SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island is one of eight universities, along with six other research organizations, that will benefit from a five-year, $50 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy to increase the supply diversity of electric vehicle batteries.
The funds will be used to establish the Low-cost Earth-abundant Na-ion Storage, or LENS, consortium, which will be led by DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory.
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Rather than relying on any single battery chemistry, technology companies are now turning to sodium as an abundant element to lower costs and reduce risk. Sodium-ion batteries store less energy per unit weight and volume than traditional lithium-ion batteries, resulting in a lower driving range, according to a news release.
“The challenge ahead is improving sodium-ion energy density so that it first matches and then exceeds that of phosphate-based lithium-ion batteries while minimizing and eliminating the use of all critical elements,” said Venkat Srinivasan, director of the LENS consortium. “Importantly, any improvements must not compromise other performance metrics such as cycle life and safety.”
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
