This is an interesting chart from Bloomberg Green comparing some of today’s innovations against innovations of the past. At the top of today’s innovations are EV batteries, which from 2010-2020, saw annual deployment growth similar to that of US WWII aircrafts. However, when it comes to reducing costs, both EV batteries and solar PV modules come out on top with annual declines approaching almost 20%.

Of course, these probably aren’t perfect comparisons. If you look at EV batteries and solar PV modules from 2020 to 2023, their growth rates jump to 72% and 39%, respectively. So who knows if these are the right time slices to be using in order to accurately capture the “key expansion periods.” Regardless, it does provide some historical context and it does say something. These are important innovations.