GM tells some Bolt owners to park 50 feet away from other cars

Re:GM tells some Bolt owners to park 50 feet away from other... by wffurr on Wednesday September 15, 2021 @08:33PM (#28546354)

Sodium reacts explosively with water.

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Re:GM tells some Bolt owners to park 50 feet away from other... by ceejayoz on Wednesday September 15, 2021 @08:37PM (#28546387)

Pure sodium, sure.

You're full of sodium, though, and you don't explode.

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Re:GM tells some Bolt owners to park 50 feet away from other... by fy20 on Wednesday September 15, 2021 @09:56PM (#28547030)

As a kid I remember watching a documentary on spontaneous human combustion. That gave me nightmares for weeks...

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Re:GM tells some Bolt owners to park 50 feet away from other... by jlawer on Wednesday September 15, 2021 @09:24PM (#28546788)

So does pure lithium

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Re:GM tells some Bolt owners to park 50 feet away from other... by wffurr on Wednesday September 15, 2021 @09:39PM (#28546914)

Which is exactly why I am wondering how sodium batteries will be any easier to manage.

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Re:GM tells some Bolt owners to park 50 feet away from other... by ceejayoz on Wednesday September 15, 2021 @10:56PM (#28547407)

https://spectrum.ieee.org/sodium-ion-battery

> Sodium batteries are also more stable and safe than lithium-ion. They have a wider temperature range, are nonflammable, and there is no thermal runaway—which can cause lithium-ion batteries to catch fire—under any condition, says Pouchet.

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Re:GM tells some Bolt owners to park 50 feet away from other... by wffurr on Thursday September 16, 2021 @07:37AM (#28550428)

Thanks for the actual informative link instead of the CATL press release others are linking. Sodium-ion batteries seem to have some very desirable properties over other rechargeable battery chemistries.

Has CATL substantially improved the energy density? Half the capacity on a per-weight basis than Lithium-ion seems pretty bad for EVs. Halving the range of already barely-acceptable vehicles seems pretty bad. Maybe it’s fine for short-range EVs and hybrids, but the range is one of the selling points of the Bolt.

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