Skip to main content
Climate
Search

Main navigation

  • Climate 101
    • What We Know
    • What Can Be Done
    • Climate Primer
  • Explore
    • Explainers
    • Ask MIT Climate
    • Podcast
    • For Educators
  • MIT Action
    • News
    • Events
    • Resources
  • Search
MIT

Main navigation

  • Climate 101
    • What We Know
    • What Can Be Done
    • Climate Primer
  • Explore
    • Explainers
    • Ask MIT Climate
    • Podcast
    • For Educators
  • MIT Action
    • News
    • Events
    • Resources
  • Search
PostMay 9, 2023

This abundant material could unlock cheaper batteries for EVs

Electric Vehicle manufacturing plant
Photo Credit
IMAGINECHINA VIA AP IMAGES

Move over, lithium—there’s a new battery chemistry in town.

Lithium is currently the ruler of the battery world, a key ingredient in the batteries that power phones, electric vehicles, and even store energy on the electrical grid.

But as concerns about the battery supply chain swell, scientists are looking for ways to cut down on battery technology’s most expensive, least readily available ingredients. There are already options that reduce the need for some, like cobalt and nickel, but there’s been little recourse for those looking to dethrone lithium.

Over the past several months, though, battery companies and automakers in China have announced forays into a new kind of battery chemistry that replaces lithium with sodium. These new sodium-ion batteries could help push costs down for both stationary storage and electric vehicles, if the technology can meet the high expectations that companies are setting.

Read the full story at MIT Technology Review.

by MIT Technology Review
Topics
Batteries, Storage & Transmission
Industry & Manufacturing
Cars

Related Posts

PostJuly 4, 2025

Robotic probe quickly measures key properties of new materials

MIT News
Scientists are striving to discover new semiconductor materials that could boost the efficiency of solar cells and other electronics. The pace of innovation is bottlenecked by the speed at which researchers can manually measure important material properties, but a fully autonomous robotic system developed by MIT researchers could speed things up.
PostJuly 2, 2025

3 Questions: How MIT’s venture studio is partnering with MIT labs to solv...

MIT News
David Cohen-Tanugi has been the venture builder for Proto Ventures’ fusion and clean energy channel since 2023.
PostJuly 1, 2025

VAMO proposes an alternative to architectural permanence

MIT News
VAMO (Vegetal, Animal, Mineral, Other), is an ultra-lightweight, biodegradable, and transportable canopy designed to circle around a brick column in the Corderie of the Venice Arsenale — a historic space originally used to manufacture ropes for the city’s naval fleet.
PostJune 27, 2025

Nth Cycle is bringing critical metals refining to the U.S.

MIT News
A rendering of Nth Cycle's modular refining system called "The Oyster."

MIT Climate News in Your Inbox

 
 

MIT Groups Log In

Log In

Footer

  • About
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility
  • Contact
MIT Climate Project
MIT
Communicator Award Winner
Communicator Award Winner