JAC Motors, a Volkswagen-backed Chinese automaker, unveiled the first mass-produced EV with a sodium-ion battery through its new Yiwei brand. Although sodium-ion battery tech has a lower density than lithium-ion, its lower costs, simpler and more abundant supplies and superior cold-weather performance could help accelerate mass EV adoption.
I don’t think that really holds up in a realistic comparison. BEVs are better for the environment. Just not as good as walking, cycling, and mass transit. All of these supply chain analysis commentary about BEVs fail to do an apples to apples lifetime comparison with ICE vehicles. Battery technology and battery recycling will continue to advance as BEV become more mainstream. Battery technology also has significant wider impacts and implications that aren’t strictly limited to vehicles.
The oil industry alone causes tremendous environmental devastation simply extracting oil - not to mention the transportation problem. Large scale raw material extraction is never pretty no matter what the final product is.