Sodium-ion "salt" batteries will revolutionize electric-vehicle and grid storage

note sodium-ion is no longer two or three times the weight of lithium-ion, there is only a +33% penalty

apparently the problem is there is not yet enough volume in production to compete on price, which I thought was the whole point?

> sodium-ion specs have improved to the point that the technology could break into the general EV market. A recent study by Moritz Schütte at Aachen University in Germany and his colleagues found that a sodium-ion battery by the manufacturer Hina rivals Tesla’s lithium-ion batteries on most parameters, although it would still be a third heavier

> But CATL claims its sodium-ion battery has an energy density of 175 watt-hours per kilogram, which can compete with the lithium-iron-phosphate batteries in low-cost models from Tesla and others. And while sodium-ion batteries still haven’t quite beaten lithium batteries on price, that could change as they expand, according to Schütte

> sodium ions generate less heat in electrochemical reactions, reducing fire risk, so less money can be spent on cooling. They also form weaker bonds with the electrolyte, so they don’t slow down as much in the cold

I think it is weird that the recent breakthroughs in sodium batteries have come from China; I would have assumed they would want to keep everyone reliant on their rare earth minerals.

And gasoline fires and high speed collisions aren't? This is the bit of paranoia around EV deployment that I genuinely fail to understand. Personal vehicles are by far the most dangerous apparatus with which we interact, already. And we're fine with it! Have you ever, even once, called a Civic or Vespa "scary"?

But put a battery in it suddenly they need new tech before you'll be comfortable?

Actually, yes

Not correct. Sodium-ion batteries were invented in the United States in the 1970s.