mbloof wrote:
Its a battery that the cells are likely sourced in China (if not the entire unit). Which means:
- The 3 items of interest (cost, AH and cycles) are lied about.
Many/most 'offbrand' and even 'brandnameish' producers will often inflate the AH and/or the cycles using much less expensive cells to achieve a much less expensive price point for their products. (the same could be said of Solar panels where I've seen 40W panels being advertised as 400W!!)
- Due to the large ramp up in EV's LFP batteries (and factories) is on the rise.
The market is being flooded with products however questionable many of those products actual performance might be.
A quick look at even Amazon the price for 100AH of LFP is all over the map!
. . .
- Mark0.
Will Prowse has tested and torn-down scores of no-name, cheap lifepo4 batteries over the years. The vast majority have met ah specs. Actually I've yet to see him test one that hasn't met ah specs; but, odds are I may have missed one or two of his reviews where they didn't.
Even more telling than WP's reviews, are the reviews on cheap, inexpensive, no-name lifepo4 batteries on Amazon. Some of these batteries have hundreds, if not a thousand plus reviews, and still maintain an overall 4.5+ review rating (out of a possible 5). I was hard-pressed to find any overall ratings less than 4.2 or so. Since Amazon is arguably the largest single source for lifepo4 batteries in the US, this indicates to me there are no rampant quality control problems in the lifepo4 marketplace.
As for cycle life, no doubt some lifepo4 batteries use questionable cells. New cells are typically rated for at least 2000 cycles. Even a "used" cell, with say, 500 cycles remaining, should still net the average user at least 5 years of use.
IMO, a long as one uses the same due diligence as you would for any other purchase (read reviews, purchase from a reputable source, etc.), the odds of purchasing a "bad" lifepo4 battery are very low.
