[lazyguy2]

Even if it was serious you'd have to wait for the patent-enforced monopolies to expire before there is significant benefit to us normal people.

This is one of the reasons why everybody is running around with 18650 lithium ion batteries. It's all 1990's tech that has been evolved and improved on since then by numerous competitive businesses.

[aidenn0]

18650 is a size, not a chemistry. The 18650 you'll find in a Tesla, for example, is very different from any 18650 you could source in the 90s, and likely contains technology patented by (or licensed by) Panasonic.