CATL reveals sodium-ion battery with 3.6 million mile lifespan

•  CATL's Naxtra sodium-ion costs are around $19/kWh at the cell level. LFP (lithium iron phosphate) cells are currently $55-$60/kWh (when bought at massive scale), so roughly 65% cheaper at the moment.  CATL thinks these sodium-ion cells could fall further in cost, possibly down to $10/kWh in 2 or 3 years.
• They are roughly half the cost of the LFP packs at pack level
• The Naxtra battery is capable of around 3.6 million miles (6 million kilometres) of driving before the capacity drops to 85%, 3 to 6 times as long as what we get from the very best LFP batteries today.
• Energy density.  Sodium-ion historically has struggled here. A couple of years ago, sodium-ion packs had an energy density of 120-140 Wh/kg.  The Naxtra pack now has an energy density of 175 Wh/kg, which means the Naxtra has now overtaken BYD's current Blade battery's energy density of 160 to 165.
• It performs much better in winter and summer, in a range between -40C to +70C, and can be charged at full speed even at -20C.
• Doesn't catch alight if pierced or in an accident.
• The Naxtra materials are abundant, cheap and not strategic: sodium (salt), aluminium, carbon.
• Sodium cells can be built on current LFP assembly lines.

As I pointed out in previous pieces on CATL's sodium-ion battery, the combination of low price and very long life make battery storage very, very cheap.  

Solar, with an LCOE* at $42.60 /MWh (Our World in Data figures) is already the second-cheapest source of electricity globally, and the cheapest in the sunbelt, and sodium-ion batteries will allow 12 hours of storage at under $1/MWh.  That doesn't include the cost of charging the batteries, but right now, wherever solar is plentiful, midday output of solar is often curtailed or sold at zero cost, because of excess supply.   The cost of solar quoted above includes income losses from curtailment/zero wholesale prices, so solar will get cheaper as 12 hour storage becomes the norm, and curtailment is no longer necessary. 

What does nuclear cost, i.e., what is nuclear's LCOE?  $155/MWh, according to Our World in Data.  That's the average global price; it's much more expensive in Europe and the USA.  And coal?  Again, the average global LCOE according to OWID,  is $110/MWh.  So, you can have solar, for $40/MWh, which is falling by 10%-plus every year, or coal, which is three times as expensive and not getting any cheaper, or nuclear which is four times as expensive, and getting more expensive (except SMRs**.  Maybe.)  

Wind will also have a rôle in our future grids, because it is seasonally complementary to solar, and is 20% cheaper than solar in high latitudes.  

Sorry, guys, fossil fuels don't stand a chance, except perhaps, in high latitudes.   And even there, HVDC*** power lines can import electricity from solar farms in low latitudes, more cheaply than nuclear or coal.

*Levelised cost of electricity.

**Small modular reactors

***High voltage direct current