Here is a little conspiracy for you.

A man named Stanford Ovshinsky was always an odd presence in my semiconductor fabrication world in the 70’s through 2001. He kept in the news with strange switching devices using amorphous silicon rather than the single crystal devices we are all using. His methods and theories of operation were always wrapped in secreicy. He went to the universities and tried to hire top people. He landed some contracts and his devices were used in various government projects. He filed lots of patents. Sounds a bit like Tesla, doesn’t it. The claims of high speed and very low cost never took over the industry, but he was and is always there. I did not follow his work very closely until he pops up recently in the world of hydrogen powered cars and solar cells. Alan Alda interviewed him for the Discovery Channel. He is a wizened old man now. He demonstrated a tank full of Titanium chips which, when heated to about 400 degrees, would adsorb hydrogen or release it to fuel the engine.
He also worked on nickel metal hydride batteries. He developed ‘Large Cell’ batteries. GM used these in the EV-1 car and was a partner with Ovshinsky. GM seems to have owned the patent on the fabrication of these cells. When GM pulled the plug (Pun intended) on the EV-1 and lost interest in unconventional vehicle power, it sold the patents to—Guess Who?
STANDARD OIL!!

All hybrid vehicles using NiMH batteries are forced to use small cells, at some disadvantage, rather than pay Standard Oil a license fee.
Thanks GM. You’re always looking out for us, when you’re not stepping on your own dick.

Roy