There is basically three types of EV battery cells. Cylindrical, Prismatic and pouch cells. Different EV makers use different battery cells in their cars. The battery business is changing so fast, it seems like every week there is new EV and battery news.
Cylindrical cells come in a few different sizes 18650, 21700 and the 4680. The 18650 is 18mm in diamter and 65mm tall, the 21700 is 21mm in diameter and 70mm tall, the 4680 is 46mm in diameter and 80mm tall. The bigger the battery the more power it can store. The Cylindrical cells are cheaper to mass produce than pouch or prismatic cells.
At this time, I only know of maybe 3 EV makers that use the cylindrical cells, Lucid Air, Rivian (a pickup truck coming out next year) and Tesla. It is hard to know for sure because many EV makers have still not produced a vehicle yet.
General Motors and VW are using pouch cells. Pouch cells are more expensive to produce.
The battery cells for EV's is changing almost everyday. Deals being made with battery makers LG Chem, CATYL and Panasonic to name a few.
Most EV makers are coming on strong with designs and concept vehicles. These same EV makers are all going to run into the same problem of being battery constrained. This means that for most of the EV makers, they may not be able to get batteries for their cars. There are not many EV makers that actually make their own batteries. General Motors is building a battery plant right now for their Ultium battery. Even Tesla who has been in the EV business since 2003 purchases their batteries through their partner Panasonic. Tesla is shifting to in house battery production with their new tabless 4680 High Nickel battery cell. But Tesla has deals with battery makers Panasonic, LG Chem and CATYL.
The demand for raw materials will grow considerably in the next year or two. Lithium, nickel and cobalt to name a few, may be hard to obtain and the price may increase in the short term. The result of this may be that an EV maker with plans to make 100,000 EV's may only be able to deliver 25,000.
