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I was recently shopping for an UPS + couple 100Ah Batteries solution and failed to find an easy way to buy something not manufactured in China. Northvolt seems

by k_bx 3y ago

I was recently shopping for an UPS + couple 100Ah Batteries solution and failed to find an easy way to buy something not manufactured in China. Northvolt seems to not be present in retail at all. Are there any good places I should've checked out?

bombcar 3y ago
Look for TAA compliant. https://www.eaton.com/us/en-us/products/backup-power-ups-surge-it-power-distribution/TAA-compliance.html https://www.eaton.com/us/en-us/products/backup-power-ups-sur... But they are often assembled in USA from foreign components, so you have to dig further into what cells they’re using.
defrost 3y ago
Large scale systems and cells to spec for other companies products | applications ... https://northvolt.com/products/ https://northvolt.com/products/ scroll down to footer PRODUCTS heading for more vague marketing splurge.
dainiusse 3y ago
I wonder if it is a china owned factory or not
- mirzak 3y ago
  It is not
jillesvangurp 3y ago
Most suppliers in this industry do b2b sales. Northvolt would be producing battery cells for use in automotive in large volumes. Volvo is one of their customers. I don't think they do retail sales in small quantities. In general, it seems more common in China for companies to do business with each other via e.g. Alibaba. You can actually order non trivial amounts of raw materials via Alibaba. For example if you search for 1080 steel, you can actually order tons of steel from various suppliers.
rejectfinite 3y ago
[flagged]
- dang 3y ago
  We've banned this account for breaking the site guidelines and ignoring our requests to stop. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
SkyPuncher 3y ago
As far as I can tell, essentially the entire "portable" battery (like car batteries in the 100Ah range) is essentially a sturdy plastic container around generic manufactured battery cells. There are only a few companies that actually manufacture their cells in the USA.
latchkey 3y ago
Maybe not a full answer to your question, but reviews from Will Prowse are great. Check his youtube/website.
- k_bx 3y ago
  That's an interesting channel, thanks in any case!
carlbarrdahl 3y ago
Another Swedish company that does battery tech: https://mattr.se/official-projects/ https://mattr.se/official-projects/
- moogly 3y ago
  And https://polarium.com/ https://polarium.com/ But not really consumer products either.
mitthrowaway2 3y ago
China won almost total dominance of LFP batteries, apparently because Hydro-Quebec enforced steep patent royalties everywhere else. It's no coincidence that manufacturers are starting to look elsewhere now that the patents are expiring.
adamsmith143 3y ago
Generally have been satisfied with Anker, though that stuff is made in China the chargers and batteries have been good. Monoprice used to be good but I haven't used anything from them in a while
turtlebits 3y ago
Battleborn batteries are manufactured in the USA (unsure about the raw cells though) and have great service/warranty, but are expensive.
DanielHB 3y ago
I work at Northvolt and we don't do any sale of cells to retail at the moment The only retail product we offer at the moment is: https://northvolt.com/products/systems/voltpacks/mobile/ https://northvolt.com/products/systems/voltpacks/mobile/ and I am not even sure you can just outright buy it or only lease it You can't just ship by mail such big cells due to fire hazards so I don't expect you will be able to just buy one

by k_bx 3y ago

bombcar 3y ago

Look for TAA compliant. https://www.eaton.com/us/en-us/products/backup-power-ups-surge-it-power-distribution/TAA-compliance.html https://www.eaton.com/us/en-us/products/backup-power-ups-sur... But they are often assembled in USA from foreign components, so you have to dig further into what cells they’re using.

defrost 3y ago

Large scale systems and cells to spec for other companies products | applications ... https://northvolt.com/products/ https://northvolt.com/products/ scroll down to footer PRODUCTS heading for more vague marketing splurge.

dainiusse 3y ago

I wonder if it is a china owned factory or not

mirzak 3y ago
It is not

jillesvangurp 3y ago

Most suppliers in this industry do b2b sales. Northvolt would be producing battery cells for use in automotive in large volumes. Volvo is one of their customers. I don't think they do retail sales in small quantities. In general, it seems more common in China for companies to do business with each other via e.g. Alibaba. You can actually order non trivial amounts of raw materials via Alibaba. For example if you search for 1080 steel, you can actually order tons of steel from various suppliers.

rejectfinite 3y ago

[flagged]

dang 3y ago
We've banned this account for breaking the site guidelines and ignoring our requests to stop. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future. They're here: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

SkyPuncher 3y ago

As far as I can tell, essentially the entire "portable" battery (like car batteries in the 100Ah range) is essentially a sturdy plastic container around generic manufactured battery cells. There are only a few companies that actually manufacture their cells in the USA.

latchkey 3y ago

Maybe not a full answer to your question, but reviews from Will Prowse are great. Check his youtube/website.

k_bx 3y ago
That's an interesting channel, thanks in any case!

carlbarrdahl 3y ago

Another Swedish company that does battery tech: https://mattr.se/official-projects/ https://mattr.se/official-projects/

moogly 3y ago
And https://polarium.com/ https://polarium.com/ But not really consumer products either.

mitthrowaway2 3y ago

China won almost total dominance of LFP batteries, apparently because Hydro-Quebec enforced steep patent royalties everywhere else. It's no coincidence that manufacturers are starting to look elsewhere now that the patents are expiring.

adamsmith143 3y ago

Generally have been satisfied with Anker, though that stuff is made in China the chargers and batteries have been good. Monoprice used to be good but I haven't used anything from them in a while

turtlebits 3y ago

Battleborn batteries are manufactured in the USA (unsure about the raw cells though) and have great service/warranty, but are expensive.

DanielHB 3y ago

I work at Northvolt and we don't do any sale of cells to retail at the moment The only retail product we offer at the moment is: https://northvolt.com/products/systems/voltpacks/mobile/ https://northvolt.com/products/systems/voltpacks/mobile/ and I am not even sure you can just outright buy it or only lease it You can't just ship by mail such big cells due to fire hazards so I don't expect you will be able to just buy one