it really does seem that competition is heating up across the world in the battery space.
Heating up? There’s been dozens of billions poured into battery tech research over the past decade. We’re just finally starting to see some real-world-applicable chemistries like sodium-ion and sulfur-selenium.
Like with many other technologies, cost and complexity of manufacturing is the major hurdle. Over on r/batteries, you’ll see the new “wundertech” announcements every few weeks, but the only really new chemistry that’s hit the markets recently is sodium ion, and b/c of energy density problems, that’s got a pretty limited use profile (e.g. fixed installations).
This battery tech doesn’t look that great, TBH, and it’s nothing new. Every battery can charge in 5 minutes - how much is can charge without damage is what matters, and this tech as it stands is no better than existing lithium.
This is the kicker. There are a number of great battery technologies out there, but they require materials like platinum or palladium. If you need to power a $250M satellite, that’s an acceptable cost. A $35k car? Not so much…