Sodium Batteries Will Bring Electric Car Prices Down
Northvolt has made a breakthrough in a new battery technology used for energy storage
The company is backed by the Volkswagen Group, BlackRock and Goldman Sachs. They have developed a sodium-ion battery that has no lithium, cobalt or nickel which are all critical metals that battery and EV manufacturers have scrambled to secure, leading to adverse fluctuations in prices.
PRESS RELEASE: Northvolt just recently announced a state-of-the-art sodium-ion battery, developed for the expansion of cost-efficient and sustainable energy storage systems worldwide. The cell has been validated for a best-in-class energy density of over 160 watt-hours per kilogram at the company’s R&D and industrialization campus, Northvolt Labs, in Västerås, Sweden.
Northvolt’s validated cell is more safe, cost-effective, and sustainable than conventional nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC) or iron phosphate (LFP) chemistries and is produced with minerals such as iron and sodium that are abundant on global markets.
It is based on a hard carbon anode and a Prussian White-based cathode, and is free from lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite. Leveraging a breakthrough in battery design and manufacturing, Northvolt plans to be the first to industrialize Prussian White-based batteries and bring them to commercial markets.
Peter Carlsson, CEO and Co-Founder of Northvolt, comments: “The world has put high hopes on sodium-ion, and I’m very pleased to say that we’ve developed a technology that will enable its widespread deployment to accelerate the energy transition.
It’s an important milestone for Northvolt’s market proposition, but battery technology like this is also crucial to reach global sustainability goals, by making electrification more cost-efficient, sustainable and accessible worldwide.”
The sodium-ion technology, which has been developed together with research partner Altris, is intended to provide the foundation for Northvolt’s next-generation energy storage solutions.
The low cost and safety at high temperatures make the technology especially attractive for energy storage solutions in upcoming markets including India, the Middle East and Africa.
Additionally, the technology can be produced with locally sourced materials, providing a unique pathway for developing new regional battery manufacturing capacity entirely independent of traditional battery value chains.
Northvolt’s first generation of sodium-ion cell is designed primarily for energy storage, with subsequent generations delivering higher energy density opening opportunities to enable cost-efficient electric mobility solutions. It represents an ideal complement to Northvolt’s product portfolio consisting of premium lithium-ion battery cells tailored for automotive customers, and energy-dense lithium-metal battery technology under development for aviation and high-performance vehicles at Cuberg, a Northvolt company based in San Leandro, USA.
Peter Carlsson concludes: “Our sodium-ion technology delivers the performance required to enable energy storage with longer duration than alternative battery chemistries, at a lower cost, thereby opening new pathways to deploying renewable power generation.
The potential of sodium-ion in this market alone will make a tremendous impact in the drive towards global electrification.”
