OverviewMarketBefore lithium-ion: 1960-1975Precommercial development: 1974-1990Commercialization in portable applications: 1991-2007Commercialization in automotive applications: 2008-today
Industry produced about 660 million cylindrical lithium-ion cells in 2012; the 18650 size is by far the most popular for cylindrical cells. If Tesla were to have met its goal of shipping 40,000 Model S electric cars in 2014 and if the 85 kWh battery, which uses 7,104 of these cells, had proved as popular overseas as it was in the United States, a 2014 study projected that the Model S alone woul…