A comparative testing study of commercial 18650-format lithium-ion battery cells

Abstract

Demand for portable electronic and electrical devices has led to considerable growth in production of lithium-ion battery cells and the number of manufacturers thereof. However, due to lack of supplied information or independent verification, it is frequently difficult to compare cells based on available data. In this study, we conduct a comparative testing study on five types of 18650-format lithium-ion cells from three different commercial manufacturers, ranging from budget to high-performance cells. Key insights gathered in the comparison were that the tested budget cells frequently offer less than 20% of their rated capacity, that the budget cells degrade at a significantly higher propor..