It’s also worth noting that there has been a huge market-based incentive to improve battery technology throughout its history.
Everybody who uses battery-powered devices — which is to say virtually everybody — wants longer battery life. There are few potential products that would have comparable instantaneous demand if they could only be invented and commercialized.
It is foolishness to think that, if government would only spend more money on research, it would accomplish a technological breakthrough in battery technology.
Could try capacitors, though. They can hold large amounts of power and they charge up very quickly.
The problem is, though, that they are made to discharge all at once. If there was a way to regulate the discharge to a set amount over time... it might be more feasible that trying to figure out a better battery.