←back to thread

160 points xbmcuser | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
AnonC ◴[] No.45678061[source]
I skimmed through the article. It talks a lot about sodium ion batteries and how major vehicle and transportation companies are getting into making and using these batteries. It also talks about the cost aspect, with sodium ion being cheaper than lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.

However, there is no mention of this technology in consumer devices and gadgets like laptops, smartphones and tablets. I get that the site is about clean technology as a replacement for the currently more polluting technology. But I’m interested to see when these sodium ion batteries will appear in phones and laptops and what difference they may make to the cost, price, weight, performance, safety, longevity, etc.

replies(5): >>45678134 #>>45678196 #>>45678329 #>>45678333 #>>45682297 #
hn_throwaway_99 ◴[] No.45678329[source]
As another comment mentioned, sodium ion batteries compete very poorly against lithium when portability is paramount.

But more on that point, it always struck me as bizarre that lithium was dominant in so many areas despite vastly different requirements. For home and grid storage, battery weight is almost immaterial, while it's a paramount concern in portable devices. I think it would be very surprising indeed if one chemistry performed best in all scenarios. Lithium became dominant primarily because it had so much research and supply chain maturity behind it, even if it was suboptimal for areas like grid storage. Glad to see other battery chemistries are getting more investment.

replies(2): >>45678352 #>>45680249 #
fulafel ◴[] No.45678352[source]
Lots of laptops and tablet models could spare more volume and weight for batteries if there was a big cost advantage.
replies(1): >>45678414 #
1. Dylan16807 ◴[] No.45678414{3}[source]
I doubt that could happen. The price is so low that it doesn't make a difference unless your sodium costs negative dollars.

I would say the bulk price of lithium ion batteries is the most you could possibly remove via materials changes. When smaller batteries are more expensive, that's based on factors that would also affect other chemistries. And the bulk price for laptop capacity, 50-99 watt hours, is $5-10 and dropping.

replies(1): >>45682371 #
2. fulafel ◴[] No.45682371[source]
On the other hand the bill of materials of many gadgets is really low while having tight margins. If there are two $100 tablets on the market and the other can advertise a 30% longer runtime weighing 15% more at the same cost, it could be a differentiator.