Rechargeable batteries or China and Amazon giving it to us> Never buy an electric car

Santilli

Hairy Aussie
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,257
I decided why go with disposable batteries?
Rechargeables are the way to go.
I bought a bunch of Chinese NIMH and Lions through Amazon.
Charged them with cheap chargers, put them in, and they failed pretty quickly.
Only way I could tell is the Bluetooth stuff in Win 10 showing the mouse % for battery, vs what I'd seen before using Alkaline.
Spent easy 100 bucks for AA, AAA, 18650, C, and D rechargeable batteries.
Got sick of having them fail very fast.
The chargers I had, about 5 of them, charged, but with no info on the battery quality.
Finally sprang for an Opus

Battery Charger Analyzer Tester for Li-ion NiMH NiCd Rechargeable Batteries C3400 BT-C3400 AA AAA C 18650​

60 bucks.
It gave me testing, and reading for my batteries in mAh levels, to compare to what the listings are on Amazon. Long story short.
Tests show only buy Japanese batteries. Panasonic, Samsung, Ladda, and a couple others.
I threw out every Chinese battery I bought, except for the EBL D's.
The other charger worth it, that I haven't figured out completely is the Skyrc:

SkyRC MC3000 Multi-Chemistry Charger​

130.00
There are forums devoted to using this, and I'm just learning. Between the two, I figure out the quality of the batteries.
SkyRC I have an app on the phone that shows charging, options, and mAh capacity, during charging and after.
Most of the flashlights I use a lot need to fit in my mouth, take one 18650, and be very bright.
I have a super bright, two 18650, that I rarely use.
Kind of wish I had a superbright, D cell battery flashlight, since the D cells are in the 7000-1000 mAh range.

I just threw out a cheap AA Seon Chinese battery with a mAh of 78. Advertized at 3000. No longer on Amazon, or showing I bought them.
Disappeared from existence.
Never used.

Pretty much never buy a Chinese battery, unless you have a high quality charger to tell you if it's any good.
Even the Japanese batteries, like Eneloop Pros, and Laddas, can have low performing batteries in a batch, and you'll never know unless you test them, or you see them drain really fast in something your using.

Amazon must make tons of money putting cheap Chinese batteries on the market, selling them for a lot of money, and then taking the brand off the market, after complaints.
The Chinese are also making batteries for electric cars, almost all of them. When THAT battery fails, the cost is around 30k to replace.
 

LunarMist

I can't believe I'm a Fixture
Joined
Feb 1, 2003
Messages
17,454
Location
USA
There are plenty of good and bad batteries and some of each are manufactured in China. Buying ANYTHING from Amazon and expecting good quality products is always dicey. FWIW, I've been charging cylindrical cells for over 50 years and started designing/building fast NiCD chargers in the 1970s. I've purchased and measured thousands of rechargeable cells and seen the good, bad, and ugly. I have far more extensive equipment than your all-in-one cylindrical charger. Those are useful, but buying batteries from a qualified supplier is your best bet. You pay more, but it is worthwhile and your insurance will carry through.

Your extrapolation from crappy batteries on the Amazon to EVs is rather weird. Do you think that the major auto manufacturers don't have quality agreements, SLAs, and MSAs with their suppliers? For example if an EQ (EV) vehicle has a premature battery failure it hurts corporate reputation and warranty repairs hurt profits. Batteries are generally warranted for 8-10 years. Whether in a vehicle, computer, phone, etc. batteries are consumable items.
 

Santilli

Hairy Aussie
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,257
Once again....
I am sure your far greater experience, and expertise is correct.
I'm just the stupid rookie here.
I disagree that the Chinese care about their reputation.
They have a monopoly on car batteries.
They have no competition.
We are a colony, again.
Last quote I saw for a blown car battery was 30K.
Kind of like paying 200 bucks, for Nikes, made in a plant with .25 cent an hour labor.
 
Last edited:

Handruin

Administrator
Joined
Jan 13, 2002
Messages
13,916
Location
USA
I agree with Lunar on this one, any experience based on Amazon should really not be considered conclusive or of definite value here with batteries. The world of rechargeable batteries has a lot of information to wade through especially because you also have to account for the size and battery chemistry you're targeting.

There are forums and discord servers dedicated and full of people out there that have lots of details on the various 18650, 21700, and all the other size LiON batteries or even the LiFePO chemistry. You do have to research a bit and shop around to find quality batteries.

As for car batteries, I thought many used Korean (LG) for their vehicles and Tesla builds some (or maybe all) of their own batteries. I don't know which auto manufacturer uses Chinese batteries but there's probably some. Again, to Lunar's point, they likely have strict quality contracts with any manufacturer or else they'll end up in a situation like Chevy with a fire hazard situation.
 

Santilli

Hairy Aussie
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,257
Looks like your right:
"

Who makes Tesla batteries​

Tesla, the renowned electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, has partnered with several companies to produce its high-performance batteries. The primary battery supplier is Panasonic, a leading electronics company from Japan. The collaboration between Tesla and Panasonic began in 2014 when they established the Gigafactory in Nevada, USA. This massive facility is responsible for manufacturing Tesla’s lithium-ion batteries, which are used in their electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and other products.
In addition to Panasonic, Tesla has also partnered with LG Chem, a South Korean company known for its advanced lithium-ion batteries, and Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), a Chinese company that supplies batteries to Tesla. CATL is also a leading manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries and has supplied batteries to other companies such as Tesla and Ford.
Tesla is expanding its battery supply chain to meet the growing demand for electric vehicles. The company is also exploring the use of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are cheaper and more sustainable than traditional lithium-ion batteries.
AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts. "
 
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