Toyota developed an infrastructure technology for the next-generation storage battery that increases the travel distance of an electric vehicle (EV) by more than two times. The company developed a positive-electrode material to be used for the sodium ion battery. The new material is a chemical compound made up of multiple phosphate compounds, metals including nickel, and sodium. The trial battery of a coin size realized a voltage that is about 30% higher than the voltage by a lithium-ion battery at room temperature. A storage battery that allows for a travel distance between 500 km and 1,000 km per charge has come in sight.
A hybrid vehicle has a maximum travel distance of 1,000 km. However, the maximum travel distance of a lithium-ion battery will not exceed 300 km per charge, though a travel distance between 500 km and 1,000 km is vital to spread electric vehicles widely. Theoretically, it is said that a sodium ion battery cannot surpass a lithium-ion battery in performance, but the successful development of the new material allows it to be one of the candidates of the next-generation storage battery. Toyota is concurrently developing a solid state battery and air battery.
A sodium ion battery