The Swedish company Northvolt has announced the construction of sodium-ion batteries. The cell, developed together with research partner Altris, has a peak energy density of more than 160 watt hours per kilogram and is free of lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite, the company announced on Tuesday. It is safer, cheaper and more sustainable than conventional batteries with nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC) or iron phosphate (LFP), which both use lithium.
According to the information, the Northvolt development is based on an anode (positive pole) made of hard carbon and a cathode (negative pole) made of so-called Prussian white, an iron-based complex. Northvolt wants to be the first company to industrially produce such batteries and bring them to market. The timing was left open. The Chinese battery manufacturer Catl is also working on the technology and announced in the spring that its sodium-ion batteries would be used in models from the Chinese car manufacturer Chery.
Energy density indicates how long a device can be used before it needs to be charged. With high energy density, a large amount of energy can be stored in the battery. According to previous experts, a commercially available mass-produced lithium-ion battery cell achieves an energy density of around 280 to 300 watt hours per kilogram. There are now also battery cells with much higher values. Sodium-ion batteries enable significant cost reductions, but previously have a lower energy density.
Sodium is available worldwide as a component of seawater and rock salt and is significantly cheaper than lithium. The low manufacturing costs and safety at high temperatures make the technology particularly attractive for emerging markets such as India, the Middle East and Africa, Northvolt emphasized. Later generations of its sodium-ion batteries would also offer possibilities for electric vehicles. “The world has great hopes for sodium ions, and I am very pleased to say that we have developed a technology that makes their widespread use possible,” said company boss and founder Peter Carlsson (53).
Battery manufacturer: Europe’s big player
Northvolt is considered Europe’s only large domestic battery manufacturer. At the end of 2022, Northvolt opened its first “megafactory” in Skelleftea, Sweden, making it the first provider in Europe to develop and produce a battery cell. Also in Germany, in a Schleswig-Holstein village near Heide, the Swedes are planning a gigafactory.
The company has raised more than $9 billion in equity and debt capital since 2017. The company has orders worth over $55 billion from customers such as Volkswagen, BMW, Scania or Volvo Cars.