Dr Ben Miles - 2026-05-24
Happy FlexiSpot 10th Brand Day & Memorial Day Sales, up to 80% OFF! You also have the chance to win free orders. Use my cord "BEN50" to get EXTRA $50 off on the E7 Pro standing desk and C7 Max chair! FlexiSpot E7 Pro standing desk: https://go.flexispot.com/DrBenMiles-E7Pro FlexiSpot C7 Max Chair: https://go.flexispot.com/DrBenMiles-C7Max Brand Day Sale: https://go.flexispot.com/DrBenMiles-525 Chinese battery-making giant, CATL just signed a contract to supply 60GWh of Sodium batteries - the biggest in history. Are Lithium batteries about to become obsolete? #battery #tech #CATL #China #breakthrough Chapters 0.00 - The Record-Breaking Battery Contract 0:48 - The Problem with Lithium 5:13 - Ad Read 6:59 - Lithium Vs. Sodium: Battle of the Batteries 9:59 - Why Sodium? Why Now? 13:58 - The Problem with Sodium 15:34 - Conclusion: The Future of Batteries My Patreon:🚀 http://patreon.com/DrBenMiles My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drbenmiles My TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drbenmiles My Newsletter: https://drbenmiles.substack.com/ My Merch: https://www.rockstarscientist.org/ 🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/drbenmiles MY GEAR 📷 Sony A7III https://amzn.to/3OWrmGd 🔎 Sigma 402965 16 mm F1.4 https://amzn.to/49BNJdq 🎤 Shure SM7B https://amzn.to/4sF3ngx 🎤 Zoom H4n Pro https://amzn.to/3OXsklB 🎤 Sennheiser AVX https://amzn.to/4geWnBi
Anything that makes countries less dependent on geopolitical whims is a good thing for sure.
The main reason for the de-dollarization.
Except here CATL is China
The PRC have the patents. Western countries and companies are suckers for rules that Chinese ones treat as an inconvenience.
Meanwhile the likes of the UK was so disinterested in Sodium ion battery tech that it did nothing to let Faradion be sold to India for £100m back in 2021...
100 %
The vast majority of battery production and rare earth metal refinement is still going to be done by China lol
I think I’d be able to cope with a slightly thicker phone with a battery that won’t deteriorate.
Or catch fire.
I think the manufacturers like the battery deterioration because it lets them sell you a new phone.
I agree with you, I would rather have a thick phone that lasts fifteen years.
nah you dont... Sodium is more than 3 times heavier than lithium and the battery woud have to be substantially bigger to compensate... but new Sodium battery packs are probably gonna be very good but... heavy...
If it fits in my back pocket and the screen doesn't break when I fart, I'll take on that burden.
@chaunceyfeatherstone6209😂
I'm fine with making my phone a little thicker.
Bring back the 3.5 mm headphone jack at the same time.
Move on. Bluetooth is superior
I want swappable batteries back too.
Bluetooth carries significant security risks, primarily because it constantly broadcasts a wireless signal. Hackers within a 10-meter range can exploit active connections or discoverable settings to intercept data, eavesdrop on audio, deploy malware, or take control of your device.
It is not "superior" it is convenience tech for hapless normies.
@aries6776 "I want swappable batteries"
Agree.
I always make sure the batteries of any device I buy can be swapped by me or a tech.
Wow I just love having to charge headphones mid podcast!
And I REALLY love when Bluetooth caps out and one earbud unpairs.
Especially common on public transport, where there are dozens of devices in the same space. You know, public transport? The place and time where you probably want to have your earphones working the most?
13:20 For context: -40C is 2x colder than Mars in the Summer or about "Wow today kinda sucks" weather in Mongolia.
At 1/3rd the cost of lithium ion, it's a very good contender for utility grid storage of solar and wind power. Energy density is of less importance, and tolerating lower temperatures is a big plus.
One can hope this comes in form an 18650/27100 battery
Also the 12V car battery
Ups, solar grid backup
Home-scale UPS?
Yeah because I remember when my solar battery 🔋 burst into flames and I don't know why
@jakeaurod Right now that one is trickier. Home battery and UPS systems mostly operate at 48-51v or so and it all works because an LFP battery sits at near the same voltage until nearly flat. Na batteries do not have that property so you need to build much higher voltage packs to avoid very high currents as the battery drops charge. It'll happen but it's going to involve a lot of re-engineering of existing products. It's not a drop in alas. Possibly someone will figure out the chemistry tricks to change that behaviour but who knows.
