[What’s new? Existing RT Na-S batteries have had limited storage capacity and a short life cycle, which has held back their commercialization, but there’s now a new kind of RT Na-S battery, developed by Zhao’s team. According to their paper, the device has four times the storage capacity of a lithium-ion battery and an ultra-long life — after 1,000 cycles, it still retained about half of its capacity, which the researchers claim is “unprecedented.”]

I'm sceptical. Li+ batteries have expected life of 500 to 1200 cycles, before dropping below 70% charge. The capacity could refer to useful energy though. Li+ can only be discharged to 70%, where Na chemistry allows for full discharge. The problem is that voltage drops with the capacity, so although you could use them down to 0% charge, they won't necessarily be useful.

Still, if they turn out functionally similar, a cheaper construction would be an advantage.