Larry, I believe Mark is right.
Lev is prone to misspeak, first saying 'battery cells', and then as he repeats the phrase, often saying 'batteries.' It would be just as confusing for him to say 'cells,' in a sense, because cells are comprise of variable numbers of bi-cells (sandwich of cathode between two anodes). It was this close listening to what he said as he pointed to the video of the *cells* coming down the line prior to final packaging in the foil, which made this issue clear. (He also coined the word 'puck' to describe the stacking of the bi-cells into the cells, but who wants to sell 'pucks'? Not very high-tech! Like saying 'goo,' it's descriptive but best kept to oneself.)
As I remember Lev speaking before (during the fabled conference call we're revisiting so often), when he spoke of breaking even on a cash flow basis at the rate of 1800 (units) per day, he *meant* to say cells at that time, too. He may have said either 'batteries' or 'cells', but there's little doubt he meant 'cells,' because they sell 'cells.' The repackagers can configure them in various ways for the end customer, but the units Valence gets paid to deliver are *cells.*
Can we leave this alone, please? As you've pointed out, Fred's numbers are inherently hypothetical. For instance, will we get 50-60% yields, or will they exceed 95%, as Lev again hinted during talks off-line? Lev made quite an issue as to how they check every cell at each stage of production, and can yank bad cells and stop production if needed. He said they spent $2M on equipment for the quality assurance lab, and he's adamant that they be sure they're shipping only useful product. (No second chances, either, is his motto.) He contrasted this with the construction fo the liquid electrolyte cannisters which have complex electrical and mechanical safety systems, and are only tested as a unit after final assembly. Then they may find they have 10,000 bad units and stop production, but....talk about waste.
BTW, the laptop demo showed 6 laptop cells powering a computer, using the same space as 27 liquid li-ion cartridges would. Note that the 27 cartidges require 27 circuits, and 27 separate mechanical safety systems (plunger, vent, etc.). Hence the immense weight savings when the solid lithium polymer battery can be used for more power-intensive yet space-constrained applications.
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