Perhaps. But there's a lot more to that equation that just the cost of the cells.
They claim to have increased the life to 1,000 cycles, but Li-ion can do 10 times that. Would you be happy with having to replace your EV battery ten times more often? How much of the cost of a battery is the cell contents, and how much is other stuff (which won't be any cheaper)? For sustainability the battery components need to be recycled. If this has to be done 10 times more often the cost will probably be much higher.
An ideal battery would
not have to be replaced more often, but would last the lifetime of the vehicle - reducing manufacturing costs because it doesn't have be designed for easy replacement, and reducing maintenance costs. Many vehicles are warranted for 5 years or more today, and EV batteries are typically warranted for 8 years. With Li-S this warranty would have to exclude the battery - which is not an easy sell to the customer (though dealers may like the idea of selling a cheaper vehicle which they make more money from in maintenance charges).
Using sugar to stabilize the cathode may solve one problem, but there are
many other problems with Li-S that aren't being talked about, such as power density and the practicality of scaling up to large pouch cells. Li-S may have greater energy density, but the voltage is much lower so the minimum number of series cells required to get an efficient battery voltage (300V+) is much higher, requiring extra wiring and more balancing circuits to equalize the cell voltages.
Until a commercial battery is in production we won't know whether the real lifetime costs will be sufficiently lower to justify the shorter lifespan. I don't expect an answer for at least 5-10 years, by which time Li-ion costs may also have become more competitive.
