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105Ah EVE Inventory Dried Up?

AKHwyJunkie

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Like pretty much all of you, I've been interested in building a DIY LiFePO4 battery. My application is pretty size stringent where I need to use the 105Ah format to fit in a particular space. The EVE 105aH is absolutely perfect for my application and I can't handle much more than this in dimensions.

I've been checking all the usual Alibaba sources I've found on this forum and everyone is out of stock on these. Amy Wan indicates only EVE has them and that seems to be true from seven different inquiries I've made. I did find one from Xuba, but they indicate it's pulled from a battery bank and may have some damage as a result, but they are "promised" as new cells. Given that I'm guessing we're into 3rd and 4th rate inventory at this point, I'm a bit nervous. Part of me thinks that if they were good enough for battery banks, they should be decent enough and are probably even tested cells. The other part of me thinks this is the bottom of the barrel if they are ripping apart finished products to get the bare cells. (And forget about a warranty...) I'm generally nervous about AliExpress suppliers and I know they are facing the same supply issues, so I'd prefer to stick to Alibaba for reliability reasons. Thoughts on this?

Buying new from EVE does have its benefits, I suppose. It's more than I wanted to pay, but maybe worth it? My struggle with this is they don't appear to sell busbars, which was a pretty huge value-add from the resellers. Looking at AliExpress, busbars are going for ridiculous prices. (Like almost $100 for a handful of them and that's the cheap ones.) I could make my own, sure, but it's really cold here and I'd rather not be fabricating in my unheated shop this time of year.

It looks like the gravy train is almost over for these cells. What would you do?
 
Buying new from EVE does have its benefits, I suppose. It's more than I wanted to pay, but maybe worth it? My struggle with this is they don't appear to sell busbars, which was a pretty huge value-add from the resellers.
Are you sure they are not just included with the cells? I was under the impression screws and busbars were standard whether buying from the manufacturer or a reseller.

Have you price checked the shipped cost of cells direct from EVE, I would be curious what these 105Ah cells go for straight from the manufacturer.

It looks like the gravy train is almost over for these cells. What would you do?
EVE ain't the only game in town. Frey (fortune), CATL, ETC, Higee, Lishen, and CALB are some other manufacturers of aluminum cells. Most (with the exception of Frey and CALB seem very similar.

Also you could look into "varicore" they are not a manufacturer. They are rebranded EVE or CATL cells I think, often sold on Aliexpress, search the forum, a few folks have bought them. I don't know enough about them to have an opinion. But if you really want EVE cells it might be a good way to still find them. Compare the shape size and layout of the terminals, qr code, and vent to determine who the manufacturer is.
 
Are you sure they are not just included with the cells? I was under the impression screws and busbars were standard whether buying from the manufacturer or a reseller.
I will double check again, but their rep did not answer my question about the busbars. It could have been a misunderstanding, but I usually associate no comment with not provided.

EVE ain't the only game in town.

I am aware of this. The Fortune (which we think is Frey) batteries is the right width, but are too tall to fit in my application at 200mm+. Same with CATL and a couple others I've looked at. I'll admit, I haven't exhausted every manufacturer, I'm sure. It's sometimes difficult to figure out the OEM, as you know, but the EVE are so distinctive compared to others. In my dealings, it's always been "No, we don't have 100Ah, but would this other version work?"...and it's not even close to the dimensions, nor can I find similar on their pages.

I wish my application wasn't size sensitive, but it is pretty tight. I might have to redesign my project around what's available, though...but I'll double check with EVE and see if they'll answer just the question about bus bars.
 
I will double check again, but their rep did not answer my question about the busbars. It could have been a misunderstanding, but I usually associate no comment with not provided.



I am aware of this. The Fortune (which we think is Frey) batteries is the right width, but are too tall to fit in my application at 200mm+. Same with CATL and a couple others I've looked at. I'll admit, I haven't exhausted every manufacturer, I'm sure. It's sometimes difficult to figure out the OEM, as you know, but the EVE are so distinctive compared to others. In my dealings, it's always been "No, we don't have 100Ah, but would this other version work?"...and it's not even close to the dimensions, nor can I find similar on their pages.

