The promise and perils of sodium-ion batteries

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Feb 20, 2025

Adrian Yao, founder of Stanford's STEER program and board member of EnPower, delves into the potential of sodium-ion batteries. He highlights their cost-effectiveness and supply chain stability compared to lithium-ion counterparts. While addressing misconceptions about safety, Adrian discusses the significant challenges of energy density and cost competitiveness. He also explores how manufacturers might shift to sodium-ion and contrasting investment strategies between China and the West, shedding light on future market dynamics.

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INSIGHT

Battery Sandwich Analogy

Sodium-ion batteries, like lithium-ion, are structured like sandwiches with electrodes (bread), a separator (lettuce), and electrolyte (soup).
Different chemistries exist within both types, impacting performance and safety.

INSIGHT

Sodium-ion's Supply Chain Advantages

Sodium-ion batteries offer potential supply chain advantages due to the abundance and cost of sodium carbonate.
Geopolitical factors also favor sodium-ion, as it reduces reliance on materials like lithium and graphite, which are subject to export controls.

INSIGHT

Drop-in Manufacturing Potential

Sodium-ion batteries share a similar manufacturing process with lithium-ion, potentially allowing for easier adoption.
This similarity could lower the risk and cost of building new sodium-ion factories.

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Sodium-ion could be the next big thing. Last August, Natron announced a $1.4B factory in North Carolina. Other U.S. companies like Peak Energy, Bedrock Materials, and Acculon Energy are jockeying for position in the market. Meanwhile, almost all of the world’s sodium-ion manufacturing capacity, current and planned, is in China. CATL’s CEO Robin Zeng suggested that sodium-ion could ultimately take up to half of LFP’s market share.

The potential advantages are exciting: Sodium-based chemistries could be cheaper and safer. They could also use domestically sourced materials, avoiding the geopolitical headaches of minerals critical to the lithium-ion supply chain, like nickel, cobalt, and copper.

So, amid all the sodium-ion hype, what's credible and what’s not?

In this episode, Shayle talks to Adrian Yao, founder of Stanford’s STEER program, a battery research group specializing in techno-economic analysis. He’s also a board member of lithium-ion manufacturer EnPower, where he was once a co-founder and CTO. Shayle and Adrian talk about the findings from a recent Nature paper Adrian co-authored exploring a techno-economic analysis of sodium-ion batteries. They cover topics like:

The differences between sodium-ion and lithium-ion, as illustrated by the battery sandwich
Misconceptions about sodium-ion, for example, that it’s necessarily safer
The biggest challenges: energy density and cost competitiveness
How players in the lithium-ion supply chain could pivot to sodium-ion
Why the technology’s success may hinge on the price of nickel, copper, and other lithium-ion materials

Recommended resources

Nature Energy: Critically assessing sodium-ion technology roadmaps and scenarios for techno-economic competitiveness against lithium-ion batteries
Latitude Media: Peak Energy’s quest to build US sodium-ion battery dominance
Heatmap: Is Sodium-Ion the Next Big Battery?
WSJ: U.S. Battery Rush Spurs $1.4 Billion Sodium-Ion Factory in North Carolina

Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive editor.

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