as battery insider, Tesla is not famous for its lithium ion battery, it’s famous for its BMS, which is short for battery management system.

so what will cause fire for lithium ion battery, mainly over charge, over discharge, over current etc, every one just know the Tesla is famous for its new energy (Panasonic 18650 cell insider)

as battery insider, a BMS is sometime the same price like a battery cell, so if Tesla battery packs cost 10USD, 5USD would go to the BMS(personal guess), why only Tesla uses 18650, it designed the system to control those cell, if no control you tesla might some time go explosion when CHARGING.

Back to the question with panasonic 18650 cell you can get ensured on the performance of batteries,and with Tesla BMS you can get assured that all battery cells are controled in a safe way, SO you can drive it safely.