I wonder what makes these batteries so expensive? What are they made of?
The first copies of any sophisticated technology are exceptionally expensive. The first Z80 microprocessor cost almost $2 billion (financed by Exxon). You can have one for about $4 today. It's a matter of amortizing the R&D across a huge volume of sales.
I use off the shelf parts to build computers that go on my research railcars. The CPU board is $800. The ADC board is $750. I'm working on a replacement for measuring the bearing temperatures using a PIC microcontroller. That allows me to measure 8 bearings with a $5 chip. I'm going to replace 16 channels of the 32 channel ADC with a pair of $5 chips. 6 other channels will be replaced with a different PIC. Another $5 chip. Two of the channels require very high bandwidth sampling. Those will be replaced with a stereo ADC designed for DAT recorders with a high speed serial link to a DSP capable microcontroller. The stereo ADC is $7. I'm still collecting parts and designing the final replacement. That is how you progress from an enormously expensive lab model with off the shelf parts to a custom implementation with parts specifically aimed at the objective.
[I wonder what makes these batteries so expensive? What are they made of?]
IMHO, it's not that mysterious. The technology is new. That's why plasma TV's were outrageously expensive when they first came out (along with every other new technology). Give it time, and it will enter the mainstream, just like everything else.
"I wonder what makes these batteries so expensive? What are they made of?"
Those special batteries are made of 98.5% pure Unobtainium. While easy to mine, the material is only found in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, and in a very, very small remote area in Alaska.
>> I wonder what makes these batteries so expensive? What are they made of? <<
Dolphin fetuses.
100K Imaginon.