I wish my application wasn't size sensitive, but it is pretty tight. I might have to redesign my project around what's available, though...but I'll double check with EVE and see if they'll answer just the question about bus bars.
If you provide your dimensions I'll try to remember them and keep an eye out
 
If you provide your dimensions
I am looking for under 150mm width x 215mm height x 150-175mm depth for four cells in series. I can mount either vertically or horizontally, but these dimensions include room for posts and wiring.

From my research, the 105aH EVE seem to be about the maximum size cell I can fit in that space. I know that if I step down in power requirements (e.g. 60Ah), my options become much greater. I am seeking most "bank for the buck" from the limited space, which is what has basically led me to the EVE cells. I think if I do step down my power requirements, I'll likely look at the 60Ah Frey's.

If you do see anything, let me know. Thanks!
 
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Is 90ah and option? Slightly less, but better availability.

I could work with the 90Ah if I had to. I have flexibility in the power, none in the dimensions. I have asked 3 of the now 8 vendors I've contacted if they had the 90Ah and all these have said no. Amy Wan indicated the supply problem is with both the 105 and the 90. I haven't started asking about the 80Ah and below yet. From what I've gathered, reading here, EVE is locking down supply to resellers (or warehouse storage is drying up and current production hasn't caught up) and it's affecting the various models, it appears some sooner than others. It's sensible that the cheapest units (90/105) would be the first to go.

I will admit I've been getting a bit exhausted contacting vendors and being told "not in stock" for things they advertise as in-stock and ready to ship. Some vendors commonly offer a 120Ah unit as in stock, but every time I check, these exceed my needed dimensions. I think these might be Lishen, but I haven't dug into them heavily since they won't fit my application.
 

This is where this effort has gotten weird for me. According to the Noah's Ark index here, Varicore is rebranded EVE or CATL. When I've looked into Varicore on Alibaba, they are almost non-existent...but they are all over the place on AliExpress. Watching Will's videos and input here on the forums, it seems like AliExpress ordering is really a dice roll, even with supposedly "good" vendors. Sometimes you get good stuff, sometimes its riddled with dents or even cells from different manufacturers.

What's been strange about my research into CATL is that almost every listing I've looked at has multiple dimensions stated. The CATL website doesn't have any listings of their actual products, that I can find anyway. Listings are also all over the board with these, with some listings clearly being other brands such as EVE or Lishen. It's been difficult to discern what product you're even asking about.

I am continuing to dig up further vendors as possibilities, there's a ton of them out there. I am well off the beaten path of vendors you'd find on the forums here, though!
 
This is where this effort has gotten weird for me. According to the Noah's Ark index here, Varicore is rebranded EVE or CATL. When I've looked into Varicore on Alibaba, they are almost non-existent...but they are all over the place on AliExpress. Watching Will's videos and input here on the forums, it seems like AliExpress ordering is really a dice roll, even with supposedly "good" vendors. Sometimes you get good stuff, sometimes its riddled with dents or even cells from different manufacturers.

What's been strange about my research into CATL is that almost every listing I've looked at has multiple dimensions stated. The CATL website doesn't have any listings of their actual products, that I can find anyway. Listings are also all over the board with these, with some listings clearly being other brands such as EVE or Lishen. It's been difficult to discern what product you're even asking about.

I am continuing to dig up further vendors as possibilities, there's a ton of them out there. I am well off the beaten path of vendors you'd find on the forums here, though!
Noah's Ark Index, is one of my little projects, I'm happy its being used and proving useful! :)
I do want to be very clear that it is still (and always will be) a work in progress, and represents my current best understandings, about a market that is quite opaque and sometimes very hard to decipher. So it may contain errors.

As for Varicore, my current best understanding is its rebranded EVE, a closeup of the QR code might help confirm that, or might not.
Screenshot_20201121_142147.png

My experience finding Varicore on AliB was the same as yours, they seem to be AliX only which means to me is further evidence they are just a rebrand. My guess is they are just a small company buying the same (probably grade B) cells that we are, slapping a brand name on them, and selling them retail in a way that is attractive to consumers.

