Another nice thing about the automotive world driving these cells is that they have needs very similar to ours, the need for both high drain AND high capacity batteries and/or with a good balance of both. Thus it should press forward the higher drain version of cells.
I don’t see the 21700 replacing smaller cells, but if it’s performance comes close to or exceeds the 26650, then that may signal the closing of that chapter in LiIon cells. Bigger is only useful if it’s also better 
What I’m most curious about is whether the first crop of 21700 lights will be expanded body 18650’s, shrunken body 26650’s, or an entirely new size of light with a balanced design to match. Interesting times are ahead however it happens :sunglasses:
Phil
You need to buy another charger with these new 21700cells
BT-C3100 software seem don’t support this new format
Why would you need a new charger?, as long as it fits, if the voltage is supported by the charger, and the needed charging algorithm is not too different, it should work.
Yep, all lithium 3.7V cells use the same 4.2V charge cutout and that is all that matters for charging (well and they you don’t try to charge too quick but few chargers could do that anyways).
That’s like saying since the opus chargers 18650 it can’t charge 14500 or 26650. All current 4.2 chargers will charge them if they fit which they should in most chargers. Especially the outer slots of every 4 bay charger. This cell wasn’t out when opus printed their owners manual but it will charge them no problem just like xstar, liito Kala, nitecore, efest and any charger that can slide to 70mm and charger a 26650 will take them
Well…. here are some Sanyo NCR20700A & Sanyo NCR20700B batteries, right here in the USA; ready to be sold.
EDIT: Ooops, this was nothing new. I had a brain fart and read this as “21700” my bad, :person_facepalming:
I’ve already mentioned the NCR20700B from Sanyo is fitting all my recent charges OPUS 3100, XTAR VP2, SV2, and the Lii 500. They can also fit in a few of my 26650 lights so one can do some basic playing with these until we get a light made for them. I didn’t check them all, but I don’t see any issue, they also fit some of the recent XTAR single slot chargers. A couple old ones they won’t fit in, but those have issues with long protected 18650 cells and that is why they have been retired.
10$ for a 20700 …well…some time will pass till those became popular i guess
The ball is in the Samsung /LG field now i presume, lets see if they`ll follow or continue developing 18650
Oveready is specialised in SF modifications.
Speaking from experience: I bought a 6PD in a clearance and bored the tube out with an adjustable hand-reamer.
Oveready says to aim at a diameter of 18.65mm. I had to bore my light out to 18.70mm ultimately.
At that size a protected 3400 mAh Keeppower slides in and out (it does not fall in because of escaping air).
The narrowest place on the tube is a groove for a second O-ring, next to the thread for the tailcap.
The diameter there is a mere 19.50mm. And that’s the end of the line. No 20700 or 21-70 in this light.
Do remember that the 6P was to be used at 6V, produced bij 2 * CR123A primary cell’s (size equals 16340).
At least one is in the works. Design is staying close, many parts still universal. Head, bezel, lens, boot, dropins and switches. Not universal; host, tail cap.
Well………I don’t see the big hype in this cell format.
Plenty of high cap high drain 18650 that do the job nicely. If I need duration I use good 26650 cells.
Or a light with multiple cells.
The big advantage I see in this is that the new cell format will be driven to the highest level of development because in will be the new automotive standard.
18650 seems to be at or near te end of its possibilities and the development of 26650 is lacking progress, to put it politely.
I can only hope that this will not cause the production of 18650 to bleed dry: I still have a ot of lights that can only use this format cells.
Would be nice though to have the batt tube of my catapult V2 being drilled out to accept these new cells, as I plan to use it with an LD1 at 6A on once cell.
That light has enough tube thickness to do just that.
This development could also be the end of any further 26650 development.
Not to speak of 32650.
Grtz
Nico
You should do it. Catapult is a very over built light. NCR20700B is about 20% more capacity than the best 18650. Easy practical conversion as 18650’s would still fit.
FYI: You can also fit the Sanyo NCR20700B into the 100Mhz BF-1A Battery Holder.
Has anyone seen official specifications, from Tesla or Panasonic, about the mAh capacity and maximum discharge current, for the 21-70 cell?
The cells have been in production at the gigafactory for almost 3 months, and I have not seen any technical info about them other than the size.
I have researched this a lot and even if one of the other emerging technologies catches on…the 2170’s are going to be king for a while. And no…nobody at Tesla calls them “21700’s” They are “twenty-one seventy’s” They use the same core components as the 18650 but they have about 35% more capacity because of the room for extra chemistry in the diameter. They have higher density and lower internal resistance and they will be improved more, faster than any other type of battery. Almost as important for us is, once again, the diameter. You can still machine a 1” tube to fit existing gun/other types of mounts…even if you have to put the cap on after installing the body. 1” fits almost perfectly in most hands. The primary reason this size will continue to be king is because 21mm provides the optimal density for groups or packs of batteries. If you put 92 of them together you get better actual density than you do for 18mm or 26mm in the same footprint regardless of internal configuration. And, there is still enough air gap to provide cooling to the pack. I have thought about buying 26650 lights but I will wait for the 2170’s. 18650’s probably won’t leave us for a long time, but I prefer a larger handle and higher energy density. 4800’s still have plenty of amps for most light applications and they are available now. Yay for runtime. I would buy a 2170 version of the Lumintop ODF30 right now for EDC if they made one…and no I don’t want to put spacers around it and use the 26650 version (it is possible to cram some in). 1” body, 2170 batteries, XHP 70.2 without a giant reflector and bezel, please. Super bonus would be the ability to extend to a second cell…
Also these batteries (not 4800’s) are available in most of the new battery packs for DeWalt and the bigger tool companies for sometimes cheaper than you can get them elsewhere. Youtube is your friend.
I really want to see the tech trickle down to smaller batteries - like 14500’s.
18650’s are way more advanced… you get 2.5x the energy per weight.
A 14500 with the same advanced chemistry should get something like 2000mAH instead of 800. That would make for an awesome lightweight light.
Anyone know how high energy capacity density is for the custom lithium batteries? Things like what the Nitecore NU25 might use?
Pretty sure it’s the same tech. Just different package size. The 18650 has more capacity than a 14500 simply because it’s a larger package. Same with lipo packs like whats in the NU-20 and other’s. I don’t think there is anything magical about the Tesla/Panasonic 21700.
Tesla have gone down one path, using hundreds of “standard” cylindrical cells, crammed into every space available in the floorpan etc. giving them a cost, time to market, and performance advantage compared with…
Mainstream manufacturers, e.g. Nissan and BMW, who are in this for the long term, and have developed, and continue to develop bespoke battery packs, which look nothing like a random bunch of cells fitted in wherever. Proper cooling, and pre-warming for low temperature, and replaceable/recyclable as a modular package, perhaps with a multi-year performance guarantee, and/or a lease whereby they are replaced once performance degrades.
Though no-one recycles lithium cells yet (except in demo. pilot plants), it is still cheaper just to make new ones.
Not as sexy for performance (but some BMWs are pretty good).
To replace the cells on a Tesla perhaps requires the whole car to be taken to bits, if it is even do-able.
I generally run my cars for at least ten years, which is about average in the EU, not sure these electric buggies would last that long yet, or just be limping along for local trips only…