zlacker

Funny thing — heating a hot water tank is still storing energy in a battery.

Charging your car is still putting energy in a battery.

And the article mentions that devices sometimes have a built in battery.

The article is talks about getting rid of batteries but really is talking about maximizing energy usage during times of cheaper energy… which is the “smart grid” stuff OP is throwing shade at.

I don’t disagree with the idea of maximizing your energy usage during times of cheap energy availability but obviously most people don’t do it because the trade off is higher scheduling complexity. What if you set a timer for your washing machine but the sun doesn’t come out — now you just have no fresh clothes..

And plus some batteries are only possible at scale — like pumped water storage. Setting up that complex distribution infrastructure allows society to invest in more efficient forms of energy storage and distribute its costs.

>>wayfin+(OP)
If you have an electric car then the whole article gets thrown out the window. An electric car battery is significantly larger than what you would need for an average house, so just have a battery that can also feed back into the house and you're done.