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I don't know Indonesian import law but I would guess that this guy making batteries for his local business might have better quality than what I assume is the a

I don't know Indonesian import law but I would guess that this guy making batteries for his local business might have better quality than what I assume is the alternative, imported Chinese batteries. I wonder why so much concern over safety. I would be much more concerned about Chinese imported batteries since you don't always have a brand name and QC.

Kenji 3y ago
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WJW 3y ago
> since you don't always have a brand name and QC Some guy DIY-ing batteries in his shop is pretty much the epitome of "no brand name and QC" though. Seriously, look at some of the pictures in the article. Those botched together mains wires alone look like a fire risk. Quite apart from the circumstances of their creation, the homemade battery packs themselves can also be quite unsafe as some/most shops use any secondhand cells they can get their hands without regards for discharge ratings etc. That sort of imbalance can easily lead to fires during use, which is obviously not great when the driver is in busy traffic at the time.
- adql 3y ago
  > Those botched together mains wires alone look like a fire risk. There is nothing inherently unsafe with bolting power strip onto the wall. > Quite apart from the circumstances of their creation, the homemade battery packs themselves can also be quite unsafe as some/most shops use any secondhand cells they can get their hands without regards for discharge ratings etc. That sort of imbalance can easily lead to fires during use, which is obviously not great when the driver is in busy traffic at the time. Not reading the article before yapping your mouth eh ? > Ady Siswanto, owner of e-bike workshop Dyvolt in Jakarta, told Rest of World he takes care to match the internal resistance and capacity of the cells. Most of the "serial DIYes" know that just fine, as it is blindingly obvious in performance of batteries and if you're making it a business you'd not have many returning customers... except ones returning for a return. And let's not pretend name-brand packs don't have "accidents"
- infecto 3y ago
  He works under his own brand though, I would argue that batteries made by the guy down the street have a higher brand awareness than "COCO" batteries which might also sell under name "BOBO", "AOAO", "AKKO", "LMYW", etc. I am only pointing out that I would be concerned regardless of the source, chinese or local but suspect the local guy has a greater incentive to maintain his brand than the imported brand from china.
- averageRoyalty 3y ago
  > Seriously, look at some of the pictures in the article. Those botched together mains wires alone look like a fire risk. I'm guessing you haven't been to Indonesia. This style of wiring is common in businesses and homes in Indonesia, Thailand and lot of poorer asian countries. The regulations are weak or unenforced. Often unlicensed people build houses, run power, water etc. It's (probably unintentionally) dishonest to judge this by a first world standard.
  - wolverine876 3y ago
    Physics is the standard - it ignites or not - and it doesn't care where you are.
jpgvm 3y ago
> better quality than what I assume is the alternative, imported Chinese batteries. You do realise that China makes some of the worlds best batteries right? There is a reason why BYD, EVE and CATL are in the news all the time and it's not because they suck. Quality wise Chinese/Korean/Japanese batteries are all pretty much the same on NCA/NCM chemistries. China has a big advantage in LFP but LFP is shitty for an e-bike because the reduced density penalty is much more meaningful than in a car. Those companies make cells of course but there is also plenty of high quality BMS available and fully assembled batteries out of China too obviously.
- actionfromafar 3y ago
  China also makes some of the worlds worst batteries. (Source: all the products I had to return after 1 or fewer successful charges.)
  - prmoustache 3y ago
    They are doing exactly what the advocates of free market dream of. You want to pay as little as possible, you get the crappiest stuff, you are willing to pay more to get top quality, you get good stuff.
    - actionfromafar 3y ago
      In many product categories there is no top stuff, just keep buying the crap stuff until you find the specimen that works. Maybe "keep repeating" is a proxy for free market goodness, I can honestly not tell anymore. :-D
    - dghlsakjg 3y ago
      That would be fine if there was a way to differentiate crap from not crap. Price is a signal, but an increasingly shitty one in that I can pay a high price and still receive crap. The free market is happy to sell me crap at high prices with no ability to know that until the deal is irreversible. The theoretical free market also has perfect information, and the current markets actively work to obscure that.