You've overcharged your video with puns, raising the risk of a fire.
Don't be salty.
You should take charge
It's ok, he wisely used solid fact buffers to properly balance information and fun, thus preventing irreversible brain drift.
That’s sodium funny 😂
The Pulp Fiction guy creeping out from behind the hard carbon structure... haha. Jokes aside, Sodium-ion batteries use an ether based solvent which is just as flammable as dioxane-carbonate solvents. Na-ion is great though for cars which can carry the extra weight, but mobile devices will be using Li-ion.
More battery options are always a good thing.
Not more options, better options. Lithium is beyond dirty to mine and destroys water table and land. It also has that little problem of catching Fire violently and quickly.
What we're talking here is replacing the previous dangerous and dirty option.
Than corrupt Epstein government says: "competition is bad"
More battery options that don't have Chinese patents would be an even better thing but Western governments mostly couldn't care about supporting R&D in this field: Faradion's sodium-ion tech being sold to India for £100m back in 2021 is just one example.
@vlada if you watch the video titled: Solid State Batteries are FINALLY Here - I tested EVERYTHING!, it looks like ProLogium have solved the fire issue. Lithium Cobalt Oxide or Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide should have never been used for vehicles or E-bikes because of the fire risk and low charge cycles. Lithium Iron Phosphate has much less fire risk and can be charged over twice the charge cycle life.
Absolutely true, and wanted. But this, is still crap
I like the way this guy just explains things and doesn't exagerate hyperbolically or tell us we won't believe it. He's refreshing.
That "Lithium is dead" thumbnail though..
@clippeeee that's just a blame the game thing, YouTube rewards bombastic thumbnails more
are you serious? the guy announces a new "groundbreaking breakthrough" every week like Jesus second coming, and the videos are pure retention slop. Add an ad at the 5 minute mark and you have another mediocre timewaster annoying "science" channel
In 2026 Alberta Canada discovered à trillion dollars worth of lithium..
@clippeeee The thumbnail doesn't say that and he doesn't say it. He says sodium is suitable for some applications and lithium for others, because they each have different energy density, cost, and charge profiles. He predicts a future where both lithium and sodium proliferate, including dual composition batteries in cars. Sodium for cold starts; lithium for range from high energy density.
7:39 Skip to here for quick watch
thank you! I was about to start looking
I mean if you do a bit of critical thinking the graphic at 1:52 alone shows you everything you need to know and why sodium batteries will not be powering your next phone or laptop.
So much so that when I skipped ahead, YouTube immediately threw a commercial at me.
What, you don't wanna watch the history and chemistry of lithium ion batteries for the umpteenth time? 😝
Blessings your way mate ❤😂
This reminds me of a story my father told me. During the "Suez Crisis" companies invested heavily into research how they can make the Internal combustion engine more efficient. For ship engines they put slow motion cameras directly into the cylinder to track how and when the "explosions" happen. The result was that engines became way more efficient. Before that nobody really cared how much engines burn as fuel was as cheap as water.
Interesting that the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz (a place most of us probably didn't know existed until this year) is having a similar impact on renewable power generation...
Interesting! But that last part is not true. Gas is cheaper today. Google: 1956: "A worker had to give up roughly 7.2 minutes of labor to afford a single gallon of gas, today's workers give up roughly 5 to 6 minutes of labor per gallon, making modern gasoline generally more affordable in terms of pure purchasing power."
@real_electricmonk And somehow involving the same conspirator to boot.
@Sleepless5090
Today the medium wage in the US is just shy of $7k/month and the gas price per gallon is $4.5. which comes down to 5-6 minutes per gallon.
The average wage in 1956 was $4.4k/month and a gallon of gas cost $0.30. resulting in roughly 0.5 minutes of work per gallon.
This is very true - same reason aviation technology went from propellor biplanes to fast jets during the 1930s/1940s decade. Nothing like an urgent need to drive innovation!
This is great news. Being able to choose the exact right tech for the task instead of being stuck with one product is obviously a winner.
As a Canadian who has to deal with temps below freezing for almost half of each year, I look forward to a reliable battery for EVs.
