The Lithium Lie: Why the Battery That Will Save Your Wallet (and the Planet) Costs $70—and You Don't Know It Yet
Did you think the battery revolution was just about electric cars with longer range? Think again. It’s about much more than that . While you were reading this sentence, the world's largest battery manufacturer, CATL, took a step that will change the global economy: it announced that sodium-ion batteries will cost the same as lithium-ion batteries by the end of the year. By 2027, the total cost of sodium-based storage systems will be equivalent to that of LFP batteries . The price? $70 per kWh . The price of lithium? Between $60 and $80 per kWh . What seems like a small difference is actually the biggest shake-up in the energy sector since the invention of the lithium-ion battery . That’s because sodium is 50% cheaper than lithium , as abundant as beach sand, and not subject to the price volatility that plagues the lithium market. Meanwhile, solid-state batteries—the technology promising a 1,000 km range and energy density exceeding 500 Wh/kg —are already rolling off product...