DonaldBecker
Member
There is one battery redesign that does make a difference for the consumer (not sure if it's in the new 4680 cells). The internal shape of the cathode/anode are modified so the internal heat generation is way lower. That has many advantages, both during supercharging and driving, and it almost certainly will decrease the rate of battery degradation.
Which design aspect are you talking about?
The Tesla Battery Day presentation covered one possible construction change, a 'tabless' battery. This uses electrode foils that are laser patterned on the edges so that they can be crimped over on each end to substitute for welded central tabs. These crimped ends provides a shorter thermal and electrical path.
The shorter path is an enabling improvement for large cells, which otherwise would have problems charging and cooling, but there is nothing that stops the approach being used with the current cell sizes.
There are many other battery advances being talked about, so that many not be the one you are referring to.