And the bonus is now that they have figured out how to bond salt with the right chemicals to make and hold power long term, along with a viable use for them i.e. larger scale energy storage where weight does not matter, they have a reason to make them on a large scale because they can actually sell and use them. That's always a big issue, trying to make new tech cost money, and if they can't recup some of that money without a seeing some quick gains then generally R+D is limited and therefore development is slow.
That breakthrough on being able to have a way to charge and hold the salt crystals and recharge them long term means now they can start making money on their investments, and that means more R+D, and that's only a good thing because now it will be a matter of time before they can find a way to reduce the size.
When all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail.
None of them will do what watermelons hope.
Say thank you to the “free enterprise” system, commonly mis-labeled as “capitalism”. They are two different systems that are overlapping in the US.
4:53 humans simply CAN'T escape from cat cuteness.
That would be a conspiracy if the data is real lol
@KangJangkrik the Ancient Egyptian was a solid proof on its own XD
Y'all weebs can't
@abhishektiwari2101 fax
Jokes on you, I thought of Doge (Shiba Inu) when I saw it... :D
The ease with which this video explained to me how all this works is remarkable. You're an excellent communicator, teacher and presenter.
It is great to learn something in a civilised way. Nice channel.
Except for he is lying his ass off. Lithium has only existed sense 2006. The only crap that uses lithium is Apple phones and electric vehicles and about 2% of crappy Chinese electronics while 100% of everything else has use Alkaline which is a sodium by product for the last and I shit you not sense 1792 when the first batteries were made. Lithium hasn't dominated the market at all. Lithium actually gets an under reality reputation because media and politicians and governments keep covering up all the reality of lithium. For horrible reality lithium has blown up 37 cargo ships out of the around 400 in operation in the last 10 years. Now note it took 100 years to build those cargo ships with most of them were built close to 60 years ago. It generally takes about 8 to 13 years to build 1 cargo ship and there are less and less factories that can even make them. The last cargo ship that was made was close to 20 years ago. In the last 15 years there has been more than 500 buildings that work on lithium that have exploded. Out of the 78 lithium recycling plants in the world none are still in operation because they all burnt to the ground with 1 being rebuilt 17 times and burning to the ground. Lithium battery fires have killed nearly 48 million people in the last 18 years. Lithium gets a bad reputation but in reality this shit should have been illegal a long ass time ago and if there was not world wide corruption pushing this garbage it would have stayed illegal to be used in vehicles. Here is a reality. To make hell fire missile turn the sky to fire the main item used in making those missiles is lithium because of the fire it creates. The reason that the MOAB does so much damage is because of Lithium. The reason the TZAR bomb is so deadly is because of lithium. Lithium is extremely highly effective in bombs and extreme explosives and corrupted evil monsters push this shit.
@jordancambridge4106 get a load of this guy 💀
@jordancambridge4106what alternative universe are you in?
Lithium is a chemical element, so it has been around since a bit after the Big Bang 14.3 billion years back .
As for the rest, so much is way wrong . There are upwards of 9000 ( nine thousand) oil tankers alone operating, or would be if not for Trump.
@jordancambridge4106 bot comment…
0:41 - This explosion is often portrayed as explosion of lithium batteries. In reality that track was transporting gas cans and cought fire on Moscow Circle Road somewhere in 2015. I was living that time in Moscow and remember that accident.
This first time I heard this incidents portrayed as battery explosion?
people who cry about lithium fires never think twice about sitting on 30 gallons of gasoline
Yes IF Li-ion batteries tended to explode,our 'friends' in the oil industry and Big Auto would have made sure we'd all have known about it 20 years ago.
@kalasmournrex1470 I know right!?
@kalasmournrex1470 the biggest problem was that firefighters weren’t well equipped to fight lithium ion battery fires. However, they had equipment and techniques to combat gasoline fires. Alkali metals are a different problem.
16:18 you might also recall it’s taken years for lithium ion batteries to get smaller and more densely charged. What seems unlikely now may be a breakthrough or two and five years away from being an obvious outcome.
As a plant person this hit hard. Monocultures breed instability and issues (disease, pest etc in plants)
@WizofawesI’m not following how this relates to lithium or sodium ion batteries??
@masterinicothis channel is full of bot comments
@masterinicothe comparison was mentioned briefly towards the end of the video.
He compared lithiums dominance to monocultures
Sodium ion batteries are already perfectly usable. They just hold a smaller charge so manufacturers want the lithium ones to brag about very long lasting use per charge.
