IMHO the experienced future is likely to continue seeing improvements for a good many years without battery technology changes, for the smaller consumer devices

IMHO the experienced future is likely to continue seeing improvements for a good many years without battery technology changes, for the smaller consumer devices. Vehicles aren't going to get hugely more efficient without something massively disruptive like an efficient levitation technology but for a lot of electronics now, things like backlit screens present a bottleneck, and these can be tackled at multiple layers: * Changing the types of device(screenless device, external display with its own battery, wireless peripherals) * Improving average-case device environment(further standardization of charging methods, external displays as part of furnishings) * Miniaturization and efficiency improvements of the internal hardware and software("battery with a phone attached" becomes increasingly true year over year and I have been living with an all-day battery phone for several years now) Although energy density is a critical enabler, and we could definitely benefit from some jet-fuel-grade density in our alternate energy sources, the larger-scale stuff is also just a lot harder to tackle in a short time frame because it's more infrastructure-dependent. Rethinking our cities is a necessary step, one way or another.