> the battery catalyst is a Nickel-Molybdenum-Cobalt alloy, which seems like a pretty rare, expensive component.
So you didn't read the article? The piece states: "Yi Cui’s team found an inexpensive nickel-molybdenum-cobalt alloy catalyst for the battery that costs $20/kg." For a catalyst, that doesn't sound too expensive.
> Their published research cites a $~83/kWh cost for just the materials (that's not very cheap)
That's all very nice, but that number is from a paper from 2018. And they state that it is the battery cost: "The estimated cost of the nickel-hydrogen battery reaches as low as ∼$83 per kilowatt-hour".
So you didn't read the article? The piece states: "Yi Cui’s team found an inexpensive nickel-molybdenum-cobalt alloy catalyst for the battery that costs $20/kg." For a catalyst, that doesn't sound too expensive.
> Their published research cites a $~83/kWh cost for just the materials (that's not very cheap)
That's all very nice, but that number is from a paper from 2018. And they state that it is the battery cost: "The estimated cost of the nickel-hydrogen battery reaches as low as ∼$83 per kilowatt-hour".
And pulling up 2018 data for LiIon, we get $~198/kWh.. (For instance, from here: https://about.bnef.com/blog/lithium-ion-battery-pack-prices-...)