This is unlikely to change untill the cost of lithium ion batteries doubles a couple times vs sodium ion.
Seems like we can marry some industries with desalination of sea water paring nicely with sodium battery production, i recently saw efforts to convert water heaters into battery coolant systems where the same system that cools a house based battery also is your water heater for household use and lots of these ideas can begin to merge into low waste industries
Sodium is not perfect battery but has a huge potential on large storage facilities, trains and Ship industry, were weight doesn't matter much due to the enormous capacity of holding load or vasty storage space. Ship's are already being produced hybrid, they store excess energy and release when needed. This technology will not change much your daily life, but will make a huge impact on the heavy duty industry.
Agreed. Watching Wil Prowse explain why Sodium batteries aren't going to replace Lithium any time soon, that answered my question.
Correct perfect for your home then you can get lithium for Emergency or top up when needed
I can't see them on ships.
Weight and space still matter, and sodium ion is grossly inferior to diesel fuel.
And there are no facilities to charge the storage a ship would require in a reasonable time.
@Zomby_Woof , yes, I understand your doubt.
Cargo ships and container they sail a lot, they use 2stroke engines to power them directly. Yes, they will not use batteries any son. but
Some types of ships uses diesel-electric technology, they generate energy, convert to high voltage power and supply enormous electric motor, this technology is also used on trains. Those ships are called "offshore", they are the core of oil exploration at sea. Normally they don't sail, they stay still on DP modo, and it do not demand much energy to operate, so diesel engines run on low load. 4 strokes engines have almost the same consumption on low load then 50% load. So, new generation offshore ships are coming with battery storage to charge on 50% engine load, then delivery it energy back when the batteries are full. Normally we operate with four engines all the time, due to safety, but don't have load enough for them, so they run on 10% each, now we run only one engine when batteries are on and two when charging.
I definitely would prefer a thick and heavier laptop or portable device that has no explosion risk over a thin cheap thing that some night burns the house down or suffocates me during sleep with poisonous smoke. Let's hope that sodium really will be less fire risky (at least as a solid metal it rather rather resembles gunpowder and sets off by water).
I think this is the first video on battery technology I've come close to understanding, thank you.
Exactly what I was looking for someone who wouldve noticed that, incredible clarity (coming from someone doing a master in the same)
Exactly.
Something not mentioned is that the voltage curve on sodium is much wider whereas LFP has a very flat voltage curve. This is an issue for the electronics needing to handle a much wider voltage range. It isn't a dealbreaker, but it is something to consider.
A good power supply unit can deal with that, normalizing voltages. Might take some space though.
How does the voltage under load of Na compare to Pb or Ni chemistries?
Don't ask me to draw one now (it's been more than 30 years), but one of the first lessons in my Electronics class was "circuits to flatten voltage". I'm sure the people who actually make a living from electronic engineering can add one of those if and where needed.
While I'm not an electronics whiz, couldn't you "over pressurize" the battery and then regulate it down in order to flatten the output curve?
@paulstelian97 This is true but you also lose effective energy capacity quicker. For example on the last 25% you will be drawing more amps than the previous 25% to maintain the same voltage, this because you going to be losing the amps to resistance/heat. All that means it makes sodium batteries a worse solution in scenarios where you need every watt out of the battery to be used to do actual work.
Like the part at the end. Something similar happened during the 2008 crash. There was a glut on high quality crystalline silicon, as people scaled back computer purchases. This opened the way for rooftop solar
不是中国人开发出了晶体硅的高效切割技术 让太阳能板变得有利可图 才引发了太阳能的爆发
14:22 for a lot of consumer electronics, I can still see Na batteries becoming more popular than Li. Phones and laptops need the energy density of lithium, but for most other products, the lower price, reduced safety risks and wider operating temperature range are going to make sodium a very appealing choice. Stuff like a portable Bluetooth speaker, or a wireless mouse, where space just isn't at the same premium, for example. For industrial or military electronics, where space is irrelevant and cost is not critical, sodium batteries will win hands down
phones are already switching off the expensive lithium batteries still used in 90% of products, replacing the anode from graphite to silicon/carbon mix makes it far more efficient and cheaper per battery made and that's why you see alot of chinese phones switching to carbon silicone batteries right now, they made the tech so they got the first jump
I don't need my smartphone battery to last 6+ days. Give us battery options for users to pick what they need.
I'd take a discount and a small sodium battery.
