Surely when you are making them yourself it makes more sense to use a shape that packs better?
What shape could they do instead? As I understand it a cylindrical cell offers the best energy density and ease of manufacturing
Maybe they have the best energy density per cell, but you leave a lot of empty space between the cells. I doubt it ends up being more dense
Hexagons would pack better, but I’m not sure that the marginal gain (if any) in energy density would offset the increase in manufacturing complexity.
Also, if any pressure were to build up in a non-cylindrical cell, it would be prone to bulging, possibly damaging its neighbouring cells.
Tesla do per-cell cooling and the round shape offers more surface area for that
But then ol muskrat would have to admit to himself that cylinders aren’t the best. He put so much effort into convincing everyone that cylinders had some technical benefit, rather than the truth of surplus 18650 laptop cells being cheaper than anything rose at the time, that he even convinced himself of the lie.