Kenji 3y ago

[dead]

WJW 3y ago

> since you don't always have a brand name and QC Some guy DIY-ing batteries in his shop is pretty much the epitome of "no brand name and QC" though. Seriously, look at some of the pictures in the article. Those botched together mains wires alone look like a fire risk. Quite apart from the circumstances of their creation, the homemade battery packs themselves can also be quite unsafe as some/most shops use any secondhand cells they can get their hands without regards for discharge ratings etc. That sort of imbalance can easily lead to fires during use, which is obviously not great when the driver is in busy traffic at the time.

adql 3y ago
> Those botched together mains wires alone look like a fire risk. There is nothing inherently unsafe with bolting power strip onto the wall. > Quite apart from the circumstances of their creation, the homemade battery packs themselves can also be quite unsafe as some/most shops use any secondhand cells they can get their hands without regards for discharge ratings etc. That sort of imbalance can easily lead to fires during use, which is obviously not great when the driver is in busy traffic at the time. Not reading the article before yapping your mouth eh ? > Ady Siswanto, owner of e-bike workshop Dyvolt in Jakarta, told Rest of World he takes care to match the internal resistance and capacity of the cells. Most of the "serial DIYes" know that just fine, as it is blindingly obvious in performance of batteries and if you're making it a business you'd not have many returning customers... except ones returning for a return. And let's not pretend name-brand packs don't have "accidents"
infecto 3y ago
He works under his own brand though, I would argue that batteries made by the guy down the street have a higher brand awareness than "COCO" batteries which might also sell under name "BOBO", "AOAO", "AKKO", "LMYW", etc. I am only pointing out that I would be concerned regardless of the source, chinese or local but suspect the local guy has a greater incentive to maintain his brand than the imported brand from china.
averageRoyalty 3y ago
> Seriously, look at some of the pictures in the article. Those botched together mains wires alone look like a fire risk. I'm guessing you haven't been to Indonesia. This style of wiring is common in businesses and homes in Indonesia, Thailand and lot of poorer asian countries. The regulations are weak or unenforced. Often unlicensed people build houses, run power, water etc. It's (probably unintentionally) dishonest to judge this by a first world standard.
- wolverine876 3y ago
  Physics is the standard - it ignites or not - and it doesn't care where you are.

jpgvm 3y ago

> better quality than what I assume is the alternative, imported Chinese batteries. You do realise that China makes some of the worlds best batteries right? There is a reason why BYD, EVE and CATL are in the news all the time and it's not because they suck. Quality wise Chinese/Korean/Japanese batteries are all pretty much the same on NCA/NCM chemistries. China has a big advantage in LFP but LFP is shitty for an e-bike because the reduced density penalty is much more meaningful than in a car. Those companies make cells of course but there is also plenty of high quality BMS available and fully assembled batteries out of China too obviously.

actionfromafar 3y ago
China also makes some of the worlds worst batteries. (Source: all the products I had to return after 1 or fewer successful charges.)
- prmoustache 3y ago
  They are doing exactly what the advocates of free market dream of. You want to pay as little as possible, you get the crappiest stuff, you are willing to pay more to get top quality, you get good stuff.
  - actionfromafar 3y ago
    In many product categories there is no top stuff, just keep buying the crap stuff until you find the specimen that works. Maybe "keep repeating" is a proxy for free market goodness, I can honestly not tell anymore. :-D
  - dghlsakjg 3y ago
    That would be fine if there was a way to differentiate crap from not crap. Price is a signal, but an increasingly shitty one in that I can pay a high price and still receive crap. The free market is happy to sell me crap at high prices with no ability to know that until the deal is irreversible. The theoretical free market also has perfect information, and the current markets actively work to obscure that.