I need 50 x 30Qs if anyone has excess lying around, since everyone seems to have moved onto P42As.
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we moved to p42a because samsung basically stopped selling their cells to consumers If you want something nearly identical get p26a or p28a
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Yep, i’ve moved on to p26a. Just got cells to make my first personal p26a pack, super keen
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I have the same. No one wants em. Even used P26A with them just hanging out too.
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Just a side note…
All of the big manufacturers have never sold to end users (though Molicel will sell to distributors who sell to retailers who sell to us). All of the cells we buy are excess inventory or diverted or unauthorized shipments.
For the past year or so the big companies have been actively trying to stop the unauthorized sale of their cells because, IMO, of all the lawsuits being brought against them by people who have blown themselves up.
Add this to the huge shortage of cells due to Covid-related production slowdowns and skyrocketing demand from the EV companies and you have a lot of different models of cells essentially disappearing from the market.
Once all the new gigafactories come online and the big commercial customers for these cells finally start getting enough cells to meet their production needs, maybe as early as next year, then some excess inventory can finally start building up and getting sold off (making it available to us).
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ok so you are saying next year we will be able to consistently get highish drain 4000mAh+ 2170~ cells for less than ~$4?? I am down
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I’m saying there’s a chance that maybe, perhaps, possibly, there might be a few cells like that available at some price. And they might even be available as early as next year.
I’m sure they’ll be under $100 a cell….and maybe available for more than a day or two before selling out…and maybe decent grade cells…maybe. 
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C’mon Elon! We’re waiting.
Since approvals and certifications are done with specific cell types (i.e. UL), manufacturers cannot easily change over to non-30Q cells in their products, as it requires extensive testing and expense to compliance approvals.
Speaking with Fogstar (UK), they said Samsung are Auctioning their cells at the moment. Hence every manufacturer that uses them is scrabbling for any stock to continue making products, paying ~3x the original prices.
Hence I don’t think we’ll be seeing 30Qs in the DIY market until the supply finally outweighs the demand, then we can buy the leftovers at wholesale prices. Probably not this year.
All hail Molicell, for being here for us in these times.
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gigafactory is such a cool name
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Then all the factories combine to form Lio Panzer Dynaranger Gigafactory Convoy Robo S
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I think things will get interesting when we start seeing lots of Tesla’s new tabless 4860’s on the secondary market. Should be a high drain cell.
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I have p26a 18650s they are a better cell… I have 30qs as well but they are used.
If anyone can find a way to get them out of the car. Being a structural element will make that interesting I think.
Getting twelve or more of those on a board will be interesting too. Looking forward to seeing how packs are designed around them
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I imagine some company will quickly develop a process for salvaging them, much like we see with the current Model 3 cells. I’m so curious what the specs will be, but I bet it will be good for at least 20 or 30 amps cont. Hoping, anyhow.
edit: actually, we need like a 50 amp cell if it’s to be that big, and I think that’s even reasonable.
I still use 18650s. I bought several hundred of the P28a cells when Li-Ion Wholesale had them, and they have been performing as good, if not better than the 30Q. Did a couple 12s4p packs and they’re stellar. They work functionally the same as the VTC6 in a Onewheel XR also, which I’m glad about.
Only got a few hundred left, but at $5 a cell they’re currently attractive for people who don’t need or don’t have the space for 21700 cells in a build.
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Have you compared them to P26A in real world applications at all? I know Bulk still has them for $3.80/cell and was wondering if the slightly higher capacity is worth $1.2/cell
Like most higher capacity cells you won’t see the extra capacity at above a few amps. Their increased capacity comes at the expense of efficiency (voltage sag).
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Every car cells I’ve seen are high capacity and long life not hi discharge. Fine for the larger packs but not the best for eSk8 unles your building a 8p pack
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Just making the cell larger allows for higher discharge, but they’ve also added a lot of copper to them, and a much more direct path for the current. They’ll be using like half as many cells as they used to use. I’d bet money it will be high drain- at least 20 amp. If Tesla simply took their current 21700 chemistry, and put it in the 4860’s, they would be high drain.
For what it’s worth, so far I’ve used them in Onewheel XR packs and eskates where there isn’t a massive current demand. Mostly lighter riders and general street cruising. Since XRs generally use VTC6’s, I’ve gotten the same mileage using the P28a down to 0% and the board kicking me off. About 19 miles on either cell. Crusing 10-13mph, which is generally how I ride home on low battery, the board uses about 2-7 amps, split between the 2p pack. The board has them going down to about 2.5-2.7v per cell by the time it’s “empty”, so there’s that also.
On the one pack I did with the p26a it tossed me off at 17 miles almost on the dot.
I’ve built eskate packs for other folks, for whom I don’t know how they tend to set their voltage cutoffs, so I can’t say how far down they go into the charge, but they’ve said they don’t do much more than medium cruising on pavement and were happy with the range. They’d have asked for 30Qs anyway, since those are recognizable, and preferred the mAh rating of the 28a, so, that’s what I used for them.
They’re comparable in my uses, and folks so far haven’t been averse to $5 a cell, and I’m not either at this point.
It could be that NYC markets for everything have made prices easier to accept generally. I’m pretty sure that’s a thing… 
Edit:
Just grabbed these for reference:
Don’t mind the high temps and low ride mileage. I’d been riding for a while, and restarted the board to connect it.
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