@familhagaudir8561I want mine to last 6+ days
Also give it 5-10 years. Not to mention EV's already kinda reach the lifespan at around the same time a battery is low enough to be changed already, so it's not like we really need it. But if it's cheaper and faster to charge most would just slowly change to them over time.
Space is a factor but don't forget the weight.
10:24 so you're telling me if i croak from high blood glucose and the smart devices i use to control my pump and sensor catch fire and i burn to a crisp, i might find a second life a battery's electrode? that's so rad, mate!
That's very oddly specific
House and grid storage should be the first target for this, neither of these care about the slightly lower energy density that results in a slight increase is physical size. What is most important here is cost/kwh of storage and longevity. We should be able to produce home storage with capacities in the order of 80-100 kWh for what were are currently paying for LiIon solutions like PW3 with only 14kWh.
If homes had their own energy storage systems, we could use them during the high electricity rate periods and recharge them during the lower rate periods. This would benefit the grid as well by making it more stable. But it has to make financial sense, so all of this hinges upon the costs of installation, maintenance (if any), eventual battery replacement, and system management.
@theotheleo6830 If most homes had their own energy storage then there wouldn't be high electricity rate periods anymore. At least if they had solar to charge them anyway.
@guyb7995 No, the high rate periods would remain due to commercial and industrial usage. As for solar, I wouldn't trust it. There are too many nightmare stories about solar installations not working, solar installers ruining roofs, and companies going bankrupt, leaving their customers holding the bag and forced to pay off tens of thousands of dollars of debt.
@theotheleo6830 dude, high rates are most often at night outside of work hours, between about 3-9pm. Its people getting home from work, using appliances etc. Its not commercial and industrial usage. Wholesale rates during the day are often at very low due to all the solar around.
@guyb7995 You're right. I forgot about the "duck curve" due to solar.
So, 17+ mins later, Lithium's not really dead..
it was never about replacing all, it was for having the right Tool (Battery) for the right Job.
To be Honest, this would make a perfect PV Battery as well. without the Risks of Burning. (even if those risks are really small today)
Honestly, in any application where weight/volume aren't a deal-breaker (such as household battery backups and EV's) the lower price per unit ought to make up for any difference in additional units that are needed for the same W-hr demands. Ironically, this tech might lower the price of Li-ion batteries too, by reducing demand on Li.
4:18 "Santa never upgraded to electric" made me laugh more than it should
AI slop video... Its the same plague as once was Muzak (elevator music that almost replaced genuine music until people rebelled because they could not bear it anymore).
Timestamp off buddy
I really don’t think of sodium batteries as ideal solutions for all situations, but instead as a great solution for energy storage on a larger scale. Like, I think sodium batteries would be great to use when there’s an overabundance of solar energy of power on the power grid during the day, which could then be discharged at night. Sodium batteries could be much more easily accessible because sodium isn’t hard to access like lithium is, and countries could produce it themselves instead of requiring far away resources.
Just feels like a great solution to combine with greener energy sources in which their power output is less consistent.
that's the best basic and quick explanation of how rechargeable batteries actually work I've ever seen
12:03 why did i emedietly think of angstrom from invincible
I love that we're finally getting tech to the point of the "future living" they imagined in the 70s.
and yet, EVs are becoming with usual LFP batteries in china so crazy (BYD/Denza), that they can charge with their new versions of it and their new 1000kw charging stations, at speeds that takes literally 8 minutes from 10% to 97% in real world tests.
@oceyho its incredibly exciting how fast this is all coming, the next few years are gonna be nuts.
@oceyho I don't get the hype with fast chargers, sure they're nice in a pinch, but 99.9% of your charging is gonna happen at home on a standard dryer / electric cookstove NEMA 30 or 50 amps 240 volts plug.
Spintronic computers in 7 - 10 years based on market trends. The future is 100% 2030+
@seamon9732 that depends on the government of your country and how would they approach it, building the charging stations themselves or letting the manifacturers like Tesla or BYD to build them in my city there were 12 built for roughly 300 EVs max mostly hybrid Taxi toyotas but apparently the City council didn't want to pay the bills for 4 charging ports that were on their land so only 8 are remaining that are in private property so you nide to pay everytime you charge on them and it takes around 1 hour to charge a small Hybrid on them they are not really good chargers.
Cant wait for nothing to happen with the better alternative so big corporations can continue selling us mild upgrades at exorbitant prices.
