Car batteries made in China

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Dec 31, 2017
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There have been plenty of discussions on where car batteries are manufactured, including the recent mention of batteries made in Germany showing up. I had a look at some batteries sold here in Canada, including one with a green “eye” like the old AC Delco batteries. This one had a label that said it was “ Made in China “. Batteries are truly a world commodity.

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I wouldn't buy that battery without a warranty but only as a last resort. It says 3 yrs, so go for it. Have it re-charged, shipment take months from other countries to arrive to the port of destination. Keep your receipt in case of a warranty claim.
 
The problem with China is it's the Wild West of manufacturing and "haggling", even if that means haggling down quality of materials/the final product, is part of the culture. You state you'll pay me $X for for Y part and I will agree and then do everything in my power to produce it as cheaply as possible. That may mean substandard materials. That may mean allowing QC to let through substandard parts. That may mean hiring 12 year olds to make it. If YOU don't "catch" ME, that's entirely on YOU. The only ones who seem to do it reasonable well are those who keep a constant presence there during manufacturing (Apple) - regardless if you like Apple products or not I have never had a QC issue in 20 years.

I think the masters of capitalism are starting to come around in this country that there are in fact severe trade-offs beyond poor quality when manufacturing in China but we will see. Ultimately, the all mighty dollar speaks loudest and if they can get away with making it cheaper there and people are dumb enough to buy it here...well. Unfortunately, for many things I have no choice but for those things that I do I try and avoid Chinese-made products.
 
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If I recall correctly the last lead smelter in the U.S. closed in 2013 because of EPA regulations. China has no such restrictions.
Is that a bad thing? They weren't shut "because of EPA regulations," they were shut because they were heinous polluters and it cost to much to bring into compliance as most lead comes from recycling.

I think there are a dozen or so secondary smelters in the USA.
 
Is that a bad thing? They weren't shut "because of EPA regulations," they were shut because they were heinous polluters and it cost to much to bring into compliance as most lead comes from recycling.

I think there are a dozen or so secondary smelters in the USA.
Right...without turning this in a prohibited BITOG direction, let's not pretend all regulations are bad. No regulation of dangerous industries is bad. Over-regulation of all industries is bad. Like most things in life ideally there is a balance of keeping people safe while promoting business activities.
 
Shipping batteries all the way from China? 3/4 of the price must be to cover the freight. After all the middlemen take their cut and accounting for the factories cost of materials and labor, just how well made can a battery be when there is less than $5 profit in it?
 
I wouldn't buy that battery without a warranty but only as a last resort. It says 3 yrs, so go for it. Have it re-charged, shipment take months from other countries to arrive to the port of destination. Keep your receipt in case of a warranty claim.
Not for me thanks, but anyway, it’s a side terminal 101.
 
Shipping batteries all the way from China? 3/4 of the price must be to cover the freight. After all the middlemen take their cut and accounting for the factories cost of materials and labor, just how well made can a battery be when there is less than $5 profit in it?
That’s totally incorrect. Once you load a shipping container and load it on a ship the price per battery is very small. I’ll see if I can scare up some data on that.
 
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Shipping batteries all the way from China? 3/4 of the price must be to cover the freight. After all the middlemen take their cut and accounting for the factories cost of materials and labor, just how well made can a battery be when there is less than $5 profit in it?
As part of my job years ago I had to purchase 700 large duffel bags. I bought them from China and they shipped them to my storage facility in a ship container. The duffel bags retailed for $40 each. Buying them in bulk they were $25 each. Shipping was $600 which I thought quite reasonable. Of course batteries are much heavier but I think that shipping costs a lot less for bulk shipments than you might think.
 
China is a good place to manufacture . The enviromental costs are low to n one.
 
The issue of EPA regulations pushing manufacturing to China is evident in the pharmaceutical world. A lot of our antibiotics are manufactured in China via fermentation. I was told it's because fermentation is messy business and China doesn't mind the pollution as much as we do so they can do it cheaper. Although, China is cleaning up its air these days. They're getting better.
 
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