I am more interested with the gray market questions.
I understand the best batteries are reserved for those high end automotive or stationery energy storage stuff.
How about those cells that don't pass the test? There are many questions I like to ask about these "unwanted" cells that currently in gray market.3
- Why are those cells "discarded"?
- What kind of tests that make those cells failed to be qualified?
- Why company doesn't simply recycle those failed cell, yet they auctioned those and many unscrupulous people "relasered" it to trick people?
- Why the manufacture does have DIRECT TO Customers sales?
Both automotive batteries and energy storage batteries are classified differently due to their different focuses. Automotive batteries emphasize power density, while energy storage batteries emphasize energy density. Here is the response to your questions:
1. Batteries are typically graded during production, with those meeting the target requirements classified as Grade A. Batteries with higher internal resistance or higher self-discharge rates are classified as Grade B. Depending on the quality, there may even be Grade C and D. Qualified products are retained, while non-qualified products are typically destroyed(under normal circumstances).
2. Testing is usually based on the battery's performance in meeting standards, such as internal resistance, capacity, self-discharge rate, etc. Specialized tools are often required for testing.
3. This topic involves economic issues and is a microcosm of the entire economic world. Non-qualified products don't necessarily mean they are completely unusable. For small businesses, production capacity and quality control are often not high, resulting in a higher rate of non-qualified batteries. If, as you suggest, every non-qualified battery is discarded, the cost would become very high. The increased production cost would then be passed on to consumers. Assuming the market price is generally 1 USD, but the non-qualified rate increases production costs, even exceeding 1 USD. Do you think consumers would bear the cost? If not, businesses would close, creating a serious problem. Large enterprises also face this issue, having evolved from small enterprises.
4. This issue is strategy-oriented. Traditional manufacturing industries generally don't directly sell to end consumers because their focus is on manufacturing and research and development. Face-to-face sales are typically within the scope of brand merchants. However, you can see new manufacturing industries engaging in customer marketing. This strategy allows them to gain more partners. When consumers choose products manufactured by XXX, it forces distributors and brand merchants to actively contact XXX, helping them expand their sales network because it is profitable in this network. Regardless of whether the manufacturing industry directly markets to end customers, there is a bottom line—they will not disclose prices to end customers. This means no profit for distributors. It is good for consumers but disastrous for manufacturers because manufacturers have limited access to customers, while distributors can take products worldwide, as long as it's profitable.
