Lithium-ion batteries have become the energy storage solution of choice for a myriad of applications, ranging from portable electronics to electric vehicles and renewable energy systems. Within the realm of lithium-ion technology, there are various cell designs, each with its unique characteristics and applications. In this article, we delve into the world of prismatic, pouch, and cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells, comparing their structures, advantages, and use cases.
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A prismatic cell is a type of lipo battery cell that is characterized by its rectangular or square shape. Unlike cylindrical cells, which are tubular, lithium prismatic cells have a flat and often stackable design. The electrode materials are typically arranged in layers, and the cell is enclosed in a sturdy metal casing. These cells are often used in applications where space efficiency is crucial, as their flat shape allows for better packaging in certain devices. It's important to note that lithium ion prismatic cells are just one of several form factors available for lithium-ion batteries. Each form factor has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the choice of cell type depends on the specific requirements of the application.
Advantages of Prismatic Cells
◆Space Efficiency: Prismatic cells are known for their space-efficient design, making them ideal for applications with limited space constraints.
◆Stackability: The flat shape of lithium prismatic cells allows for easy stacking, enabling the creation of battery packs with higher energy density.
◆Enhanced Thermal Performance: The flat design aids in heat dissipation, contributing to improved thermal performance.
A pouch lithium-ion battery cell, also known as a flexible or flat-cell battery, is a type of lithium-ion battery that features a flexible, flat, and pouch-like design. Unlike traditional cylindrical or prismatic cells, pouch cells are generally made by laminating flat electrodes and separators, then sealing them in a flexible, heat-sealed pouch or bag made of a flexible material, often aluminum or other polymers.
Advantages of Pouch Cells
◆Flexibility and Adaptability: Pouch cell battery can be molded into various shapes, making them highly adaptable to irregular spaces and unconventional designs.
◆Weight Reduction: The absence of a rigid casing reduces the overall weight of the cell, making lithium ion pouch cells a preferred choice for applications where weight is a critical factor.
◆Cost-Effectiveness: The manufacturing process for lithium ion pouch cells is often simpler and less resource-intensive, contributing to cost savings.
A cylindrical lithium-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that has a cylindrical shape. These batteries consist of a cylindrical metal casing that houses the internal components, including the positive and negative electrodes, separator, and electrolyte. The most common type of cylindrical lithium-ion battery is the cell, named for its dimensions: 18 millimeters in diameter and 65 millimeters in length. While the cell is the most well-known, there are other cylindrical cell form factors, such as and cells, each with different dimensions and specifications.
Advantages of Cylindrical Cells
◆Proven Reliability: Cylindrical lithium ion battery cells have been in use for a long time and have a proven track record of reliability and safety.
◆Ease of Manufacturing: The cylindrical design lends itself to mass production, leading to economies of scale and lower manufacturing costs.
◆Widespread Applications: Cylindrical lithium ion battery cells are commonly found in a wide range of applications, including consumer electronics, power tools, and electric vehicles.
Prismatic, pouch, and cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells are three common form factors used in various applications. Each type has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, and the choice of form factor depends on the specific requirements of the application. Here's a brief comparison:
◆Space Efficiency
Prismatic cells are known for space efficiency due to their flat design.
Pouch cells offer adaptability to various shapes and sizes.
Cylindrical cells are compact and easy to stack, making them efficient for specific applications.
◆Flexibility
Prismatic cells are less flexible due to their rigid shape.
Pouch cells are highly flexible and can adapt to unconventional spaces.
Cylindrical cells are moderately flexible but less adaptable to irregular shapes.
◆Weight
Prismatic cells have a moderate weight, depending on the materials used.
Pouch cells are lightweight due to their flexible packaging.
Cylindrical cells have a moderate weight, influenced by the metal casing.
◆Cost
Prismatic cells may have higher manufacturing costs due to their specialized design.
Pouch cells are often cost-effective, thanks to a simpler manufacturing process.
Cylindrical cells benefit from economies of scale and widespread use, contributing to cost-effectiveness.
In the ever-evolving landscape of lithium-ion battery technology, the choice between prismatic, pouch, and cylindrical cells depends on the specific requirements of the application. Each design offers unique advantages, and manufacturers carefully consider factors such as space constraints, flexibility, weight, and cost to determine the most suitable cell type for a given purpose. As technology advances, innovations in lithium-ion cell design continue to drive progress in energy storage solutions across diverse industries. As a global leader in lithium battery cell manufacturing, Grepow offers professional customization solutions for lithium-ion battery packs and Battery Management Systems (BMS), catering to your specific application requirements. If you have any questions or needs, please feel free to contact us at .
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Manufacturers are doubling down on their efforts to reduce costs and improve the performance and safety of the battery technology that underpins these vehicles.
While much has been written about the impressive advances in Li-ion battery chemistries, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) also pay close attention to the selection of the appropriate battery cell format, also referred to as the ‘form factor.’
The importance of the form factor extends beyond mere space and packaging requirements. Indeed, the technical fit alone is usually not the primary consideration. OEMs are increasingly aligning, and adapting, the choice of form factor with their strategic and performance objectives, whether it be high energy density for increased range, or safe and durable extreme fast charging.
By selecting an appropriate form factor OEMs can optimize functionality to suite their design objectives: For instance a manufacturer may wish to optimize the fast charging capability of its EVs.
StoreDot's proprietary 100inX cell technology is cell form-factor agnostic. Due to the combined properties of its unique electrode design, specialized electrolyte and advanced electrode materials any format can benefit from the fast-charging capabilities of XFC. This empowers OEMs to choose the format that best suits their vehicle design, manufacturing platform capabilities, and market segment without sacrificing charging speed.
