Has sodium-ion battery technology finally turned the corner in light-vehicle applications?

Long considered as a viable alternative to LFP batteries, sodium-ion batteries are finally being used in the light-vehicle segment. The introduction of second-generation sodium-ion batteries with higher energy density could make this technology much more broadly accepted in the mass A- to C-segment vehicles.

The automotive industry has been in search of a viable alternative to lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, which is cheaper and more sustainable to produce. While experimenting with several cathode chemistries, including iron-based Li-ion batteries in low-end models and variants, the industry has also been working on sodium-ion batteries for some time now.