Hi Gents,
Did a bit of looking around after seeing the mention of zinc batteries. This is no joke.
https://nantenergy.com/ - these guys have broken the $100 per kWh barrier. Are ready to take large scale commercial orders for 2019 delivery. Some great stats on the link.
Tesla (musk) has said they aim to hit $100 per kwh or less in the next 2 years.. By 2020 by changing cell chemistries and upping production. Note they're already making batteries on a massive scale.
Another advantage of the NantEnergy battery - no risk of fire. Lithium battery arrays have expensive electronics to control and monitor for thermal runaway.
Also - zinc air batteries do not need cobalt, an expensive and toxic element, and zinc air batteries have much higher energy density (theoretically 5 times higher than lithium).
One thing I couldn't confirm is that these batteries have the same cycle lifetime as lithium ion, and if these guys are targetting vehicles as well.
There's a lot of work going into zinc air batteries, just google, but it was exciting that these guys are already across the line producing, and will soon be mass market.
Just food for thought, but it seems energy storage will create a significant new demand for zinc as per investor presso.