Meh. 4680 is already pushing the limits of carry-able flashlight size. Kind of a winter or camping light for me, already. 21700 is my current carry favorite. 4680 is interesting to me because it will allow higher capacity and power in soda can lights. I’m not really interested in anything significantly larger than that (no, I don’t own or plan to own a BLF GT).
The big news here is the construction not the size. They put multiple electrodes along the sides instead of one on each end. This shortens the path electricity has to flow and lowers the internal resistance. Lower internal resistance means less heat produced charging and discharging. This should work with other chemistries such as NiMh.
Carry-able is anything you can carry. A 46800 light is definitely able to be carried. Pocket-able? Well that’s a different term entirely. EDC pocket-able, pants pocket-able, is much different from winter jacket pocket-able. Winter jacket pocket-able is more like holster-able, although a holstered light can be very long, like a 3D Maglite. You can’t put a 3D Maglite in your jacket pocket. You can stick it down your pants though. You might even make some new friends.
What is the limit of Carry-able? I’ve held a garbage can lid in front of me and thought “this is reasonable,” but ultimately I chose a different profession.
I have set the upper limit to the lights I build in my imagination, in terms of head diameter, to about 20 inches / 50 centimeters. As for weight, 20LB / 9KG may be pushing the limits of what is comfortable to carry for a moderate duration using a padded shoulder strap. Golf bag shoulder harnesses that strap over both shoulders would enable 30-35LB / 13-16KG to be carried comfortably, as would a backpack setup.
Take your Q8, DC7, SD01, etc., and just bore it out a few mm, and it’ll fit a 46800 just fine. So we’re not talking about holding a steam-iron in your hands or anything…
I saw one article claiming the capacity of the 4680 was 9,000mAh and another claiming 26,000mAh. Considering this would be 5x the volume of a 21700 cell, 9,000mAh would be horrible in terms of efficiency. But even 26,000mAh is still about 5x the storage of a 21700. Guess we will see once they actually reach manufacturing.
In the presentation they announced that they would have 5 times the capacity and 6 times the intensity of a 21700. If you take a 50E as a base we talk about 25Ah and 60A, if it were a 40T it would be 20Ah and 210A. Both very respectable figures for a battery that is the same diameter as the 3x 21700 and only a centimeter longer.
I can see how some people wouldn’t get excited about it. Ok, I’m lying, I really can’t. A new revision of a Q8- or a D4S-like light with that kind of capacity and current makes me salivate. I hope they live up to the hype and the EV market drops a few crumbs for us.
Worry about parasitic drain would be a thing of the past, at least.
You’re both making a very good point, and I agree, but I hate it. If there are 4680 lights, the first ones are going to be outside the range of what I consider “budget.” Which is probably ok, because the cells will probably not be “budget” initially, if they are made available to plebes like us.
I don’t by torches that cost over $100. I’m definitely going to take a wait-and-see approach if the cells cost that much, and I’ll be shocked if they don’t, at least early on.
It should lost LESS money not more. There are a lot fewer components to manufacture in comparison to a 3x21700 or 4x18650, and fewer points of failure.
That would make sense but I think most companies would set the price based on the capabilities of the light. If it cost a dollar to make but threw a million lumens 10 miles, it would cost thousands of dollars
Eventually, yes, it should. But, intially, when Tesla’s voracious appetite for them is not quite being satisfied, and they’re brand new and demand is extremely high, it’s not uncommon for a price bump to occur.
As have I. Most of the huge lights are way out of my budget.
But, a big light with a 4680 (when they’re $30 :money_mouth_face: ) and a bunch GT FC40 emitters and a peltier cooler might convince me to buy my first ever >$100 light.