I share your discomfort with AliX and the variable quality and difficulty of judging a seller. I think the same applies at least in part to AliB as well. Though if you buy direct from the manufacturer (which is not always possible but in this case it it) that should be pretty damn safe I would think.
 
How about this one from Basen? H200*W130*T36.7 per cell

I did look at this one. I am in Alaska and their listings specifically say they cannot deliver to Alaska. :cautious:
 
I wonder why that is.

If I had to venture a guess, it's so they don't have to comply with the enhanced IATA regulations to send lithium batteries by air cargo. There is no such thing as ground shipping to Alaska, everything goes by barge or by flight. I am certain logistics won't include ship freight forwarding to AK, so that means a flight via FedEx or UPS. I am fully expecting I could run into problems with any order, though, but the only way to find out is to try.
 
Well, folks, I may have finally solved my problems. I was finally able to reach a deal with Xuba, they found a product listing that met my size specifications. I have no idea what OEM I ordered, as it looks different from every known manufacturer in the Noah's Ark index. (Which, yes, @Dzl , that has been a tremendous resource! Thanks for taking the time.) In case it helps others, here's the listing:

"Xuba" Brand 3.2v 100aH Prismatic

I am suspect of the cost. I paid $173 for (4) of them, shipped DDP by sea. The shipping was $59 of that. That strikes me as really low in this case, for 24kg+ that has to go on a bird once it hits stateside. It's comparable to some other quotes I got for comparison reasons, but I've done a ton of shipping to and from Alaska, and that's low. It would not surprise me if their shipping department freaks out next week or I never actually receive the product. I have to believe these companies are using freight forwarders that know what they're doing with worldwide shipping, so we'll see. The contract is DDP, so delivery is not my problem.

Thanks for the chat, all.
 
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Well, folks, I may have finally solved my problems. I was finally able to reach a deal with Xuba, they found a product listing that met my size specifications. I have no idea what OEM I ordered, as it looks different from every known manufacturer in the Noah's Ark index. (Which, yes, @Dzl , that has been a tremendous resource! Thanks for taking the time.) In case it helps others, here's the listing:

"Xuba" Brand 3.2v 100aH Prismatic

I am suspect of the cost. I paid $173 for (4) of them, shipped DDP by sea. The shipping was $59 of that. That strikes me as really low in this case, for 24kg+ that has to go on a bird once it hits stateside. It's comparable to some other quotes I got for comparison reasons, but I've done a ton of shipping to and from Alaska, and that's low. It would not surprise me if their shipping department freaks out next week or I never actually receive the product. I have to believe these companies are using freight forwarders that know what they're doing with worldwide shipping, so we'll see. The contract is DDP, so delivery is not my problem.

Thanks for the chat, all.
A (different) reseller recently offered me these cells as well, they could not tell me the manufacturer. Glad you found cells that fit your space for such a low cost, hopefully they meet your needs and test out okay. At that price, they are most likely non-A-grade, but so are most of the cells we are buying.

You should ask them to provide a datasheet for the cells if they can.
 
You should ask them to provide a datasheet for the cells if they can.
I did. Here's the supposed data sheet in case it helps you with Noah's Ark. It's definitely rated a bit below some others, but it should work fine in my relatively low charge and discharge application. At the end of the day, this is purely a learning project for me and not mission critical, so I could afford to gamble. I've run bar tabs bigger than what this cost me.

Xuba Battery Spec Sheet.JPG
 
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are you finally satisfied with these cells?
did you do any capacity or resistance tests?
 
are you finally satisfied with these cells?
did you do any capacity or resistance tests?
I am happy with these cells. They arrived in good shape and with no issues. I didn't do an IR test, but capacity test was on target. They have been in service for awhile now and no problems to speak of. I would buy them again, if I needed more.

The only gotcha was that I learned there is no "ship" based shipping to Alaska, which I kind of suspected might be the case. That meant I had to pony up for UPS shipping, which was ridiculous in cost, but Xuba was able to coordinate all the IATA compliance requirements without issue. They were also sent DDU because of this, but there were no additional import or tax charges from UPS.
 
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