Many forget the weigh advantage due to the energy density of the NCM cathodes. This point is particularly relevant for transport, especially for larger EV's such as semis, pick up trucks and in the near term future, planes and ferries. If your NCM battery has capacity 400wh/kg, relative to 160wh/kg for sodium batteries, your weight advantage is massive.
As solid state (SS) batteries are commercialized, that weight advantage rises exponentially, with a lithium based anode (holly grail) instead of graphite. Cathode doesn't change all that much with SS batteries, but once commercialized, no other chemistry will get anywhere near them, for decades.
Another key consideration is the recyclability of the sodium and LFP batteries for that matter. As we know, lithium makes up ~12% of the cathode mix, with nickel, cobalt and manganese making up the other 88%. Therefore, most recyclers at present are focused on extracting the nickel and cobalt, not the lithium given the lower overall quantity, and pricing. So on that last note, recycling sodium from spent cells will not be economic, same deal for lithium in LFP spent cells.
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