The electrification of the world's vehicle fleet and the storage...

The electrification of the world's vehicle fleet and the storage of energy requires massive investment and is currently in motion. There are many companies that are looking at different technologies in the attempt to dominate battery markets. The technologies are still evolving and as such not yet mature. Like with most things, there won't just be one type but multiple options depending on cost and applications. It is a little bit early to say which will be coming out on top and stay the course over the next 50 years or so.

For now and the foreseeable future Tesla, for example, relies on lithium based batteries for powering thousands of vehicles, all of which use lithium based technologies. Lithium based battery technologies are still in further development to increase energy densities.

One may care to reminisce a little about the development of USB memory sticks from humble beginnings of floppy disks. My first laptop was an Amstrad with an internal memory of less than that required currently for a 3min video and had an internal floppy disk reader/writer capable of storing only black and white typewritten pages - up to around 8-10 pages??. It was just a glorified typewriter but served it's purpose at the time. Amazing how things have developed since.

Lithium based batteries are here to stay for a while - the huge amount of investment should ensure it's survival for the foreseeable future. As for 50 years down the track - well, I'm not too phased as that will be the case for the next generation to worry about, as my own internal batteries will be fully discharged by then.