Lithium batteries were experimented with in 1912 but progress...

Lithium batteries were experimented with in 1912 but progress was not made till the 1970's and it wasn't till John Goodenough in the 1980's discovered the right sauce mix (lithium cobalt oxide) that the technology advanced. Sony introduced it commercially with the Handycam in 1991. New tech doesn't just go from breakthrough to commercialisation instantly - has to be proven up, improved, have a meaningful price differential and/or compelling advantages before it takes off.

Yes we may have graphene ultracapacitor batteries in the future but the question is when and will they be cheap enough to compete with lithium. The experimentation with lithium based batteries continues - lithium ion is not the end game. There are lithium air, lithium sulphur and solid state lithium technologies currently in development.

Lithium Air batteries have an energy density equivalent to petrol - that's about ten time more density than current lithium batteries - think a Tesla Model S with 5,000kms range on a single charge or a battery one tenth the size for current range. Lithium sulphur has about twice current lithium ion density and is cheaper to manufacture. Solid state lithium batteries have at least double the energy density of current batteries but at a manufacturing cost about one fifth that of lithium ion.

Any one or a combination of these battery technologies will make lithium based batteries very difficult to compete with on a price basis. Having been around the EV scene since 2008 I've come across 'game changing' battery breakthroughs about every six months none of which have been commercialised to date. Yes there are new technologies on the horizon with exotic materials but there is much to be worked through prior to these reaching the market place. Lithium will be with us for the foreseeable future (maybe a decade) - after that, it's anyone's guess.