Even if they did switch, it won't bring prices down.
There is a way to force the change, through European Union
It's not strictly a better alternative, just an alternative, with its own pros and cons. And don't worry about those alternatives. Sodium batteries are a little too inevitable to be suppressed. But you might be right about the prices. Lithium salts aren't all that expensive by themselves and the cost of them is somewhat negligible in the overall production, especially when the battery is small. So for personal electronics like phones and laptops it really won't make a difference. But get to cars, and there probably will be cheaper options with less reach available.
You have no idea how this works
the prices will come down. Corporations know how to set prices for maximum profit. If nobody can afford it, they won't make any profit.
@Volkbrecht Lithium is expensive as hell.. both in terms of price and enviromental impact.. we as consumers have the power to choose companies that try to lower their impact on the environment.. And companies will 100% pick batteries that are 2-3x cheaper as long as they understand that customers don't give a damn about phone thickness
3:20 Uhhh... which is it - 5 billion or 502 million? Because those are two VERY different numbers.
Turns out the creators don’t actually CARE. Youtube pays them either way.
i looked it up and some estimates are 5.3 billion, but there are all kinds of estimates for the total cost out there, all in the billions
meh, just an order of magnitude.
side eyes richter scale
I'm betting he outsourced his editing
Right what is wromg with him
I make battery management systems. The key thing my sodium battery customers are looking at is low temperature performance. If they can avoid a lot of loss from running a heater at -20, that's a big win, even if density is much worse than LFP.
Surprised there was discussion of Gotion's high density 261Wh/kg Sodium battery, which is ready for mass production.
And VW own 25% of Gotion so you can see where this is going.
Yea, I seen that on another video, but the comments were saying things like "I believe it when I see it" implying it might be another Donut style rug pull?? Idk, looking for your opinion more than telling you anything
There was also Faradion in the UK but the British government provided zero support for the development of sodium-ion battery tech so it was sold to India for £100m back in 2021...
This one it legit because of the corporate reputations at stake when lying about tech at this level. I think it's real and ready to rock according to the company with the VW Prismatic cell designed for this already!
@dw620 Western governments have little appetite to fund startups due to the high risk of the investment. In democracies, nothing riles up voters more than wasted tax money. China isn't a democracy and can therefore make risky investments with zero public backlash.
@stickynorth VW proved this wrong with the diesel gate.
It never ceases to amaze me what humans are capable of achieving in such a relatively short span of time.
The problem is that so. much of what we invent is intentionally destructive!! 😢
@tiinatiijarvi1526 yes to a degree but isnt when consider capitalism is the cause for such said destruction
You think this is remarkable imagine what we can do if corporations didn't constantly handicap us shoot ourselves in the foot we could be so much more than this so much more
??? sorry my small brain not understand your point@butterbean139
@butterbean139 Crony capitalism, not capitalism per se! Short-termism and an extractive mentality(short terms profits even if the business dies) from a bunch of "investors" that dont really know how to create value but only to extract it. Here is the fault of those who create for not setting a proper framework for the invention/business they are creating. But people started to catch on. Not all is lost, not even close!
Finally! Hype! Sweden is also building a factory for sodium batteries!
They also built windmill parks (...)
Yess
Really exciting innovation! To the last point in the video, I can see "lithium free" becoming a popular marketing in the future.
Sodium ion batteries. 3x more cycles compared to lithium batteries. Wider temp range, -40 C to 60 C. CATL has 175 Wh/kg energy density.
One of the most important aspects is it's ability to be recycled, not just repurposed. It's toxicity levels is incredibly important as well. It looks promising to be sure.
Looks like they're purposely enshitifying the entire tech industry, actually.
@grimfusionHow so, sodium ion has actual benefits over lithium
Yes
Lithium cells are completely recyclable, we just let China sell billions of disposable vape pens.
Considering sodium would be more than half the price of lithium per kw, that could easily drive business and contracts to pick that up and just deal with the volume where it can. A phone can get slightly larger to accommodate a larger battery if it's 50% cheaper.
The battery is a tiny % of the cost of the phone.
The VAST majority of consumers, do not care about any of this. They want thinner, with more utility. Companies are not going to trade in Lithium to make a tiny minority of consumers happy.
As was said in the video, different chemistries, for different uses, will be the way companies operate, as they should.
