Accepted, but there are some out there preying on the lack of knowledge about battery chemistries to suggest a mass shift to sodium is just around the corner (with the implication they should sell lithium holdings assisting those with a short interest that profit if Li share prices fall).
A 60kWh EV battery at 0.75 LCE/kWh is going to have 45kg of LCE in the battery or consumed as production waste (8.5kg of pure metal equivalent Li). If LCE is at a price point like US$10,000/t then constructing the battery uses US$450 of lithium content. If the price of the battery pack was US$50/kWh then the battery has a cost of US$3,000 and lithium is making up 15% of the cost. This fundamentally limits the size of the saving available if you were to substitute out lithium. If you have 20% less density you will need 25% more of everything else to get the same kWh. If you need 25% more of everything else, this is going to cost more than the saving from removing the lithium (even if the high purity sodium costs nothing, and it won't).
Additionally, some commentators are now noting that while the electrical charge item in sodium-ion batteries is cheaper, some of the other components to create acceptable performance aren't. If any other expensive metals/minerals are required, then Sodium batteries fall further behind the cost of lithium batteries (at current lithium prices). Clearly CATL are refining their sodium-ion batteries as part of their research efforts. I suspect that this is so they are prepared with an alternative if LCE prices do again reach prices like $40-80k/t.
CXO Price at posting:
9.9¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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