Sounds like the 21700's have 50% more volume, likely slightly less than 50% more energy, but lower peak power output because of heat issues caused by a higher v

Sounds like the 21700's have 50% more volume, likely slightly less than 50% more energy, but lower peak power output because of heat issues caused by a higher volume to surface ratio. Telsa seems to be selling the new battery factory as a prerequisite for the model 3. Both for the volume of batteries and the cost. However the model 3 is smaller, less air drag, less rolling resistance, weighs substantially less, and (from what little telsa has said) will be much slower to accelerate. The 21700s should be cheaper to build a battery pack out of, less temp sensors, less connections, less monitoring circuits, and less labor. So maybe the 21700 based battery packs will be used across the different teslas and provide the cheapest way to hit a given range. Then the 18650 based packs (that can deliver a high peak power because of better cooling) will be more expensive, but provide better 0-60 times.