> cheap powerful batteries Advances in energy density, reliability, and safety have revolutionized batteries over the last 30 years. There are entire market s

> cheap powerful batteries Advances in energy density, reliability, and safety have revolutionized batteries over the last 30 years. There are entire market segments where you are only as competitive as your battery and participants scramble to integrate the latest advancements but because you can't go to the store and buy a pack of AA batteries with the tech in them people think it doesn't exist. The volumetric energy density of lithium-ion increased 8x between 2008-2020, doubling every four years. Solid state batteries look to be taking up the improvement race. 450 watt-hours/liter was VERY good in 2020. A cheap YANGDA Thunder Stone solid-state drone battery purchased from a sketchy retailer in 2023 has an energy density of 537Wh/L, and you can buy a 18650 battery with 670Wh/L on amazon for $10. Specialty batteries 800-1000Wh/L are available to commercial clients, so the energy density has doubled once again in less than four years. But nobody notices.