Test/Review of Sony US18650VTC5 (2600mAh, 30A*)

*The datasheet specifies 20A continuous discharge current without temperature cutoff.
30A are allowed only with temperature cutoff at 80°C.

Sony US18650VTC5:

Capacity, energy and average voltage on discharge to 2.50V:
table(table#posts).
|A|Ah|Wh|V|
|1.0|2.564|9.350|3.646|
|3.0|2.522|9.002|3.569|
|5.0|2.550|8.968|3.517|
|7.0|2.593|8.974|3.461|
|10.0|2.614|8.907|3.407|
|15.0|2.634|8.736|3.316|
|20.0|2.630|8.553|3.252|

Capacity, energy and average voltage on discharge to 2.80V:
table(table#posts).
|A|Ah|Wh|V|
|1.0|2.540|9.287|3.656|
|3.0|2.487|8.908|3.582|
|5.0|2.515|8.875|3.528|
|7.0|2.552|8.864|3.474|
|10.0|2.567|8.780|3.420|
|15.0|2.567|8.556|3.333|
|20.0|2.542|8.316|3.272|

After 20A discharge, the cells were almost 90°C hot.
Note that 30A are allowed only with temperature cutoff at 80°C.

Sony US18650VTC5 vs Samsung SDI INR18650-25R (Green):

Sony US18650VTC5 vs Samsung SDI INR18650-30Q:

The VTC5 were provided by akkuteile.de for comparison with the new VTC5A.

The performance of the VTC5 relative to the 25R contradicts other information I’ve seen such as that provided by HKJ.

VTC5 is known to maintain better voltage at high current draw, but your data indicates it is has more voltage sag than 25R.

Well, these are the results, I can’t do anything about it.
The –25R was a brand new cell from akkuteile.de, tested in February at 22°C ambient temperature. I had only one cell for that test.
The VTC5s were tested last week at 23-24°C ambient temperature.
For the 25R I used a different multimeter, but also calibrated, and the difference to the new one is less than 2 mV.
The dummy load (calibrated, 0.1% precision) was the same in both tests.
I use a four-terminal cell connector, so contact resistance has no influence on measured voltage.

In HKJs test, the new green 25R were a lot weaker than the older cyan ones. The cyan ones were almost identical to VTC5.
I’m not sure if HKJs green 25Rs are representative. Or if maybe mine was above average.

Good Day Herr light-wolff,

Very Useful data Superbly presented, particularly including the comparisons to other relevant cells/batteries.

Thank you Very Much,

Best Regards,

George

The problem is that producers bring to the market new product revisions like every 1-2-3 month without even announsing it

I think temperature plays the role here. Note as it starts lower, but rises. Samsung having higher resistance was simply hotter during discharge. Also lower capacity results corresponds with this as the cell lost bit more energy on heating itself.
Also VTC5s are all years old now.

Thanks for these compact and useful tests and comparisons, very insightful!

That’s not true. There was recently a new batch.

That’s not true. There was recently a new batch.