In recent years, sodium-ion batteries have emerged as a key contender to the dominant lithium-ion technology, which has experienced supply shortages and price volatility for key minerals. While often described as a cheaper alternative, primarily thanks to abundant sodium and low extraction and purification costs, a new study finds that sodium-ion batteries will require a set of technology advances and favorable market conditions to approach incumbent lithium-ion on price.

A group of researchers at Stanford University has assessed the techno-economic competitiveness of sodium-ion batteries over 6,000 scenarios while varying technology development roadmaps, supply chain scenarios, market penetration and learning rates. As a result, they identified several sodium-ion pathways that might reach cost-competitiveness with low-cost lithium-ion variants in the 2030s.