They have http://www.cree.com/lighting/products/

Sylvania claims their 100 watt Incandescent A19 Bulb, softwhite, is 1750 Lumens, and frankly, they should know.

No it doesn't.
Air drag goes up roughly as a second power of speed.

I don't have a problem with China developing a launch capability, but if it bothers you, then pick some other location - Boliviaâ(TM)s Potosi, the Rocky Mountains, ... any place both high and not ridiculously remote.

Mass driver tech can accelerate buckets at 5000m/sec^2. Buckets using this hypersonic tech, a 6 km mass driver in a very high place, say Tibet, and we could chuck stuff into orbit at 1/100th the current cost.

Am I missing something, or should we start construction?

An EV's fuel is electricity and electricity's energy density is so much better than hydrocarbons it's silly.

Batteries are analogous to the fuel tank, and yes, they suck by comparison.
10 kilograms of fuel tank can hold a lot more fuel-energy than 10 kilograms of batteries.

For a fair comparison though, you need to look at the whole system; engine+fuel tank+fuel.
ICE still wins, but not by nearly as much.

Imagine this;
Business has a problem.
They hire a software engineer to solve that problem.
The software engineer, working entirely on their own, writes a piece of software that solves that problem.
Business implements the software.
Patent holder sues business because software violates holder's patent.

It might take a professional folklorist or ethicist to determine who's the bad guy in that situation.

Now imagine a third scenario;
Business has a problem.
They hire a software engineer to solve that problem.
The software engineer, working entirely on their own, writes a piece of software that solves that problem.
Business asks if the software violates any patents.
No one has any idea.

Even a folklorist or ethicist won't help you resolve the patent issue in that third scenario.
And that's the real problem with software patents.
It's not business knowingly using an invention and not paying for it's development.
It's not business being forced to pay for something they didn't use.
No, the problem is not knowing.

Software engineers are notorious for reinventing the wheel.
We often don't look for existing solutions because it's easier to reinvent them than to find them.
I don't believe anyone in the current lawsuit read Eolas's patent and said "nice idea, it's mine now."
But they did have to go to court over it.

Only a lawyer would think that's a good thing.

Ion thrusters have a distinct advantage over Casimir effect thrusters in that the former actually exist.

For LEO to HEO I think tether propulsion is a far better candidate.

Every department has secrets they don't share.
Ask the finance manager for a list of the salaries in the company. see what that gets you.
Even the janitor doesn't publish a list of trash pick up dates.