Some details of new battery at WSJ article

[ivengo]

Here is a new article from WSJ that talks about gigafactory and has dimension details of the new and old batteries
Tesla Races to Finish ‘Gigafactory’ in Time for Model 3 Rollout

When you read about the details of the battery you will encounter the following paragraph
"Tesla’s gigafactory will be the first ever to make a new format of battery—a 21/70, rather than the 18/650 that the auto maker uses today for the Model S and Model X. The latter cylinder-shaped battery is commonly used in portable electronics and has been used by Tesla since the beginning. The numbers stand for the width and length in millimeters."

The dimensions of the old battery 18/650 dont make sense, because 650mm is a couple of feet long which is in no way will fit model s or x floor. I thought it is a typo first but the author uses exactly the same numbers in the comments section.
Do you know what is the actual size of the "old" cell?

 

[Cyclone]

Do you know what is the actual size of the "old" cell?

Should be available on listings for purchase of an individual cell.
Amazon.com: 18650 battery panasonic: Electronics

Dimensions: 2.56 in x 0.71 in x 0.71 in (6.5 cm x 1.8 cm x 1.8 cm)

 

[AndreN]

18650 cells are 18mm x 65mm. No idea why WSJ is calling them 18/650. No one does that. Also the 21/70 would be called 21700.

From Wikipedia: "The larger rechargeable cells are typically assigned five-digit numbers, where the first two digits are the (approximate) diameter in millimeters, followed by the last three digits indicating the (approximate) height in tenths of millimeters."

 

[Johan]

Well there you have it: WSJ is as clueless when it comes to battery dimension nomenclature as they are to everything else Tesla related.

 

[ivengo]

Thank you for your replies, they are very helpful.