Currently, three cell form factors dominate the EV market: prismatic, pouch, and cylindrical formats. Each type brings its own set of advantages and disadvantages, allowing OEMs to customize their EV battery packs to align with their product strategies.
In , the market share of each format across the 6 largest battery manufacturers was: prismatic ~40 percent, pouch ~35 percent, and cylindrical ~15 percent.
Selecting the best of these cell formats for the application is often the key to enabling an OEM to fulfill the functional objectives of its EV strategies.
When deciding on a Li-ion EV battery specification, OEMs have to carefully consider all the interrelated factors, including the strengths and weaknesses of each battery cell form factor in meeting the company’s strategies for the particular model being designed.
The important contribution of the battery-cell form factor in meeting a company’s wider strategy is well illustrated by Tesla’s switch from cylindrical to prismatic cells in all its standard-range Model 3s and Ys. To reduce the cost of its Standard Range lineup Tesla chose to change to lithium iron phosphate (also known as LFP or LiFePO4) battery chemistry, which is also less energy-dense than the nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA) chemistry used in its cylindrical cells. By converting to larger format, higher capacity, prismatic cells – which also allowed the company to embrace cell-to-pack (CTP) design - Tesla was able to partially compensate for the loss in energy density, while retaining the cost benefits.
Tesla’s original choice of the cylindrical cell was primarily driven by availability, safety, and cost. As the oldest form factor, the greatest advantage of the cylindrical cell is its availability and cost-effective manufacturing – thanks largely to economies of scale.
Cylindrical cells, because of their shape (with a beneficial surface area to volume ratio) that allows for cooling pathways between the cells, also have good thermal performance when assembled into packs.
However, there are also drawbacks to the cylindrical format. Due to their shape, battery pack volumetric efficiency is compromised. The gravimetric energy density, at a pack level, is also lower than that of pouch or prismatic formats - thereby affecting applications with strict weight constraints or range requirements.
Additionally, OEMs need to plan for a much higher cell count, compared to prismatic cells, to achieve the same capacity. Even with a with ~25 Ah capacity, as presented by Tesla, the cell count is 4 times that of a 100 Ah prismatic cell to achieve the same pack capacity, which in turn increases the overheads for BMS, TMS, etc.
Due to these limitations, many in the industry believe cylindrical cells have reached their ceiling in terms of performance and optimization, paving the way for pouch and prismatic formats to dominate future strategies.
The pouch cell, although not as widely used in EV applications as the prismatic format, has two characteristics that OEMs can leverage to customize their EV strategies: Weight and flexible packaging.
Because of its construction the pouch cell is flexible, allowing designers to create custom shapes and sizes to fit specific applications. In terms of space optimization, this translates to between 90 to 95 percent packaging efficiency which converts into improved volumetric energy densities. The absence of a rigid casing also contributes to its light weight, making the pouch cell suitable for applications with weight constraints – although this is often offset to some extent by the weight of the battery-pack housing.
One of the critical challenges for OEMs is battery thermal management. Efficient heat dissipation is essential to maintain optimal battery performance, extend battery life, and ensure the safety of the vehicle during fast charging. The downside of pouch cells in EV applications is the poor thermal conductivity of the pouch.
Thus, in applications where thermal management is deemed critical, manufacturers turn to cylindrical cells or increasingly, the prismatic form factor.
Prismatic cells that, thanks to their stacked "layer" configuration, facilitate heat dissipation and temperature regulation also offer excellent space utilization. The stacked design allows OEMs to maximize the available volume within the vehicle, thereby optimizing the energy density which in turn allows the OEM to either increase the EV’s range or reduce the size of the battery for the same performance depending on the OEM’s strategy.
Looking for innovative ways to increase energy density and range, several OEMs are turning to large format prismatic cells, assembled directly into the battery pack, in the CTP format. By foregoing the traditional assembly of cells into modules, weight is reduced and volume utilization optimized – resulting in cost savings and improvements in energy density.
Power density is another critical parameter that OEMs evaluate when selecting a Li-ion battery cell form factor. Higher power density enhances fast charging capabilities and EV dynamic performance, such as acceleration.
Whereas typical cell-to-pack architectures aim to improve energy density to extend range, StoreDot also enables extreme fast charging (XFC) with its I-BEAM XFC™ concept. It overcomes many of the complexities and cost challenges of embedding XFC capability at the vehicle level, allowing OEMs to more easily implement fast charging strategies.
At the core of the I-BEAM XFC™ sits StoreDot's proprietary 100in5 cell technology, which enables charging 100 miles, or 160km of range in just 5 minutes. StoreDot’s 100in5 electrodes are assembled into its new I-BEAM XFC™ prismatic cells, which are designed to be incorporated directly into the battery pack.
Unlike traditional cooling systems, the I-BEAM XFC™’s patented Structural Cooling concept is embedded into the structure of each cell, providing enhanced thermal management. This prevents localized hot spots and maintains uniform temperatures across the battery pack, enabling it to accept the ultra-high currents required for fast charging, with minimal system overhead.
As OEMs seek to expand their model lineups to satisfy the demands of an ever-increasing and diverging range of consumers, the role of the battery cell’s form factor in giving manufacturers the design flexibility to meet unique strategies is likely to intensify.
Currently, there is no unanimous winner in terms of battery cell format, with the industry embracing all three configurations to cater to different needs and strategies. The battle is not only about energy storage but also the physical design that influences critical aspects such as thermal management and overall efficiency – with each cell form factor offering unique solutions.
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