Next Generation of 18650? Arriving When?

So when will the next generation of 18650's arrive to the market? as in when will I, as an individual consumer, be able to purchase them in the USA from a reputable merchant? In other words, when will they be widely available to flashaholics like us? Any evidence to support your claim?

Are the life cycles of 18650 batteries similar to other high-tech products where the path to higher performance is known and engineering grunt work/time is needed to make it happen (computer processors, LEDs) ? or is it more like they've already reached the theoretical limit for the current technology and a revolution is needed to break that threshold, and the best stuff costs more to make so you have to pay more to get it (gasoline engine, cable TV) ?(and pr0n)

There are a lot of articles out there about 3.4 Ah capacity 18650's around the 2012 time frame. I can't seem to find as consistent of a time period for 3.1 Ah or other common lower cap batts. So I'm not sure how to guestimate a typical cycle time is?

Of course, I'm asking because my money is on the line. Do I buy more 18650's like at this exact moment? Or do I wait 6 months and get the shiny new ones? (from Ultrafire hahaah)

Spoiler

High five to the first guy who says XXfire is already selling a 8000 mAh battery in 18650 format

Who knows? We've had the 3600 mAh Pannies available for a year, but they're hard to find. Honestly, I've never felt the need to even upgrade to the 3400s, for double the price when they came out. Same with those 3600s.

I've got a few pair of the Pannie 3100s and bought some Sanyo 2900s and LG 3000s and 3200s, so I'm not necessarily chasing the biggest and baddest, but I'm gravitating towards cells that while not the greatest in capacity, hold their voltages higher over a longer range of time.

Super high draws also don't figure into the equation for me, but I can see that quality being an important concern for many users vs. a few hundred extra mAh.

Chris

KardoPaska said:

So when will the next generation of 18650's arrive to the market? as in when will I, as an individual consumer, be able to purchase them in the USA from a reputable merchant? In other words, when will they be widely available to flashaholics like us? Any evidence to support your claim? Are the life cycles of 18650 batteries similar to other high-tech products where the path to higher performance is known and engineering grunt work/time is needed to make it happen (computer processors, LEDs) ? or is it more like they've already reached the theoretical limit for the current technology and a revolution is needed to break that threshold, and the best stuff costs more to make so you have to pay more to get it (gasoline engine, cable TV) ?(and pr0n) There are a lot of articles out there about 3.4 Ah capacity 18650's around the 2012 time frame. I can't seem to find as consistent of a time period for 3.1 Ah or other common lower cap batts. So I'm not sure how to guestimate a typical cycle time is? Of course, I'm asking because my money is on the line. Do I buy more 18650's like at this exact moment? Or do I wait 6 months and get the shiny new ones? (from Ultrafire hahaah)

Spoiler

High five to the first guy who says XXfire is already selling a 8000 mAh battery in 18650 format

Click to expand...

The big manufacturers seem to be concentrating efforts on improving on the various hybrid cells. As for theoretical limits, I forget where but I do remember seeing a theoretical upper bound for lithium ion energy density somewhere.