Eh, give em the clout they need to develop it further.

To be fair, commercial long-life nickel-iron batteries are already being sold for grid storage. The main reason they aren't used more widely is they cost more up front.

That's ok, because they still cost less than alternatives over the full life span of the battery.

The risk is that the higher purchase cost required will likely be wasted as new battery tech surpasses it long before its life is over.

So for now, it's all about weighing opportunity cost, tech lock-in, and early obsolescence

Well tbf this was a university lab which isn't focused on commercial production but just trying to prove their experiments

This is regular scientific hedging.

This thing, even if it turns out to be real good, it's years away from being a marketable product. And it's alright! It says more about sensationalism in scientific communication.