this post was submitted on 11 May 2026
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Lithium isn't quite like gold. It is not rare at all. The news isn't that it is there, the news is that someone has found a place where it is relatively easy to dig, and lots of it.
In only a few years, most batteries will be made without lithium anyway.
More likely that most batteries are made from lithium recycled from old batteries rather than mined lithium.
Really depends on the use case. Grid-scale storage? Yeah, there's better chemistries for that. Cars? We're probably going to see a mix of chemistries in the same battery packs to tailor use case. In personal electronics? No, lithium will remain king
Citation needed.
Sodium-ion and maaaaybe iron are promising, with sodium-ion making the most headway.
https://batterycouncil.org/battery-facts-and-applications/about-sodium-batteries/
Not quite widely commercially available yet, but I wouldn't invest heavily in lithium is it was me.
Ehh.... Lithium batteries are going to be around for quite a while even if sodium ion batteries take off. It's just more energy dense than sodium ion, so it's always going to be better for things like portable electronics.
Sodium ion might take over the market for heavier batteries like stationary power banks.
Consult a periodic table. Lithium will always out perform sodium. Sodium batteries only exist because lithium costs more, but these large deposits are being found worldwide every few months and lithium will drop in price as a commodity. At some point, recycling will require much less new lithium to be mined.
Sodium is better in the more important ways than lithium.
This is HIGHLY dependent on use case
Either state WTF you are talking about or find a better way to waste people's time.
I wrote it on other comments. I’m not here to summarize the internet for you.
Fair, but how about you instead justify your point? That seems like a more reasonable ask.
I’m not here to aggregate your content for you.
Wood is cheaper than steel. Which apparently is the most important way to be better in. But I wouldn't build a skyscraper out of it.
Saying that energy density is not important in energy storage technology is as stupid as saying that material strength is not important in building materials.
You know there are skyscrapers built out of wood, right? And they're kind of awesome.
Yes you may quote me, if you really need it.
Or leave it. For reasonable people, it is obvious anyway.
I already quoted you. I don't need your permission to do it.
If you're not gonna even try to defend your position you're just spreading misinformation.
LMAO
Have you not been paying attention to the development of sodium batteries? They are already surpassing LithIon batteries in energy density and cost.
Cost, yes, energy density, very much no.
So good for grid storage, bad for vehicles?
Not necessarily bad for cars. Some vehicles can use just sodium batteries. Some companies are looking at making battery packs with mixed cell types in different ratios to get a best of both worlds for their use case. Sodium sucks for personal electronics though
Yes. Chinese manufacturers are using sodium batteries in some low-range cheap city-cars, too. But fundamentally there is less energy storage in a charged sodium atom than a charged lithium atom so it seems sodium batteries must always be bigger and heavier than equivalent-capacity lithium batteries.
Not exactly, they work better in cold temps for northern countries.
That doesn't stop sodium batteries from being fundamentally bigger and heavier than lithium batteries for the same capacity. That just means the tradeoff can be more worth it in some regions
Would be hilarious if China figured out efficient electrolysis and powered all their stuff using hydrogen but our huge and inefficient data centers needed all of our fresh water.
Hilarious. 😒
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1004
North sea windmills will be generating hydrogen from wind electricity.