Japanese hardware brand Elecom has just launched what it claims is the world's first power bank to feature a sodium-ion battery inside. It promises significantly longer cycle life than traditional lithium-ion batteries, as well as the ability to operate in extremely hot and cold climes.
On the outside, the affectionately named DE-C55L-9000 looks similar to the vast majority of power banks on the market, with a rounded brick shape housing its 9,000-mAh battery, a 45-W USB Type-C and an 18-W Type-A port, and charging indicator LEDs.
What's more interesting than the rest is the tech inside. A sodium-ion battery is pretty similar to a lithium-ion battery in terms of how it works and how it's constructed – but it uses cheaper and more abundantly available sodium for the cathode material, and sodium salts instead of lithium salts for the electrolyte.
That means you don't need to mine as many valuable metals like lithium, cobalt, and copper to make these batteries. Elecom's power bank also works safely at temperatures ranging from -30 °F (-34 °C) to 122 °F (50 °C), which means it could be a good choice for people working in difficult conditions outdoors. And due to the properties of the batteries' materials, they pose a far lower risk of catching on fire.
The other big draw with this tech is that it has a much longer cycle life – the number of times it can be charged and discharged before the cell's energy density drops – than lithium-ion batteries. Elecom says its power bank is good for 5,000 charge cycles, compared to lithium-ion's usual range 500 to 1,000 cycles.
This is cool to see, because it's one of the first major commercially available sodium-ion products on the market. This battery tech has been in the works since the 1970s, and it potentially presents a lower cost per kWh than lithium-ion. Plus, it not only works the same way as lithium-ion batteries, but can also be manufactured similarly too – so producing more of these won't require substantial tooling costs.
Sodium-ion batteries can also be shipped at zero volts – in stable and inactive state, if you will – which means they can be transported with a far lower risk of fires.
What's more, it could reduce our dependence on harmful mining operations to extract the metals needed for lithium-ion batteries, like cobalt, copper, and graphite. Sodium is abundantly available in sea salt, as well as in the crust of the earth.
Now, back to that power bank. Elecom's portable puck costs 9,980 JPY (US$67) in Japan, and is available in limited quantities. That's actually a fair bit more expensive than two comparable 10,000-mAh power banks from Anker that I looked at, which will set you back by about $16 - $24. This one is also heavier at 12.3 oz (350 g) than Anker's offerings (7.5 oz - 8.6 oz/212 g - 244 g).
That's likely due to the fact that sodium-ion cells have a lower energy density than lithium-ion. It's one of the limitations holding sodium-ion from being widely adopted in EVs, though some low-range vehicles are expected to use this tech in the near future. Sodium-ion batteries are currently being developed for use in stationary storage applications like power backup.
So yeah, this is an expensive power bank that won't wow you with performance, but it could last you up to 13 years even if you juice it up every day. It also represents a sign of things to come in future battery technology for everything from phones to cars.
Source: Elecom
Cost is a function of market size, so the cost can drop quite a bit once someone decides to mass-produce them.