I want Lithium in my phone, and would love to have Sodium replace my Lithium storage batteries for my home. I could double my KwH storage, and use the savings from that, to buy my next smart phone.
In severe nail penetration tests, some cells may still exhibit off-gassing from the damaged casing and not all sodium-ion batteries are identical. Certain specialized or early-generation variations can still undergo thermal runaway, although lower than in lithium types.
Not to say that Sodium batteries won't have their place, but ProLogium's Solid state lithium battery checks many of the same boxes on top of more than double the energy density. It was recently covered by Two Bit Da Vinci.
- Safe when punctured
- Operates at low temperatures
- Safe Fast charging
- 360-380Wh/kg
Having more options is good.
@Regretr1 Absolutely, I think Sodium batteries are very good options for infrastructure where energy density is less important and Wh/$ is more important.
What about price? Geopolitics?
@sevenandthelittlestmew Price is the biggest thing. Bring EV's down to the same sticker price as gasoline powered cars, and the cheaper running costs will quickly drive gasoline powered cars into niche product status.
@brucemcfarling4674 Unfortunately even at lower cost no one wants an EV with only 200 miles of range. The lower energy density cells are not well suited for automotive applications.
I imagine they will still make them, like people still buy smart cars lol. But they will not change the status quo of Good EVs being expensive and cheap ICE cars being cheaper. I don't see a real value proposition.
I think they have way more potential in homes as cheap, long lasting backup power supply. They allow for better utilization of green energy during peak consumption by storing it for later. On top of protecting you in the event of an outage, which are becoming more frequent. There are some real value propositions.
4:55 that damn cat!
I came here for this comment
Here you got my hopes up for a furry creature sighting.
The Catuminati isn't real, you're imagining things!
Sodium batteries are for trains, houses and backup batteries grid... Where size and density does not matters, but price does...
Trains shouldn't run on batteries; train electrification is a solved technology with catenary wire.
@andy9306came here to leave the same comment 😂
Sodium battery RnD effort will eventually move the density issue closer to the best Lithium battery chemistry today. Even without that happening Sodium battery already have a home in static storage for power stations and home battery storage. Another application is the ballast-using industrial machines like cranes and bulldozers where weight is actually desirable.
But can we just talk about Sodium batteries for house holds or big scale energy grid compensation? This could massively cut the need for fossile fules in the energy sector in an quickly realisable, efficient way.
Sodium batteries are batteries , not fuel. You still need to make the electricity. People often forget that part.
@vlada I produce enough energy on my roof to sustain my house for 90% of the year... I have an idea where to get that energy from.
@vlada 16 KwH solar on my roof
@J_to_the_F i can't do what you do, in my part of the world the sun shines only for like 5 months out of 12
Any fule kno I'm showing my age here.😉
Thank you. for this articulate description of the evolution , composition , advantages, disadvantages and structure of battery technology. My 83 year old partner has said many times 'its all about the batteries'.. I am excited to go tell him about the developments you share here. It sounds better for the planet and for humans too. Thanks again. Well wishes to you.
4:38 Australia has lithium, true, but next to zero processing industries here. Plus we're competing with Chileans and the Chinese who can sell theirs for cheaper.
The biggest limit is on the high quality PO4 phosphate supply ...clue Canada has Both.
I work at Covalent lithium WA and we send some of the spodumene to Kwinana to get processed into battery grade 99.9% Soon all of it will get processed there as it's a new plant. So you obviously have no idea.
Too much regulations.
Though Chile can only run their production lines north-south
So use it locally and deliver the final product instead of just the materials. As we've seen quite often recently ocean transport is susceptible to interruptions, so getting stuff locally is safer and more stable. You know what you can do with a more stable supply of materials? Keep less materials in reserve so are more efficient without the risk that normally comes with that.
@DrBenMiles - 2026-05-24
Something that other battery makers may be... salty about...
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@Name-gi8dr - 2026-05-24
Chiropractors are quacks. Common sense should keep you out of their office.
@screaminlordbyron7767 - 2026-05-24
Says 5 billion but video shows 5 hundred million aka half a billion hmmm. Which is it Ben?
@screaminlordbyron7767 - 2026-05-24
9:28 says one trillion but video shows one billion hmmm.
@MessyMakerMan - 2026-05-24
Why is the first half of this video? Nothing worth watching before 10:00
@seekthetruth1478 - 2026-05-25
Stay the course................it is only a matter of time......and time.....is on our side......