In my opinion early convergence limits innovation and competition among suppliers. Not the right move at this point in the Li-ion life cycle.

A car maker would want standards so that many makers of batteries would work in their product. If I am a battery maker, I might not want to be come a commodity provider in competition with many companies.

It would certainly seem to limit innovation.
How do fewer cell formats and cell sizes enable OEMs to quickly adapt product designs?
Do they mean standard overall package size? Like they standardize anything now; from lug nuts, wheel bearings, door handles, wheel covers, tires ….

I do suspect that it is quite obvious with more of the story, but I could find nothing.

So, in the meantime, I picture the following:
“The prototype is ready but there’s a problem with the battery configuration.
“Really, it seems to fit perfectly.
“Sure but inside are prismatic cells, and as you know, our car uses round wire, spirally routed to the converter; we specified spiral wound electrodes in cylindrical cells.
“Why would anyone think that the proper voltage, amperage and KWH is all they need.”

Look how successful the 18650 format has been for LiIon.

By enabling mass manufacture of a commodity cell that can be interchangably used in lots of products (from cameras to laptops), this format has permitted huge cost reductions, now less than $300 per kWh.

It is the format issue that is keeping the battery costs high for EV developers.

"It would certainly seem to limit innovation."

Innovation in packaging? Come on, get real.

I can crack open a Panasonic catalog and see about 20 different formats for their Lithium ion batteries with the exact same chemistry in each one...just one battery manufacturer.

We want innovation in cost reduction, energy density, power density. Packaging isn't exactly an area of demand for innovation as far as batteries go (now packaging a drivetrain in a vehicle is an area where innovation is needed!).

That will be great ... but be careful what you are asking for, Joe.
To standardize the size and format, it means automakers will have to start building the cars with a battery in mind (not designing a car then ask the suppliers to bend over backward to make the cells fitted in the non-existing space ... like now). If all OEMs can agree on using D-size NiMH and DD-size Li-Ion cells for HEV, we already have a standard. Then why every OEMs have a slightly different cell design (just like a DD-size but 5mm longer or shorter & 4 mm fatter, various terminal type, charge or neutral can, etc.). I know all the cell manufacturers are waiting for that day when the OEMs can make up their mind so they can invest in the common process equipment and reduce the cost by not making those "special" cell formats that fit only in one vehicle platform.

While it's true that standardizing components can restrict designs, one must understand it can result in cost saving based on economies of scale. A typical example is the battery swap station for "Better Place."
I can't imagine not building batteries to a standard and expecting the robots to work. So, if you are a car builder and want to participate in BP, you must build to their well-thought-out standard.

Standards do not restrict customization. If you want to put 100 D Cell NiMH batteries in a square box that is your choice. The D cell is an accepted standard size. But if you wanted to go to a battery manufacturer and get one made just like the EV-95 that Panasonic made for the RAV EV, I do not think many battery manufacturers would be willing to make you some.

A lot of the catalog products came from an end product maker needing a slightly different design. It was not proprietary so they decided to make it for general use. Packaging is not the big deal, but getting many producers to at least make the same cell in their line up is. If I want to use the standard then fine, it not then fine.

Look at laptop computers, there are dozens of various sizes and shapes of battery packs, but the notebooks are all pretty much the same form factor. Look at tire sizes. As a car maker I could specify a dimension that no one else has made, but people like to be able to buy tires that have a standard dimension from several different suppliers. That does not mean that I can not specify a new set of dimensions for a new tire.