I wonder if the push for battery technology from Obama-Chu lead to this decision. People always want to make the Boss happy..even if it's the wrong technology for the job.
@6 - It could be the batteries, or it could how they are situated. Poor ventilation and close grouping of lithium ion batteries can lead to overheating, so it's quite possibly a Boeing design flaw.
the dreamliner can be a successful aircraft if its batteries are changed after a year as standard maintainance procedure till they develop batteries with longer life.
--bks