Nicola Jones

Read my latest update on batteries , for Yale Environment 360. https://e360.yale.edu/features/energy-storage-sodium-solid-state   In brief: Lithium ion batteries have been king for portable applications (phones, laptops, drones and cars) for decades. They're still king, and still improving. In particular, the cheaper formulations (lithium iron phosphate or LFP) are more heat stable so can be packed together tighter, can be charged up to 100% more easily and some in a zip of just 10 minutes. These now account for more than half of EV batteries and will likely stay the leader for a long while. But two new technologies are challenging lithium ion's dominance, from either end of the cost spectrum.  Sodium batteries should in principle be cheaper and easier to source than lithium (sodium is in the salty ocean after all); they're bulkier and less energy dense, but their performance is on the rise. Watch for sodium ion battery cars coming out of China soon. And for sodium batter...

Most EVs today are powered by lithium ion batteries, the current king of battery tech. But other batteries are now inching into the market for electric cars. We now have sodium ion batteries, offering cheap prices on some Chinese cars this year. And solid state batteries could be in cars within perhaps 5 years, letting cars go further on a single charge.  Look even further ahead and we might have lithium air batteries, which can really pack power in, running planes and air taxis. Read all about it in Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00325-z