Realistically it won’t be running anywhere near peak horsepower. It will be tuned extremely differently to a gasoline engine since the engine’s operating speed is not relevant to wheel speed. Overall efficiency should be ok.

I would have wished to see a small I3 or I4 engine optimized for generating power and reduced weight.

What needs to happen is cost. Until the Corolla of EVs comes out there’s huge populations who can’t afford it. Also many people cannot charge at home and that needs to change.

for a game controller they are more than suitable. The technology has also improved drastically since the 90s.

The IKEA Ladda 2450 mAh batteries are actually the same as Eneloops for a fraction of the price. IKEA’s charger is also very good and uses the hybrid approach for quick charging and taking them to max capacity. I use them in all my game controllers and they work great.

I actually don’t support game controllers with internal lithium batteries. They will wear out overtime and are harder to replace.