The tech competition between lithium-sulfur and sodium-ion batteries is in full swing

By Jeff Lee 2022-12-05

Lithium-ion batteries have been the mainstream EV batteries to date and will continue to be for at least one more decade. Solid-state batteries, meanwhile, will be developed into the next-generation product that improves the energy density and safety of lithium-ion batteries, but the biggest problem lies in the manufacturing cost, especially the supply of raw materials. Another trend in the battery industry is to solve the problem of sourcing raw material first and spur new types of batteries, such as lithium-sulfur and sodium-ion batteries, to stay away from soaring prices of raw materials like nickel and cobalt. Major battery manufacturers will kick off trial production of the new breeds of batteries next year, and the subsequent market effects are worth looking forward to.

    The current global battery market is completely controlled by China, Korea and Japan. Specifically, China dominates the world in the refining capacity of key raw materials for batteries, with the refining capacity of cobalt and lithium accounting for 75% and 59% of the world, respectively. At present, the cost price of a battery pack is about 10,000 to 12,000 USD worldwide. If battery startups in Europe and the U.S. can bypass China's control of raw materials and adopt lithium-sulfur or sodium-ion battery technology, not only will they benefit from the stable supply of sulfur and sodium, but they can also expect to reduce battery costs by up to two-thirds, contributing to significantly lower EV prices and accelerated popularization of EVs. Of course, it is all just in theory at the moment, and the two above-mentioned battery technologies still have many obstacles on the path of development compared to lithium-ion batteries. First, let's look at the problems of lithium-sulfur batteries…

  • Short service life. The material after discharge is not easy to restore. Chemical deposits tend to build up and cause rapid degradation of battery capacity.
  • During the charging process, the volume of sulfur particles changes greatly, which tends to damage the structural stability of the positive electrode.
  • Lithium metal, as the negative electrode, is also prone to volume changes plus dendrite growth during the charging process.

Now, let's switch to the downsides of sodium-ion batteries…

  • Low energy density. Sodium-ion batteries are about 20% and 33% lower than LFP and ternary lithium batteries, respectively, in energy density. This is a marked impediment to the range requirements of EVs.
  • Short service life. It is about half of the service life of ternary lithium batteries.

Despite the above stumbling blocks, the two types of batteries are not without merits. In fact, they have other advantages besides low costs. For example, the energy density of lithium-sulfur batteries is more than twice that of lithium-ion batteries, and sodium-ion batteries are safer to use. That is why battery manufacturers in Germany, the U.K., and the U.S. (and certainly in Asia) focus efforts on the development of such new batteries that are not at the mercy of raw material supply. All in all, the present climate in the global battery industry tells us that the cost of raw materials required for batteries such as nickel, manganese and cobalt is expected to continue to rise over the next few years, and that deposits will eventually be depleted. When the day comes, lithium-ion batteries will not be the ultimate answer to the EV era; instead, we will need new chemical formulations. Even though the development of lithium-sulfur and sodium-ion batteries still has many technical hurdles to overcome, many battery startups across the globe will continue to introduce new, low-cost batteries in the next few years while working with carmakers to further lower the threshold for replacing gasoline cars with electric cars.