Elon Musk is obsessive about the design of his supercars, right down to the disappearing door handles. But a series of shocking incidents – from drivers trapped in burning vehicles to dramatic stops on the highway – have led to questions about the safety of the brand. Why won’t Tesla give any answers?
Smaller cells have less energy to expend if something goes wrong, making it easier to control thermal runaway.
Part of the problem with other OEM vehicles is they are using large pouch cells which are prone to being damaged by their very nature, and if something goes wrong there’s significantly more energy per cell to deal with.
People don’t really care about the cells in their car, but they should.
I’ll never own a pouch cell vehicle. Prismatic or cylindrical only.
Edit: and the only reason people were using them years ago was there was no other options with enough supply. It wasn’t because it was the right choice. Many OEMs are now moving away from them.