Saudi Arabia? What are they doing with all those batteries? Are they actually switching to solar even though they have all the oil they could ever burn?
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That would be an interesting idea. It could reduce the price just enough to give a competitive advantage too.
I think you're missing primary the point of my proposed dual chemistry packs:
LFP and Na-ion are cheaper than NMC or NCA. So the primary benefit isn't cheaper replacement costs (thats just a side benefit). The primary benefit is: lower overall cost of the pack without sacrificing long range.
LFP and Na-ion are lower power density than NMC or NCA. A pure pack of either LFP or Na-ion would give the vehicle a substantially shorter range than a pure NMC or NCA. However a dual chemistry pack would be a cheaper pack as well as still retaining most of longer range.
Battery lifetime just isn't that important. It's why Tesla's "million mile battery" never happened - there's no market for it.
There is already one car in China that ships with a Sodium based battery.
Honestly I'm more surprised we haven't seen any dual chemistry packs from any auto maker yet. This would be something like 25% Sodium Ion or LFP, and 75% NMC or NCA. So while there would be a slight reduction for total range of the car, the 25% sized battery could be prioritized for heavy charge and discharge while the 75% would only be used when the 25% is exhausted. Additionally this would mean the large majority of the wear and tear on the battery would be on the 25% size, and could be replaced possibly more frequently (every 10 years?) and separately from the 75% battery reducing the overall cost of battery replacement to a fraction of the cost of the whole pack.
Nice! I’m pretty sure SIBs are going to change some parts of the battery market. Will be very interesting to see how the car market responds to it. In city cars, range isn’t really an issue, so they might make the switch sooner. Premium cars should be fine with LIBs, even though the price difference is significant.
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Lithium Batteries on the Road: 5 Fires, No Placards, Huge Risks | StacheD Training [5:36]
If you'd bothered to watch the video, you'd have noted that all the incidents in question involved batteries (4) or vehicles (1) being hauled in closed trailers, and that it was specifically about the issue of first responders being called to random trailer fires and having sub-optimal information that Li-ion batteries are involved.
Also, Li-ion battery fires are often harder to put out than liquid fuel fires, take more resources to manage, and have a vastly higher chance of reignition.
I'm very interested in electric vehicles and would love to own one (F150 Lightning house on wheels), but attempting to sugarcoat these facts will get people killed.
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Lithium Batteries on the Road: 5 Fires, No Placards, Huge Risks | StacheD Training [5:36]
Natron is being carved up through a process known as “assignment for the benefit of creditors,” an alternative to Chapter 7 bankruptcy that could result in a speedy — and quiet — sale of assets that forgoes the court proceedings that many liquidations follow.
I guess there’s still hope. Maybe someone will buy Natron and continue production.
Now it’s clear that RFBs are more than just a theoretical curiosity. They’re actually being deployed at massive scale.