LG Energy Solution To Manufacture Sodium-Ion Batteries in China

­With the rise of the IoT – and its billions of interconnected devices worldwide – and the steady electrification of global fleets, lithium-ion batteries have slowly become indispensable as the lifeblood of planet Earth. But a promising alternative to li-ion – one that’s cheaper and more abundant – has begun to take center stage, and South Korean goliath LG is getting in on the action.

While sodium-ion batteries actually trace all the way back to the 1970s, the commercial potential of lithium-ion quickly pushed the former to the side. And li-ion has dominated ever since.

But in a world where rare-Earth materials are, well, rare and the process to extract them is both expensive and dangerous, alternatives flourish.

In the case of sodium-ion, it’s both far more abundant than lithium-ion -- 2.6% of Earth’s crust vs. 0.0017%, making the former more than 1,000x more common – but it has more stable chemistry, a less intensive mining process, and their batteries charge quicker.

And of course, sodium-ion is cheaper – about $600 - $650 per metric ton vs lithium-ion’s $10,000 - $11,000. That plus the U.S. is the biggest supplier of sodium-ion, while the king of lithium-ion is Red China.

Though the former is subject to change....

At LG Energy Solution’s plant in Nanjing, about 186 miles from Shanghai, the company has started constructing a pilot line for sodium-ion batteries.

With the process beginning at LG Energy Solution’s headquarters in Ochang, North Chungcheong Province, it’ll then move to Nanjing, followed by a commercial-ready sample.

The pilot production line should be completed this year.