From what I understand these are stock Panasonic NCR-18650 3100 mAH batteries though.
Any ideas on what "special chemistry" they are using?
It's a fairly common 18650 battery, lots of laptops use this specific model.
First, I specifically stated "3100mAH NCR-18650s" which is a specific part, not a form factor which anyone who handles these batteries would know - which was your first (confused) reply.
Second, from everywhere I have read, like (1) these are just standard cells.
Lastly, I was originally stating that I would feel unsafe being around this technology. I did not say "the technology is unsafe."
If it makes you feel better, Tesla as a company gives me great hope and I am rooting for them. I do not have ties to anyone at all.
It would have been nice if you could have simply pointed to some factual reason (like breser did above) why I shouldn't be worried.
(1) http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1084682_what-goes-into-a...
I'm sure given the 'right' conditions you could get a catastrophic release of energy out of a pack this size but I'm fairly certain that the occupants of the car would not be in a state where they would realize that the battery had also exploded since they'd be too distracted by evaporating themselves.
I think what needs to be done is to build a car around many gallons of highly flammable liquid.
