Knew it was coming...

[JHZR2]

Didn’t notice any markings like this on the (EP manufactured) Maxx battery I bought for our odyssey or accord about a year ago. Nor on the (EP manufactured) NAPA group 49 I bought a bit before that.

Forcing every last dime out of every product has this effect, I guess.

Bummer EP is in on it too.

Every recent date code battery at my local store is now made in Mexico, regardless of group size that I looked at. The only ones not labeled are the marine starting and deep cycle batteries...

 

[92saturnsl2]

I hope they keep the PA manufacturing facility open-- perhaps they'll transition to more state of the art batteries as East Penn is a leading manufacturer in the stationary power sector.

I suspect lead acid batteries are difficult to manufacture profitably here due to environmental regulations.

 

[bbhero]

No good.

 

[Snagglefoot]

They showed up in Canada as well.

 

[daves87rs]

Like that here as well....

 

[bbhero]

Wondering if this a daggone Wally world deal only.... Makes me wonder. . And another reason I try very hard to not go there all that often.

 

[ctechbob]

I think the last one I got was made in Korea? I'd have to dig up the pic. I know it wasn't US or Mexico.

 

[Smoky14]

I just replaced a Mexico WM battery after 9 years. It still started the car but with winter approaching I thought it best to get a new one.
YMMV
Smoky

 

[Snagglefoot]

Johnson Controls owned 4 plants and two recycling Centers in Mexico. Apparently Johnson controls sold out in 2018 for $13 billion.

 

[bbhero]

Snag... This ain't a JC battery my friend... It is a East Penn battery... Made south of the border.

 

[eljefino]

Snag... This ain't a JC battery my friend... It is a East Penn battery... Made south of the border.

Wouldn't surprise me for EP to buy a Clarios asset or just set up shop in the same town, lead smeltin' heaven.

 

[spasm3]

I like East Penn. I like USA made stuff. But with something like this, i get it. Lead, and manufacturing. I would not want to live anywhere near a battery plant.

 

[nthach]

Wouldn't surprise me for EP to buy a Clarios asset or just set up shop in the same town, lead smeltin' heaven.

Which is funny, I was peering under the hood of a new Highlander(and Toyota has jumped on the AGM, start/stop bandwagon too) and there was an American-made Clarios AGM. I’ve seen Mexican and Spanish JCI/Clarios on the shelf at Costco.

Korea is trending towards being the world’s biggest lead smelter. Which explains why more WM batteries are sourced from Korea, and Hyundai’s American-made models still come with a Solite battery. I mentioned this to The Critic, Hankook is making batteries too. They recently opened a plant in the US.

 

[JHZR2]

I hope they keep the PA manufacturing facility open-- perhaps they'll transition to more state of the art batteries as East Penn is a leading manufacturer in the stationary power sector.

I suspect lead acid batteries are difficult to manufacture profitably here due to environmental regulations.

I thought maybe the higher end of the range, like the maxx, would be us made, but theyve turned over too. I can get that the value line, potentially made from who knows what recycled sources of lead and needing to pull every last dime out of the cost (costs did drop - I paid $48.88 each for two and I thought they were $54). But this seems across the board.

It will be interesting to see if NAPA keeps EP with US made stickers. If so, it’s likely that EP built a factory in mexico to satisfy Walmart’s demands to pull cost out of everything and reduce prices routinely. That only goes so far...

 

[Snagglefoot]

Snag... This ain't a JC battery my friend... It is a East Penn battery... Made south of the border.

If they are really EP batteries I wouldn’t be surprised if the East Penn batteries are coming from those plants. I noticed the East Penn websites are not coming clean on where else they have been making batteries except maybe for this website I took a screenshot of. Enjoy.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Snag... This ain't a JC battery my friend... It is a East Penn battery... Made south of the border.

Just curious. How did the East Penn battery enter in the conversation? Walmart batteries have been made by Johnson Controls for the last 10 years according to this.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Didn’t notice any markings like this on the (EP manufactured) Maxx battery I bought for our odyssey or accord about a year ago. Nor on the (EP manufactured) NAPA group 49 I bought a bit before that.

Forcing every last dime out of every product has this effect, I guess.

Bummer EP is in on it too.

Why do you think this was a EP battery?

 

[JHZR2]

Why do you think this was a EP battery?

EP batteries start with the serial number “EP”. Their design is consistent with Deka batteries. The image you show looks like JCI by the caps on the top. JCI was bought out and was known for some time to have moved manufacturing to Mexico.

 

[RooflessVW]

Much rather Mexico or Canada than China or Saudi Arabia.

 

[JHZR2]

Much rather Mexico or Canada than China or Saudi Arabia.

Much rather PA then alternate COO.