Cell Benchmarking

Specifications for cells are getting more difficult to locate and are containing less data, therefore, I thought it might be good to do some informal google search based cell benchmarking. If we pick off some of the most important cells and list the high level specifications and link to other pages, papers and references where they have been tested we could piece together a better picture.

Also, I think we can link to the application benchmarks and use that data as a reference as to what the cell is actually capable of. Of course, their are some great cell specification sheets and we will link to them as well.

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Ampace

• JP40 – a 4Ah tabless 21700 cell that can deliver > 140A peak.

BAK

• BAK INR4695-330B – tabless 46xx cell

BMW

• 46xx – the Gen6 battery pack design is based on a cylindrical 46mm cell.

BYD

• Blade – long thin prismatic cell design that has revolutionised the EV market by enabling a high enough system level energy density for LFP chemistry to work. Blade cell to pack design.
  • Blade nail penetration test – a look at online references to this particular test and this cell.
• Blade 2.0
  • BYD Blade 2.0 compared to 1.0 – still LFP, but a significant improvement in cell specification and pack design.
  • 2026 BYD Short Blade 2.0 – the smaller of the cells designed for high charge/discharge rates.
• FC4680P – 15Ah LFP cylindrical cell in the Tesla 4680 cylindrical format.

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CATL

• ACC Cells
  • 142.9 Ah Prismatic – CATL’s “Dual Vent” Prismatic Cell – CATL’s automotive-grade NMC811 prismatic cell ships with a headline safety feature: a “Dual Vent Safety Design.”
• 46145 LFP – not many details of the CATL 46145 LFP cell as yet. However, it’s worth sharing as we know already that CATL are lined up to supply 46xx cells for the 2025 BMW Gen6 packs.
• Tesla LFP
  • BTF0 161Ah LFP –  the cell used in the 55kWh Tesla Model 3 SR pack.
  • BTF1 174Ah LFP

EVE

• Why EVE believe in Large Cylindrical Cells – a look at the 4 reasons why EVE believe in large cylindrical cells.

Geely

• Geely Aegis Short Blade – 192Wh/kg LFP cell

Gotion

• L600 Astroinno – lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) battery cell

Hina

• NaCR32140-MP10 – sodium ion cylindrical cell. Cold temperature performance is very strong along with cycle performance.

JLi Battery

• JLi Battery Co 37Ah 4695 – a 335Wh/kg cylindrical cell with a Ni-rich NMC cathode + Silicone Carbon anode. Also of note, the cells are using aluminium shell to enable the lightest weight and highest thermal performance.

K-Tech

• IMR34145E 14 vs IFR34145E 15 – a look at these two cells side by side allows us to compare LMFP vs LFP from same manufacturer in the same size can.

LG Energy

• INR18650 MJ1 – 3.5Ah NMC cylindrical cell
• INR21700 M50 – 5Ah NMC811 + SiOx 21700 cylindrical cell
  • M50T
  • M50LT
• E66a – pouch cell used in a number of vehicles, most notably the 800V Porsche Taycan and it’s Audi sister the e-tron GT quattro.

Molicel

• P45B
  • Genuine P45B Tests – measured with calibrated precision class 0.01 instruments for rated capacity measurement STANDARD at C/5 to 5C.

Murata

What was originally the Sony cell designs.

Nuvvon

• 1Ah NMC811/Graphite and NMC9/Li-metal – a real hint at what solid state lithium metal cells can deliver.
  • Solid State Passes Nail Test – a comparison of a conventional liquid electrolyte to the Nuvvon solid state design.
  • It’s Silicon Nigel … but not as we know it! – NMC811 and Graphite / 40% Silicon
• 5Ah Nuvvon Solid State – 495 Wh/kg and 1090 Wh/litre
• Nuvvon Power 5Ah Cell
  • Nuvvon Power 5Ah Cell – 250Wh/kg solid state cell >1000 cycles at 3C charge and 5C discharge
  • No pressure! Nuvvon 5Ah SiC NMC solid state – comparing cycle performance using 10psi external pressure versus zero external pressure.

Panasonic

• NCR18650B –
• NCR21700A – one of the cells that we need to benchmark and list resources available.

PowerCo

• Unified Cell – a vision from VW to simplify it’s battery packs with one cell design that works across more than 80% of it’s products.

Samsung SDI

• Samsung SDI – Korean cell maker selling under the PRiMX brand since 2021, now producing 46-series cylindrical cells. Supplier for the 2013 BMW i3 and Rivian Max Battery Pack.

SES

• 50Ah Lithium Metal Cell – specification sheet released in December 2022. A claimed energy density of 357Wh/kg makes this an interesting development.

Solid Power

• BMW Solid State Research – a Solid Power cell in a BMW i7 research vehicle.

Sony

• Sony 1991 Lithium Ion cylindrical cells History and specification.

Tesla

• 4680 cell
  • Tesla 4680 Cell Generation 2 – chemistry changes and improvements to the mechanical design result in quite an improvement.
  • 4680 cell design Gen 1 – a look at the cell design with references to teardowns on YouTube and other sources
    • 4680 Cathode Porosity – an estimation of the cathode porosity using an image processing technique.

WeLion

• SHE350-106Ah – a semi-solid state cell that is very close to that used in the 150kWh NIO battery pack.

Cell Specifications

What do we need to see on a cell specifications sheet? Of course we need high level data, but I think we need quite a bit more. This is my starter, but I would like to develop this list into a more concise draft for a datasheet.

See also: OLA 2-Wheeler Battery Pack Teardown, LG INR 21700 M50, LG INR 18650 MJ1, Lithium Manganese Iron Phosphate, Teardown