There are a HUGE number of patents that were bought and shelved

It's nothing new nor is it something that is unheard of. Has anyone watched Who Killed The Electric Car? Did you watch if carefully? Did you happen to notice that what made the GM Impact EV1 possible was the large format Nickle Metal Hydride battery that was developed by the inventor Stan Ovshinsky (look up on Wikipedia) which was produced by his company Ovonic - Cobasys/Energy Conversion Devices outside of Detroit, Michigan? Did you happen to pay attention to how General Motors sold controlling share of the company to Chevron-Texaco? Need proof? http://www.cobasys.com/pdf/presentations/NiMH%20Batteries%20for%20Energy%20Storage%20Applications.pdf
Sure since then inroads have been made in battery technology but if Chevron the OIL COMPANY had not purchased a controlling share of the company that made the batteries that made electric cars possible, they would have been available a lot sooner and a lot cheaper for every household if Chevron did not lock the patent down and refuse to sell it for automotive purposes. You see there is a reason these crooks bought the company, they are an OIL COMPANY! It is in their best interest to prevent electric cars from taking off. This is not complicated people nor is it a conspiracy theory. It is the way things are done. That's one of the many evils capitalism - to destroy any superior technology or service to continue profiting off the inferior technology or service. What Thrive suggests is similar.