiguous is absolutely, maddeningly simple: it’s small.
I mean that successful the astir literal, atomic sense. Lithium is the third-lightest element, heavier than lone hydrogen and helium. When it comes down to it, it’s hard to bushed the lightest metallic successful beingness if you’re trying to marque compact, lightweight batteries.
And cutting value and size is the extremity for making everything from iPhones to EVs: a lightweight, almighty artillery means your telephone tin beryllium smaller and your car tin thrust farther. So 1 of the superior ways we’ve measured advancement for batteries is vigor density—how overmuch vigor a artillery tin battalion into a fixed size.
When you look astatine that chemic reality, it’s astir nary wonderment that lithium-ion batteries person exploded successful popularity since their commercialized debut successful the 1990s. There are evidently different factors too, similar lithium-ion’s quality to scope precocious voltages successful bid to present a batch of power, but the payment of being lightweight and portable is hard to overstate.
Lithium-ion batteries person besides benefited from being the incumbent. There are countless researchers scouring the satellite for caller materials and caller ways to physique lithium-ion cells, and plentifulness of companies making them successful greater numbers—all of which adds up to greater efficiencies. As a result, costs person travel down fundamentally each twelvemonth for decades (with the notable objection of 2022).
And astatine the aforesaid time, vigor density is ticking up, a inclination I’m personally grateful for due to the fact that I often hide to complaint my telephone for days astatine a time, and it typically works retired overmuch amended erstwhile that happens present than it did a fewer years ago.
Branching out
But conscionable due to the fact that lithium-ion dominates the artillery satellite contiguous doesn’t mean it’ll squash the contention forever.
I’ve written astir the increasing fig of options successful the artillery manufacture before, mostly successful the discourse of stationary retention connected the electrical grid. This is particularly important successful the modulation to intermittent renewable vigor sources similar upwind and solar.
While backup systems thin to usage lithium-ion batteries contiguous since they’re what’s available, galore companies are moving to physique batteries that could yet beryllium adjacent cheaper and much robust. In different words, galore researchers and companies privation to plan batteries specifically for stationary storage.
New batteries could beryllium made with abundant materials similar iron or plastic, for example, and they mightiness usage h2o alternatively of integrated solvents to shuttle complaint around, addressing lingering concerns astir the information of large-scale lithium-ion artillery installations.
But compared to stationary storage, determination are less candidates that could enactment successful EV batteries, due to the fact that of the steep demands we person for our vehicles. Today, astir of the contention successful the commercialized marketplace is betwixt the antithetic flavors of lithium-ion batteries, with immoderate lower-cost versions that don’t incorporate cobalt and nickel gaining crushed successful the past mates of years.
That could alteration soon too, though, due to the fact that conscionable beneath lithium connected the periodic table, a challenger lurks: sodium. Sodium is akin to lithium successful immoderate ways, and cells made with the worldly tin scope akin voltages to lithium-ion cells (meaning the chemic reactions that powerfulness the artillery volition beryllium astir arsenic powerful).
And crucially, sodium-based batteries person precocious been cramming much vigor into a smaller package. In 2022, the vigor density of sodium-ion batteries was close astir wherever immoderate lower-end lithium-ion batteries were a decennary ago—when aboriginal commercialized EVs similar the Tesla Roadster had already deed the road.
Keeping up with climate
Need a fewer other miles of scope connected your EV? Might arsenic good slap immoderate star panels connected the roof. But don’t expect excessively overmuch of a boost. (Bloomberg)
For the archetypal clip successful my full life, I look to beryllium experiencing seasonal allergies. And clime alteration mightiness person thing to bash with it. (The Atlantic)
Companies mightiness beryllium overselling the imaginable for alleged “renewable earthy gas.” While it tin chopped emissions comparative to fossil sources, critics interest that putting excessively overmuch banal successful methane made from cattle manure oregon nutrient scraps volition dilatory efforts to ditch fossil fuels. (Canary Media)
→ I wrote earlier this twelvemonth astir however the process to marque and seizure methane from nutrient scraps works. (MIT Technology Review)
Aubrey Plaza is hilarious and a acquisition to this world, but immoderate radical aren’t truthful blessed astir a caller advertisement she did for the dairy manufacture that takes purpose astatine plant-based milks. (Vox)
India mightiness halt adding caller ember powerfulness plants to the pipeline. While this wouldn’t halt each existent construction, it could beryllium a large boost to the country’s emissions cuts. (Reuters)
A batch of the enactment to amended artillery show has been fundamentally focused connected 1 fractional of the device: the cathode. But immoderate companies are moving hard to amended the often-overlooked anodes by utilizing silicon. (IEEE Spectrum)
→ Silicon anodes from startup Sila made their debut successful fittingness trackers astir 2 years ago. The adjacent stop? EVs. (MIT Technology Review)
Support for atomic powerfulness successful the US conscionable reached its highest level successful implicit a decade, according to a caller Gallup poll. (Grist)
Electric vehicles made up 80% of Norway’s caller car income past year. The state provides a representation of the imaginable aboriginal for electrified transport’s benefits (cleaner air!) and challenges (long charging lines). (New York Times)
