Yes,
I am aware of that. A123 tests all the cells and there is a much higher level of quality than some of the horror stories I have read about batteries on this forum. There were millions of power strips recalled that had a UL listing on them, they were not tested by UL and were fakes. How many houses have to burn down until those strips were haulted/banned at port? Needless to say, unless I can get all the information on something--I don't buy it.
Have I been robbed with Chinese counterfeits? YOU BET! I have a dozen Sanyo Eneloop AA "low self discharge" NiMH cells. I knew something was wrong when my battery analyzer gave results 13 to 23% higher than their rated capacity (2000 mAH) They said made in Japan etc but they did not fit my analyzer correctly. Hmmmmm....something is wrong. Then I saw the warning that said "Wahs your hands" when handling the battery if it leaks etc and I knew I have been had.
I've worked on medical electronics for over 25 years in the miltary and have noted the decline in quality of the components. Most of the time, the chinese parts are about 50% to 100% as good as the normal components from the US, Japanese or European sources. Lately? Ahahahaha! Nothing like something that really, really, REALLY matters fails in a combat zone, you pull out the component and it says Made in China, Mexico or Pakistan. We don't have FedEx in a combat zone so you lose that capability. That means somebody is going home in a bag instead of getting treated. It is called "divert" status when capabilities don't exist to put it a nice way.
China can kick butt but only if all the players pay attention to international law, trademarks, ISO standards, UL, CSA and CE. At this point, it is a mixed bag so if it matters, I shrink away from the ebay specials. Why are we so used to crap that specs don't matter, labels don't matter, standards can be faked and we await Dr. Bass to tell us if a $1,000 battery actually is close to doing what it is supposed to? I know my electric motor and controller is good since I used it on my scooter. The scooter was junk and I broke the frame, tore up the brakes etc but I still have the motor and controller...because I know the BMC powerpack motor can handle a serious butt kickin' by my teenaged sons and won't overheat, shut down, burn up, go off balance. It just runs day in and day out. It will be teamed up with four Dewalt 36V packs if I can figure out how to isolate them without the BMS tripping so I can delay battery purchases (36 to 48V 20 to 40Ah) Really jonsin for a pair of 24V 22Ah Altairnano LiTi batteries so the A123 will work until they become available.
One of those old quotes I've heard is "That thing is about as reliable as a Japanese transmission" and it was not meant in a good way. My hope is China learns to quit ignoring quality and the governing bodies that set standards so the "I bought a battery pack and 3 of the cells failed" posts will be a thing of the past. I can see a $30 DVD player that craps out in 6 months, but a $650 battery that dies from the first use is something I don't want to deal with. I'll spend $1K on a battery pack so it will match the heavy duty bike parts I use in the build. After all, what good is a flaky battery pack/charger/BMS going to do me? Yes, my bomb-proof wheels, rims, suspension, gearing, motor, controller, wiring, fuses, breakers, brakes, frame and bearings don't do much good if I have to pedal a 80 pound bicycle around!
I find it odd that the most expensive component is the weakest link. My wheels are SAS which builds components for "dirt jumpers" or cross BMX freestyle and downhill mountain bikes together level of parts. You can tell by looking at the little things that a very high level of thought went into the design and the materials used are top notch. The Avid BB7 brakes work very well and should, you don't want those things to break. I use Shimano disks because they are thicker and heavier than the Avids.
So I have most of everything together except the battery packs. I don't want to build a pack that has 100+ A123 cells in them, I want a pack with their new 20Ah prismatic plates or Altairnanos 22Ah plates. Guess we will be another year waiting for those so I'll try four Dewalts to get me by.
Sorry for the long rant, but being surprised and delighted if something makes it's minimum specs is new territory for me.
