A question even the industry cannot definitively answer, and the answer lies at the end of its life cycle. Without sampling failures, creating solutions for a large number of battery systems, and reaching the final destination, i.e., recycling, it is very difficult to determine which is the best. However, we have summarized the answer into a very brief description based on what we have been analyzing for nearly 5 years.
The best battery system in the world is one you can repair cheaply/quickly, and the best battery cell is one that is readily available and still usable for a second life.
The picture shows the quarterly collection of battery waste that is unusable for any other secondary or tertiary application and must undergo a demanding recycling process into raw materials. In the picture, you see around 300kg of Lithium and NiMH cells, 90% of which are mostly Pouch cells, the rest being Toyota Lexus overheated and overcooked junk in a poorly designed battery system. The remaining smaller quantity is Prismatic NMC, mostly from Hybrids, and in hand are defective Cylindrical cells where we repaired 2 battery systems in a Tesla. Yes, only 4 cells.
What the industry has now realized but lacks the courage to talk about, is the new taboo topic that Europe completely missed the mark by using the worst possible cell for battery systems, which is the Pouch cell. The Pouch cell has proven to be very unreliable, complicated for industrial assembly, and unreliable in the long term for any application in the automotive industry. The problem is that each manufacturer designs its form factor, making repair impossible due to the lack of replacements. Another issue is the high degradation and intolerance of cells to high C-rates, i.e., higher discharge and charge currents. Almost all battery systems where repairs were very expensive or impossible involved these cells.
Today, everyone understands: Porsche, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, and some others, that the only correct path is a battery system with Cylindrical cells, precisely the cells the entire legacy industry mocked. Now, those same ones who mocked are switching to cylindrical, 16 years after realizing that Tesla was right. The system is more durable and easier to repair, cells are easily available and replaceable. One of the easiest and cheapest battery systems to repair is the Tesla Model 3 LR and SR with cylindrical cells, simpler than the Model S. The smaller amount of problems we encounter are with Prismatic (LFP or Blade) cells, which are more common in Hybrids where the battery systems are poorly designed and exhaust their 2000 cycles in 50k km, and are more expensive than an 80kWh EV battery.
In the future, probably everyone will switch to Cylindrical where performance is crucial, and to prismatic/blade where profitability is important. The future certainly brings exponential growth in the quality of these cells, so the need for battery repairs or cell replacement will be greatly reduced. Systems are getting better and higher quality. This is already visible, if we ignore some factory recalls, but one thing is certain, there are very few defective batteries now and there will be even fewer in the future. Completely contrary to mainstream media misinformation and fearmongering (as seen in Auto Klub). The bigger problem will be electric motors and other systems, as is already the case.
Tesla – Rivian – Lucid – Cylindrical
VW ID – Pouch
Porsche – Pouch
Nissan – Pouch
skoda seat – Pouch
Kia – Pouch
Jaguar- pouch
Hyundai – Pouch
Renault – Pouch
Mercedes – Pouch
Smart – Pouch
Stelantis – Prismatic
Fiat – Prismatic
Bmw- prismatic.
Novi prototipi:
Porsche taycan 2024 – Cylindrical
BMW 2024-> – Cylindrical
Hyundia Kia plan na Cyilindrical
