Why are dozens of 18650s the best solution for high watt projects/products? Like, I’m sure the Tesla battery isn’t just a thousand 18650s, so why do so many (diy projects and professional products alike) just scale up by adding more of these relatively tiny lipstick-tube sized cells?
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The Tesla Roadster was made with 6800 18650s. All of their vehicles since have used a slightly larger 2170 cell (4,416 of them in the Model 3/Y long range pack), and the first Model Ys with their new 4680 cells (816 or 828 of them) are rolling off the line in Austin for employees and specialty customers. The primary reason for smaller cells is that as energy travels through the battery, it encounters resistance, which results in energy loss via heat. The shorter distance electrons need to travel within the battery, the more energy you will able to get out of it, and the cooler it will operate. Tesla is moving to larger cells by changing the internal structure of the battery so that it’s built like several batteries wrapped together in a single package, reducing the overall distance the electrons need to travel within it.
[https://www.torquenews.com/sites/default/files/images/tesla_18650_vs_2170_vs_4680_battery_cells.jpeg](https://www.torquenews.com/sites/default/files/images/tesla_18650_vs_2170_vs_4680_battery_cells.jpeg)
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