Post #1746003

2026-04-14 17:30 UTC

Sodium batteries aren't seriously expected by anyone to supplant Lithium ones. The two things Sodium can theoretically do better than Lithium are being cheaper as a raw material, and working well at low temperatures, but it's always going to be heavier and larger for a given capacity. Most applications for batteries care about their size and weight, and so the extra cost of Lithium will be worth paying.

Replies (2)

@SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 2026-04-14 17:34

> it’s always going to be heavier and larger for a given capacity. That assumes research has stopped on sodium battery chemistry.

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@balsoft@lemmy.ml 2026-04-15 15:34

> Most applications for batteries care about their size and weight Actually, one of main applications for batteries in the near-to-medium future is gonna be grid storage to supplement the explosive growth of renewables, and home backups to make the grid more distributed and replace diesel/gas generators during blackouts. For those purposes you don't really care about the size, really don't care about the weight, and a cheaper, more stable, less fire-prone chemistry suddenly becomes very appealing. I agree with you that lithium is not going anywhere for a while, it's the best fit for many applications like EVs, drones, etc. But I wouldn't be surprised if its share in the battery market drops significantly over the next 10-15 years.

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