How to Verify UL Certified Lithium Battery

[LewTwo]

OK ... time to reveal my absolute ignorance and ask a stupid question:
How can a consumer verify that a EV Lithium Battery is UL certified ?

My first though was to look for a UL mark on the battery label (found nothing).
I also checked all packaging (found nothing).
Then I went to the UL Web site to try to locate the vendors registration (found nothing).

I do not want to mistakenly accuse a vendor of blatant fraud but ....

 

[jetpackjbd]

There’s a good chance it’s not certified. Not sure when you got the battery, but it’s possible that they obtained certification after you bought it which would explain the lack of sticker yet it being mentioned on the listing. That wouldn’t explain the lack of finding it on the UL website though. UL website should be the best way to check.

Given that this brand appears to only sell on Aliexpress and ships out of China there’s very little stopping them from slapping any label they want on it. You can try to report them but best case scenario they’ll get banned, then change names and be back in a few weeks.

 

[wturber]

Why accuse them.? While you are investigating this, just send an email and ask them where and how you can verify the UL listing.

 

[wturber]

There’s a good chance it’s not certified. Not sure when you got the battery, but it’s possible that they obtained certification after you bought it which would explain the lack of sticker yet it being mentioned on the listing. That wouldn’t explain the lack of finding it on the UL website though. UL website should be the best way to check.

Given that this brand appears to only sell on Aliexpress and ships out of China there’s very little stopping them from slapping any label they want on it. You can try to report them but worst case scenario they’ll change names and be back in a few weeks.

I'm inclined to agree. After spending time on their website and other online documentation I cannot find an actual registered business name, or person's name associated with the company. Info suggests a California base, but the business name is not registered with the California Secretary of State. The address is a 3rd party mailbox store. Everything seems tied to the domain name which is shielded by GoDaddy's private registration. When a retail seller spends this much effort hiding who they are, I'm less inclined to trust them.

 

[offGridDownUnder]

How can a consumer verify that a EV Lithium Battery is UL certified ?

Also. how old is the battery you are checking?

If a seller begins selling batteries to UL standard, that doesn't mean their existing batteries were/are. It's not clear from what you post but it seems you are asking about a physical battery you have in your possession - was it advertised as certified when you bought it?

 

[LewTwo]

Calendar Dates:
I received the Trike equipped with this battery this week and it appears to have shipped from China in late July.

 

[gromike]

I have seen vendors state that their batteries comply with UL, but are, nonetheless, not UL certified.

 

[offGridDownUnder]

it appears to have shipped from China in late July.

... and you did not mention if it was advertised as certified when you bought it.

UL certification is a recent development in response to L-ion battery fires. The great majority of these fires come from notable misuse combined with poorly manufactured cells. Samsung, Panasonic, Sony, LG, and perhaps a few others make quality cells - and you can't make up for this after the fact.

 

[LewTwo]

... and you did not mention if it was advertised as certified when you bought it.

it was.

 

[Mongo]

@LewTwo, I think you have a valid, and not stupid question.

For curiosity, I tried to validate MH60696 (Bosch) online and failed. It's not clear to me how, as a consumer, where to accomplish this.

 

[LewTwo]

@LewTwo, I think you have a valid, and not stupid question.

For curiosity, I tried to validate MH60696 (Bosch) online and failed. It's not clear to me how, as a consumer, where to accomplish this.

Thank thee.
I did take one addition step. I entered a "trouble ticket" for the UL's Prospector on-line database.
"Ticket Received - Woteam New Energey (Guang Dong) CO. Ltd. / UL Support Ticket 701718"

 

[Mongo]

It'll be interesting to see how they respond.

 

[Chalo]

I think an e-bike battery's UL certification is worth the sticker it's printed on. There are just too many crap hustlers with nothing to lose, to trust it.

If you want something trustworthy? Look to automotive, health care, and data center second life batteries. Those industries don't mess around. You don't need a UL sticker to know that.

 

[docw009]

Thank thee.
I did take one addition step. I entered a "trouble ticket" for the UL's Prospector on-line database.
"Ticket Received - Woteam New Energey (Guang Dong) CO. Ltd. / UL Support Ticket 701718"

I didn't see any claims for UL on the Woteam website, nor was there a UL reference on the battery. Unless those appear somewhere, I don't see Woteam as being at fault. I suppose you could email that Peter Tsai contact listed in the WoTeam website. There is a CE mark (applies for European Union sales) on the battery label, From what I recall from 40 years ago, there were a lot of way short of simply lying about it to legitimately sport a CE label.

I think your complaint lies with the seller of the trike on aliexpress.

 

[LewTwo]

I think your complaint lies with the seller of the trike on aliexpress.

FYI: I will not even consider purchasing anything from Aliexpress or Bangood.
I did that once years ago and I had delete that email address to get rid of the constant flood of spam.

 

[LewTwo]

If one has the specific "UL certification" number then information can be found at:
Search Product iQ | UL Solutions

At the bottom of that page there is a note:

Anyone can obtain information about the validity of a given certification by contacting the UL Customer Experience Center.
Phone number: 1-877-854-3577 — Email: CEC@ul.com