Recent developments in the development of sodium-ion battery technology could provide a solution to the material crisis in electrical mobility transitions.
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Too much sodium is bad for your health as we have as advised by medical practioners and doctors also advise patients to go for low-sodium salts. However, it is sodium that can be the protector of the environment in green energy transition. By far, the majority of batteries used in electric vehicles are of various lithium-ion chemicals. While lithium-based batteries take advantage of the light basic weight of lithium, there are significant problems around thermal stability and, most importantly, major problems around resources, as lithium is used not only in batteries but also in combination with other metals and minerals. They have their own resource issues.
Currently the most popular battery chemistry used by the global automotive industry is known as lithium-nickel, manganese and cobalt (Li-NMC). The dramatic increase in demand for electric vehicles around the world has led to a shortage of lithium, and recently spot prices in the spot market have reached US $ 60,000 and above, quadrupling in one year. The constant concern about the moral source of cobalt mined primarily in the Democratic Republic of Congo does not go away. The recent war in Ukraine has caused nickel shooting prices to rise 10-fold in just a few days, prompting the London Metal Exchange to halt metal trading, creating a situation where battery pack prices for electric. Vehicles increased between 10-20 in the last few months after several years of decline.
The dramatic increase in demand for electric vehicles around the world has led to a shortage of lithium, and recently spot prices in the spot market have reached US $ 60,000 and above, quadrupling in one year.
Lithium-NMC batteries were priced at US $ 1,200 per kWh in 2010, down from US $ 132 / kWh in 2021 (and on a per-cell basis for incomplete batteries, prices were as low as US $ 100 / kWh) and on the world market in 2022. Prices have seen close to US $ 200 / kWh, but the shortage of lithium and the shortage of global semiconductors means that there will be a shortage of batteries by 2024-2025, followed by a shortage of raw materials. To 2027-2028.
Although lithium-ferro-phosphate (LFP) chemistry is slowly shifting to batteries, even though it is heavier than Li-NMC batteries, it also has less resource appetite than Li-NMC, which suffers from 'battery memory' problems, contains iron and phosphate. Significantly cheaper and more environmentally friendly for metal extraction and refining in Li-NMC. Advances in electric vehicle battery management software (BMS), mostly written in Indian technology centers like Hyderabad and Bangalore, have eliminated previous problems with LFP cells. That is why India's largest car maker Maruti-Suzuki, Toyota Motor Corporation, Denso, Panasonic and Toshiba are jointly setting up a facility in Gujarat that will complete the production of battery packs using LFP cells, but the cells will currently be imported from BYD in China. .
Chinese domination
This statement also hides important facts to consider in the Electric Mobility Transition, China’s domineering control over the resources required for electric vehicle transitions. The transition to electric vehicles, led by the Communist Party in China, has become a key lever of state policy, allocating billions of dollars to develop charging infrastructure across the country, subsidizing and ensuring Chinese manufacturers from electric two-wheelers to large commercial vehicles. Resources needed for electric vehicles around the world are an important foreign policy objective. While China has the world's largest proven reserves of lithium, Chinese companies control the mines in Australia and grow in South America as well. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, China controls the cobalt mined today, and its dominance over the rare-earth metals needed for electronic components. As a result, China dominates lithium-cell production with companies such as CATL, BYD, and Gangfeng Lithium, accounting for more than three-quarters of global cell production, although finished battery packs are often manufactured elsewhere. China also dominates the manufacture of charging systems.
Today, China controls the cobalt mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and dominates the rare-earth metals needed for electronic components.
Elon Musk's treatment of Tesla Motors perfectly illustrates China's approach to electric mobility. A high level of the Chinese state apparatus realized that some concessions would have to be made to get state-of-the-art technology in electric vehicle manufacturing and software. Therefore, unlike many other automobile manufacturers who were required to form joint ventures with Chinese partners, Tesla was given special permission to establish a wholly owned subsidiary in China. Tesla's Giga Factory in China produced 484,130 vehicles, half of the carmaker's annual output. Tesla has a strong position in the Chinese market and has played a major role in popularizing electric cars in China. However, Now China has its own car makers like Shanghai Automobile Industrial Corporation (SAIC) which sells cars under MG brand in India and BYD is becoming its own big global player and both companies are also operating in India. BYD has a fully integrated product chain that makes everything from lithium-ion cells to cars, trucks and buses. While the Biden administration in the United States is taking steps to start mining for lithium and other important metals and minerals in the southwestern United States, progress has been slowed by environmental concerns. India has greatly diminished the prospects for lithium and other materials, especially in the national interest, let alone insist on zero tailpipe emissions. Evidence of this is Elon Musk and Tesla's attempt to set up shop in India. That said, the FAME-1 and FAME-2 incentives have played their part, and the number of electric vehicles in India is growing, especially in public transport and two-wheelers.
State governments like Delhi and Maharashtra have also given generous incentive packages, however, by limiting subsidies to a certain level, they have made little or no difference in sales of large vehicles but have helped promote electric bikes, although some suspect recent thermal runaways. Because many 'new' players in the space of two-wheelers were not the only traders assembling sub-standard products. Unlike China and many other nations, electric vehicles are not taxed at the point of sale less than regular internal combustion engine vehicles. The Kia EV6, which is priced at US $ 54,000 in the United States (currently around INR 42 lakh), is reluctant to reduce import duty on fully built-up electric vehicles in India starting from INR 60 lakh to Kia EV6. However, Some manufacturers, including Maruti-Suzuki, Hyundai, Kia, Mahindra, Tata in passenger cars and two-wheelers Hero Motocorp, Bajaj, TVS and Piaggio, need performance-linked incentives (PLIs) offered by the government to promote electric vehicles. Encourage more production outside India.
