I do have the notification icon on my menu bar if you are talking about the one with three lines across I just didn't show it because it's right after my name which you have warned me about showing.
OK, that explains your mysterious missing icon. I don't have my name in my menu bar so it never occurred to me as a possibility. (By the way, why are you using Fast User Switching? Your name takes up a lot of menu bar real estate, and as far as I know, you're the only user of your MBP. Do you switch between accounts?)
I've never understood why Apple has insisted on wasting so much menu bar real estate on the battery icon. I hope the increased amount of space given to each icon in Big Sur has induced them to change it.
