Jordan Giesige of The Limiting Factor examines why Tesla chose ribbon (side) cooling over base-plate cooling for its 4680 battery cells, drawing on peer-reviewed thermal modelling research.
Key insights:
A battery pack performs only as well as its weakest cell, making even thermal management across hundreds or thousands of cells critical to pack longevity.
While base-plate cooling slightly outperforms side cooling in jellyroll-only models, adding a metal can reverses this entirely, with base-plate cooled cells running 22–23 degrees hotter because the can’s surface area makes side cooling far more effective.
Tesla’s tabless electrode design reduces heat generation by roughly 60% compared to tabbed designs, eliminating localized hot spots that cause uneven degradation.
And the combination of ribbon cooling and the tabless electrode allows the larger 4680 cell to charge at similar rates to the smaller 2170 without accelerating degradation.