This could be significant.
At around $50 per KWh, there is a huge market for grid scale stationary storage.
Here energy density is only helpful if it lowers the price (e.g. less land needed). This product does.
Let's look forward to battery container ships with 5GWh of storage coming to a port near you.

Auto manufacturers may combine a Sodium ion battery with LFP. This benefit cars in cold climate. The charge in sodium ion batteries is not affected by cold temperature making them ideal for immediate driving & at same time keeping the LFP warm to enable full charging during extreme winter.

Quote from: Ron Sonntag on January 04, 2025, 05:28:58None of you get it. Lithium is DEAD. Any R&D using lithium is a dead end and it should be. Think 5-10 years ahead with AI amplified molecular compounding research targetting eco-friendly common minerals and doubling or more density and cycling. Hats off to these incredible scientists!

Why do you assume that research would go into only improving non-lithium based materials? Lithium based continues to improve as well and maybe other uses of lithium would also appear. The biggest issue with lithium is precisely because it has little other uses, this creates artificial shortages because investors are cautious that if lithium ion gets replaced, their decade long investments go down the drain. Not because there is any actual shortage of the stuff.

Quote from: Steve Nordquist on January 04, 2025, 11:15:23458 Wh/kg is amazing, is that really including the solid state electrolyte? Looking forward to the body panels to prove that out and start showing Ws in Just Rolled Into The Shop takes.

To be clear, it is 458 wh/kg "theoretical". This means that number is not how much energy density was actually achieved but how much it is capable in the long run in theory.

I don't care if it is 10% more or 10% less energy dense .... You had me at 50 times cheaper.

458 Wh/kg is amazing, is that really including the solid state electrolyte? Looking forward to the body panels to prove that out and start showing Ws in Just Rolled Into The Shop takes.

None of you get it. Lithium is DEAD. Any R&D using lithium is a dead end and it should be. Think 5-10 years ahead with AI amplified molecular compounding research targetting eco-friendly common minerals and doubling or more density and cycling. Hats off to these incredible scientists!

Just when silicon carbon anode tech was taking over the smartphone battery industry , glad times ahead !

*while Chinese researchers are striving for the 33-50% [sodium battery energy density] increase

My comment wasn't on moving away from lithium.  It was on a meager ~10%-15% increase in energy density from existing Sodium batteries and making newsworthy headlines (while Chinese researchers are striving for the 33-50% increase).

Quote from: Hunter2020 on January 03, 2025, 17:01:03Whoa!  A whooping ~10% increase!  What a game changer!  NEXT China will announce a new breakthrough increasing the energy density by 33%-50%!

Lowering our dependence on Lithium in exchange for Sodium is huge. Every breakthrough is good news. Even China is trying to move away from Lithium.

Whoa!  A whooping ~10% increase!  What a game changer!  NEXT China will announce a new breakthrough increasing the energy density by 33%-50%!