Matt Osborn

✍️ New article: Battery costs have declined by 99% in the last three decades, making electrified transport a reality— Over 20 million electric cars were sold globally in 2025 — some for as little as $10,000. Even just two decades ago, that would have been impossible. The reason it's possible now? Batteries have gotten *much* cheaper. In 1991, lithium-ion battery cells cost around $9,200 per kilowatt-hour. By 2024, that had fallen to just $78 — a decline of more than 99%. You can see this in the chart. To put that in perspective: the battery cells in a standard electric car today cost around $5,000. In 1991, those same cells would have cost nearly $600,000. There was no single breakthrough behind this. Batteries follow a “learning curve”: as cumulative production grows, thousands of small improvements in chemistry, manufacturing, and supply chains drive prices down. Since 1998, every time global cumulative battery production doubled, the price dropped by roughly 19%. Early progress was driven by consumer electronics — phones and laptops — before the technology became viable for cars, buses, and larger energy storage. Energy density has also more than tripled since the 1990s, meaning batteries can now store far more energy for their volume. The half-a-million-dollar battery was never going to transform transport. The $5,000 battery is.

@Elections__SA @one_nationSA *Port Adelaide Enfield

#Lee ALP retain. @Elections__SA Prediction: ALP retain. Primary as of 28/3: ALP 44.7% ON 24.6% LIB 16.7% GRN 9.5% OTH 4.5% 2PP: ALP 59.5% ON 40.5% 2PP ON+2.0% swing Port Adelaide Councillor replacing ex-Treasurer in safe seaside seat but small 2PP swing to @one_nationSA #saparli

@Elections__SA @one_nationSA If you’re suggesting this is Nat Cook’s final term, that’s a big call.

#HurtleVale ALP retain. @Elections__SA Prediction: ALP retain. Primary as of 27/03: ALP 45.1% ON 26.4% GRN 10.3% LIB 9.5% OTH 8.8% 2PP: ALP 60.7% ON 39.3% 2PP ON +5.1% swing Much loved local MP staves off @one_nationSA but watch this seat next time when she retires. #saparli

YOU KNOW WHO. 🔥 SERIES TIED!

Vale Dennis Cometti. West Perth player. Footscray ressies. Ammos for Wanneroo. Coach at Maddington, Ossie Park, Kelmscott and WP. The soundtrack of my generation. A master of the one-liner and the perfectly timed pause. Made the game sound better. Rest easy to one of the greats.

“And since I'd achieved all my Bazball goals for the Boxing Day Test in two days, there was no need for a third, fourth, or fifth. The end. Hmm, good memoirs. Good, not great.” #Ashes

Australians didn’t blame the Howard government for the Port Arthur Massacre. They didn’t call Howard’s embrace of tougher gun laws a “diversion”. Instead, there was strong bipartisan support. Australia’s leaders united to put the national interest first. Times have changed.

@AlisonMitchell Jason Gillespie is being suspiciously quiet about players who wear unconventional sunglasses…

@crmarkbasham @BBCSport Better than 6 7 wickets 🫠

How much did @BBCSport say #Australia won by? #theashes #AUSvENG

Since early morning, my family and I have been living in a state of total psychological collapse. Today we learned that our homes, our land, and our entire neighborhood, every house belonging to our family and our neighbors, have been completely erased. Bulldozed. Flattened into a barren stretch of yellow dust. From the first light of day, we have been living the full meaning of defeat. We have lost more than seventy members of our family. We have lost our land. We now have no home to return to, no walls to protect us, no place left to call our own. And then, one of Hamas’s leaders appears on television declaring that “the people have not been defeated,” that “Gaza has stood firm and fought a historic war.” So let history record this: I, Dr. Ezzideen Shehab, from Gaza, together with my family, my friends, and their families, did not fight any war. We were the victims of an annihilation ignited by Hamas from within our homes, only for the Israeli army to descend upon us and unleash its full cruelty on the civilians of Gaza, while Hamas’s fighters vanished into their tunnels. Let history record the truth: we were defeated, utterly, painfully, and completely defeated. And it is we, the people of Gaza, who have the right to say whether we were defeated or not, not those who sit comfortably in Qatar or Turkey. We were crushed, humiliated, and broken after our city was destroyed, occupied, and erased from existence. We were displaced, stripped of everything we had built, left to wander through the ruins of our own lives. And somewhere amid all this, I understood something simple and terrible: My mother’s tears are holier than the homeland itself, and my father’s brokenness matters more to me than any flag. Because what meaning does a homeland hold when it devours the ones you love, when it glorifies death but forgets the living? We were not steadfast. We were held hostage in our own land. We could not leave. We could not change those who claimed to rule us. We were trapped between a merciless occupier and rulers who feed on our suffering. And if there is one moment in my life when I must speak the truth, without fear, without hesitation, then this is that moment. Let it be written clearly: We were not soldiers in a war. We were the bodies buried beneath it. #GazaGenocide

@AFL @Telstra Time to induct Mike into the Hall of Fame

It's the sound of September 🎶 @Telstra | #AFLGF

Saddened to hear about the passing of the legendary Barrie Robran MBE. A Whyalla boy who was one of South Australia's greatest footballers, a state treasure. On behalf of all Government of South Australia, I extend our deepest condolences to his wife Taimi, sons Matthew and Jonathan, grandchildren, and his wider family. May he rest in peace.

This week's column was about a lot of things, including party discipline and topics not discussed enough and voices outside the parliament. But this is the bit I'd like more people to think about:

These three players have collectively achieved three AFL premierships, as well as 196 games and 185 goals at the top level. Sure it’s just one fella contributing, but still. Welcome to Greenacres Football Club, Paul Puopolo.

You dirty lefties are too easy. Enjoy your weekend.

And Albanese won’t only be the first PM to win back to back elections since Howard he will be the first PM ever to increase his majority after a first election victory. Menzies, Howard, Hawke, Fraser did not.

How Clive Palmer thinks people will react to endless insane text messages

Read my statement on my removal from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

@PAFC He looks like his character from NBA Jam 😂

what a game from zak 🤩

My thoughts this morning are also with their families, and the families of those who grieve the loss of a wife or husband, a parent, a child, a sister or brother, or someone else whose absence leaves a deep hole. Lest we forget.

We live in complex times where peace is tragically in short supply, but it’s reassuring to know that this generation of military personnel serves Australia with the same Anzac spirit.

On the 110th anniversary of the Gallipoli Landing, a large crowd gathered at Northfield RSL this morning to pay respect to the fallen. Northfield Hall was where young men had their final dinner and dance with family before sailing to the other side of the world to join the war.