US battery manufacturer Rincell has introduced a new high-discharge 21700 lithium-ion cell aimed at drones and other power-intensive applications, with the company saying the RC50T is already in production and shipping to customers, according to the company.
The California-based firm announced the RC50T ahead of its first European public appearance at DroneX at ExCeL London, where the cell was due to be shown alongside Rincell’s existing RC50 battery.
Built around the widely used 21700 cylindrical form factor, the new cell has a nominal capacity of 5.2Ah and voltage of 3.6V. Rincell states that it can deliver a continuous discharge current of 100A and a pulse discharge of up to 150A, with an energy density above 265Wh/kg.
The company is pitching the RC50T primarily at unmanned aircraft applications where high power demand can occur during take-off, climbing, payload lift and rapid manoeuvring. According to Rincell, its tabless internal design reduces resistance to around 3mΩ nominally, with a maximum figure of 4mΩ, while charging current can reach 15A. Those characteristics are intended to reduce electrical losses and heat generation in battery packs while allowing greater power to be drawn from each cell.
Jignesh Parikh, co-founder and chief executive of Rincell, said in the press release: “In an industry often driven by future promises, we chose to focus on proven results. For three years we have kept our heads down, taken our cells from the lab into volume production and shipped them to customers. DroneX is the first time we have told that story. Everything visitors will see on our stand is a product they can order and fly today. That includes the RC50T, our highest power 21700 cell, and it is already in the air.”
The RC50T is NDAA compliant, according to the company, and is being supplied to drone manufacturers as well as customers working in other high-power applications.
Shashank Sripad, co-founder and chief technology officer of PROPEL AERO, was also quoted in the press release as saying: “The RC50T gives us power headroom, without any loss in energy, that we have not had from a 21700 cell before. With internal resistance this low we can build lighter, cooler packs and let the aircraft use more of the energy it is carrying.”
Rincell was founded in 2023 and develops silicon-graphite lithium-ion and sodium-ion battery cells for defence and commercial markets. Its stated customer base includes the drone, aerospace, communications, medical, industrial and data centre sectors. Research and development takes place in the United States, where the company operates a 6,500 sq ft pilot production line in Fremont, California. Rincell says its higher-volume manufacturing is currently centred in India, while a US production facility is planned to begin operations in late 2027.
The company says it has shipped hundreds of thousands of cells during 2026.
