Celata on Nostr: Shoddy manufacturing aside, the reason these are blowing up is due to running on ...
Shoddy manufacturing aside, the reason these are blowing up is due to running on lithium-ion batteries which are notoriously unstable, and nearly everyone these days carries one around in their phone.
Despite the fact that lithium-ion batteries are dangerous, as well as reliant on the import of rare earths from conflict countries, AND the fact that we already know of a different battery technology that doesn't have these problems: sodium-ion, virtually no research is being done to improve the energy density of sodium-ion batteries or propose their use in applications where their main disadvantage is hardly relevant such as fixed home energy storage.
The ONE advantage that a lithium-ion battery has over sodium-ion is energy density, meaning it can store more energy for the weight (120-260 watt-hours/kg compared to 75-200 watt-hours/kg for Ni-ion). So an electric car can go much further for the same weight battery or a mobile phone can run much longer.
The advantages that sodium-ion batteries have over lithium-ion:
1. Very, very cheap to make, sodium is everywhere and doesn't need expensive or rare imports. Less than half the cost.
2. Much better operating temperature range, between about -20°C and 60°C (compared to Li-ion which struggles beyond about 5°C and 20°C and becomes extremely unstable), just like lead-acid batteries. So you don't need to use extra energy just to heat/cool the battery to keep it at the right operating temperature.
3. Much faster to charge and can be recharged many more times.
4. Doesn't explode and kill people.
You'd think this would make it a no-brainer for application use cases where weight of the battery is not an issue, but despite Na-ion being known about for years little research is being done because people can make a profit from the more expensive and dangerous Li-ion batteries.
Despite the fact that lithium-ion batteries are dangerous, as well as reliant on the import of rare earths from conflict countries, AND the fact that we already know of a different battery technology that doesn't have these problems: sodium-ion, virtually no research is being done to improve the energy density of sodium-ion batteries or propose their use in applications where their main disadvantage is hardly relevant such as fixed home energy storage.
The ONE advantage that a lithium-ion battery has over sodium-ion is energy density, meaning it can store more energy for the weight (120-260 watt-hours/kg compared to 75-200 watt-hours/kg for Ni-ion). So an electric car can go much further for the same weight battery or a mobile phone can run much longer.
The advantages that sodium-ion batteries have over lithium-ion:
1. Very, very cheap to make, sodium is everywhere and doesn't need expensive or rare imports. Less than half the cost.
2. Much better operating temperature range, between about -20°C and 60°C (compared to Li-ion which struggles beyond about 5°C and 20°C and becomes extremely unstable), just like lead-acid batteries. So you don't need to use extra energy just to heat/cool the battery to keep it at the right operating temperature.
3. Much faster to charge and can be recharged many more times.
4. Doesn't explode and kill people.
You'd think this would make it a no-brainer for application use cases where weight of the battery is not an issue, but despite Na-ion being known about for years little research is being done because people can make a profit from the more expensive and dangerous Li-ion batteries.