India has greatly diminished the prospects for lithium and other materials, especially in the national interest, let alone insist on zero tailpipe emissions.
However, there is an important point. When India builds electric vehicles, it will take a long time for SAIL to be produced in India. While Australia has opened up to Indian companies, especially in the lithium-rich areas of Western Australia, to exploit their mineral resources, India will rely heavily on China for key components in the power supply chain going forward. This will not be different from India's dependence on the Arabian Peninsula countries for oil and natural gas, but India and China are not friends like the deep civilized relations between India and the Arab nations. Despite strong trade ties, India’s relations with the West have been enhanced by the events in East Ladakh where a deadly border clash took place in 2020 as well as a ‘quad’ partnership between Australia, Japan, India and the United States.
Is there a solution for India?
One interesting way to get out of this can be through the continuous development of sodium-ion battery technology.
While we are in the early stages of development of sodium-ion (non-ion) battery chemistry, it is important to note that significant progress has been made in this area over the past few years. On the last day of 2021, Reliance New Energy Solar announced the purchase of GBP 100-million from British sodium-ion technology firm Faraday and announced a 25-million-GBP investment for further development and commercial rollout, with a particular focus on India's rapid growth. Department of Electric Vehicles. That said, it is the world's largest manufacturer of lithium-ion cells, with Chinese company CATLG supercharging for the development of lithium-ion technology and the first generation of such batteries already deployed commercially and not just in the process of development. Industrial supply-chain for non-ion cell by 2023,
Not that sodium-ion cells are not damaged, by simple basic weight, sodium is heavier than lithium, which makes non-ion cells heavier. It is also a fact that non-ion cells are less energy-dense than Li-ion cells. The latest generation of Li-NMC cell can store 250Wh / kg as well as run at high voltage which allows you to do fast charging and discharging (for efficiency). LFP cells can now also store up to 220Wh / kg, while the first generation of Na-Ion cells is currently only 160Wh / kg and operates at low voltages.
The latest generation of Li-NMC cell can store 250Wh / kg as well as run at high voltage which allows you to do fast charging and discharging (for efficiency).
The biggest advantage of sodium batteries, he said, is the easy availability of the necessary resources on such cells. Sodium is not an important component of readily available salt that can be easily extracted, soda ash or washing soda which is usually easily excavated on silt rocks and is available almost all over the world. Another important part of Na-Ion as described by CATL and other researchers is something called Prussian White which is made from a common ferrocyanide pigment called ‘Prussian Blue’. Also, sodium is much less corrosive than the types of lithium currently used on cells, which would allow the use of cheaper materials such as aluminum instead of copper in the electrolyte as well as in the battery frame. The use of this cheap and lightweight material will offset some of the weight loss of sodium over lithium.
In addition to not using cobalt, issues about ‘ethical mining’ are also taken care of. Indeed, soda ash extraction and refining is not as environmentally friendly as lithium. As mentioned above, the recent war has sent nickel prices skyrocketing and no-ion cells need this metal much, although nickel will continue to play a major role in the automotive industry as it is used in high-strength. Steel frames for cars and motorcycles. And most importantly, sodium cells are more thermally stable than Li-ion cells where thermal escapes have also occurred on a large scale in India.
The pace of development is amazing and as mentioned above, the prices of Li-Ion battery packs have dropped dramatically over the last twelve years. Significant research is being done on Na-Ion cells around the world at the electro-chemical level and on the side of battery management software that can manage cells. People in the automotive industry suspect that sodium cells can easily replace lithium-ion cells where the speed of rapid energy discharging is not critical, for example, heavy commercial vehicles for both passenger and freight, all types of low-speed vehicles such as local delivery two-wheelers and three-wheelers and even Small hatchback. The low cost of sodium-ion could mean that electric cars could be available in India for around Rs 6-8 lakh if the 2022 price benchmark is used.
People in the automotive industry suspect that sodium cells can easily replace lithium-ion cells where the speed of rapid energy discharging is not critical, for example, heavy commercial vehicles for both passenger and freight, all types of low-speed vehicles such as local delivery two-wheelers and three-wheelers and even Small hatchback.
That said, one should not get too excited. It took scientists decades to gain control over lithium and use it as an energy storage medium, and thermal escapes still occur. We do not yet know about the potential loss of sodium cells, the disposal and how they age are not yet considered. How many cycles can they be charged before degrading? They can charge fast and what are the other electrochemical properties? The Li-NMC and LFP cell are guaranteed for more than eight years, and the earliest electric car in the current generation has reached the eight-year milestone, as well as a high cycle of charging and discharging, at least of which is interesting to learn. Real life examples. In some cases the batteries have kept their charge conditions better than expected and others have had to be destroyed due to weather conditions.
Both the automotive and cell manufacturing industries are still learning, but it is imperative not to put them in lithium baskets because they do not have lithium resources. If India is to achieve its net-zero emissions target by 2070, it will need to invest from the government and India's private sector to fund research and development of such alternative electrochemical technologies in the coming decade to counter India's core energy interests. The assurance was given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Glasgow.
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