'Salt' Batteries are FINALLY Here?! Sooo should you use them?

In this video we will be having a look at the possible future of battery technology, sodium-ion batteries. Unlike lithium batteries, the material of sodium batteries is much easier to find and thus cheaper and more environmental friendly. I was finally able to find some on AliExpress. Now the question is whether those are real and how they compare to more traditional lithium batteries. Let's find out!

Websites that were used/shown during the video:

Thanks to JLCPCB for sponsoring this video.

0:00 Salt Batteries?
1:40 Intro
2:41 Is Sodium-Ion Real??
3:10 Charge/Discharge Curve
5:13 Pros/Cons of Charge/Discharge Curve
6:25 Energy Density of Sodium-Ion
7:37 How to Charge them?
8:27 Battery Management System?
8:59 Maximum Input/Output Power?
10:10 Safety?
10:59 Cycle Life?
11:30 Verdict

[greatscottlab]

Small correction that was not clear in the video. I said that the discharge/charge curve for Li-Ion, LiPo and LFP (LiFePo4) is about the same. That is not completely true since LFP or LiFePo4 comes with lower voltage levels. But their voltage does also not drop that much. It is pretty flat across the whole discharge region. This is what I was trying to say.

[dougle]

Nice to see a new battery tech video not filling with fluff and marketing hype. Just the numbers and graphs... This is what we want! Simple information well presented without the guff... Well done.

[emocee]

"That's assault!"

"No, it's battery."

[carbonstar]

Sounds great for large static installations like houses. Maybe not so great for power tools and high performance applications.

[robertdascoli]

Nice to see sodium batterers leaving the lab and making it to production.
This will be a game changer in home and grid storage where space isn't always an issue but cost and lifespan is.

[Reversed]

i replaced the battery in my offgrid cabin with prismatic sodium ion cells already, works great. i used a JK-BMS and just configured it for the parameters of the sodium ion cells. comes with the great advantage of being able to charge in low temps as low as -10°C which lifepo4 can't do, but still it's as safe as lifepo4.
i just used a random buck/boost module to boost the voltage if it drops too low for the consumers

[ctbrahmstedt]

I was just watching a video, I think from Big Clive, where he put a schottky diode in series with a lipo during charging with a standard lipo charger, and the 0.3V drop kept the battery <4V when the charge completed. Potentially a quick and easy solution for charging the sodium cells, assuming the charging current is the same, and the charger can handle recovering from a low voltage starting state.

[walker]

Home battery storage will be awesome for these since size isn't a big concern, same for businesses. Like if a Tesla Powerwall was twice as big for the same capacity but 25% cheaper and you know it's made using cleaner materials which we'll never run out of, and ideally not* gathered by workers in unreasonable conditions, then yeah I'd choose that version of the power wall for sure! Hopefully they start coming to market within a couple of years. Sodium should hopefully be able to be mined for cheap in enough quantities in USA and EU too within having to rely on imports.

[matthewcovington]

My capstone project was on this exact subject. I really like how you laid out the information for your video! Battery advancements are going crazy these days.

[michal_king]

gotta point out I love how you neatly draw stuff on printed graphs etc in the video instead of just showing us a slide show or something. Its a nice touch and adds to the experience

[someguy]

So many bots on your video unfortunately. Reported them all, hope it helps

[seditt]

Take the materials inside and place it in a flame. If its Red flame its Lithium, if its Yellow, its Sodium. Simple. Hell you could place a tiny flake on the stove and it will tell you all you need to know.

[salemthekit]

I really appreciate this video, but I do want to give a minor correction. You mentioned in the beginning how no channels were doing sodium ion testing but Off-Grid Garage has a fantastic series where he put these batteries through the ringer and put up a ton of data on them. I highly recommend checking him out if you get the chance!

[levigillis]

I think what i love most is the safety, this might just be a very good battery for DIY projects. No longer feeling like holding a grenade fearing it will blow up and light your house on fire when connecting the wires :D

[rokas]

Love seeing battery evolve. The lithium ones are good but it feels like you are handling a tnt every time you work with them😂. Btw good video!

[betterlthannvr]

Great video! You missed temperature as well. For outdoor installations (weather stations, solar powered meshtastic, etc) sodium batteries can be charged and discharged down to -20c, whereas lithium does not like to be charged much below 0c and has issues with discharge when cold as well.

[jamescampbell]

I think these have A LOT of potential. But everyone has been waiting for the "revolutionary new battery technology" and that likely isn't going to happen. We will likely rely on a wide range of technologies for different use cases that will prevent over-reliance on certain materials. Like lithium (Good vid!)

[EpicTurtle]

Did anyone else wince when he had the vernier calipers on the cell, moments before he clamped onto the shell 😂

[madcow]

I put together a sodium ion power tool battery. The voltage drops a lot while running (internal resistance). For a car tire pump it's not too bad because it works at a lower temperature, so I can leave it sitting in my car in the winter. It's definitely a lot larger (physically) battery than the li-ion equivalent. I don't plan on making any more power tool batteries out of sodium ion.
I'm thinking of making an off-grid solar panel system for my garage specifically to charge an electric car, and as an emergency (extension cord) backup for the house. With the lower temperature capability and a lower price than LFP, and longer cycle life than Li-Ion, I plan on using sodium for this project.

[stylis]

"You can put your picture on a PCB." 🤣 FIne! I'll subscribe just because of how silly and funny that option is with your sponsor 🤣