OEM Battery Questions, Answered with Numbers

Standard-specification batteries — the 51.2V 100Ah wall unit, 12V 100Ah deep-cycle, 48V e-bike packs — start at 10 units, so you can pilot a market before committing. Fully custom packs with your own enclosure, mold or BMS profile start at 200–500 pcs depending on the line. Sample fees are always credited against your first production order.

Samples are quoted at 2–3× the volume unit price because they are hand-built on the same lines that run mass production, with single-unit changeovers, custom BMS flashing and full test documentation. When you convert to a volume order, the entire sample fee is credited against the deposit. Paired samples — for example two 51.2V 100Ah units for parallel testing — are quoted as one lot.

Yes. Mixed sample lots let you compare configurations before committing: a 51.2V 100Ah wall unit next to a 12V 200Ah deep-cycle, or a 48V 20Ah pack in both NMC and LFP chemistry. Each configuration carries its own BMS profile and end-of-line test report. Mixed lots ship together under one UN38.3 and MSDS documentation set, so customs sees a single dangerous-goods file.

Standard-catalog items sample in 7–10 working days and volume-produce in about 15 working days for 100–500 units after deposit. Fully custom packs sample in 15–20 working days after spec sign-off, and full containers run 25–30 days. Peak season — Q3 and Q4 pre-holiday and pre-solar builds — can add roughly one week; we flag exact dates on the proforma invoice.

The standard structure is 30% deposit to start production and 70% balance against a copy of the bill of lading — the terms most of our EU and US OEM clients already use. Trade terms default to FOB Shenzhen (Yantian or Shekou); EXW and DAP are available for consolidated or sample shipments. Annual-frame programs can discuss quarterly settlement after the first two orders.

Quotes are issued in USD, or EUR on request, under Incoterms 2020: FOB Shenzhen by default, EXW for courier sample pickups, DAP for regional distributor programs. Every quotation itemizes unit price, UN 4G carton dimensions, gross weight and documentation scope, so your forwarder can plan Class 9 handling from the first shipment. We re-confirm pricing before you commit whenever cell markets move.

Every export pack ships with UN38.3 transport certification covering all 8 tests, plus a 16-section MSDS. CE (LVD and EMC) and IEC 62133-2 through the CB scheme cover EU and CB-market entry. UL 1973 for US stationary storage is project-scoped on the rack and home ESS lines. ISO 9001 governs the factory QMS, and EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542 files accompany European orders.

UN38.3, MSDS and dangerous-goods packaging certificates travel with the product and cover your shipments regardless of brand. Market certifications — CE, IEC 62133-2, UL 1973 — are brand-scoped: for own-brand products we supply the full construction file, test data and factory-audit support so your certification body can issue under your name. Same cells, same BMS, new label file — no requalification of the hardware.

For stationary energy storage sold into the US, UL 1973 is the core battery-safety certification and the prerequisite for UL 9540 system listing, which authorities and insurers increasingly require — supported by UL 9540A thermal-runaway test data. Non-stationary products such as e-bike packs and RV batteries follow UN38.3 transport plus the market's own product standard instead. We scope the correct path per product in the proposal.

Sea freight is the default: IMDG Class 9 dangerous goods under packaging instruction P903, in UN-certified 4G cartons, loaded from Yantian or Shekou. Full containers to EU base ports run 28–40 days; US West Coast 18–28 days; consolidated LCL 35–45 days. Every shipment carries the UN38.3 test summary, MSDS, dangerous-goods declaration and packaging certificate — the four documents forwarders and insurers ask for.

UN3480 — batteries shipped alone — moves under IATA PI965: cargo aircraft only, Class 9 labeling, and state of charge limited to 30%, which we calibrate and document at end-of-line before packing. UN3481 — batteries packed with or in equipment — moves under PI966 or PI967 and, since 1 January 2026, carries the same 30% limit. Door-to-door transit is typically 5–10 days.

Four documents accompany every mode: the UN38.3 test summary, a 16-section MSDS, the dangerous-goods declaration and the UN 4G packaging certificate. EU destinations add CE conformity and EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542 documentation; US orders include HS codes and per-carton gross-weight lists for customs. Digital copies go out before the vessel or flight departs so your broker can pre-file everything.

Five layers: voltage and capacity (4S–20S platforms; 10–60Ah light EV; up to 300Ah at 12V), enclosure (your mold, color and IP65 structure), connectors (XT60, Anderson, M8/M10 terminals or proprietary), BMS firmware (protocol, thresholds, balancing behavior), and packaging with manuals. Custom programs start at 200–500 pcs; proposals arrive in 2 working days and samples in 15–20.

BMS boards span 4S–32S at 30–500A continuous, with RS485, CAN 2.0B, UART and Bluetooth 5.0 on board, plus WiFi or 4G for cloud-connected fleets. Protocol libraries cover Deye, Victron, Growatt, Sol-Ark, SMA and Luxpower inverters, and Pylontech-compatible CAN frames for retrofit markets. OTA firmware updates adjust inverter mappings after deployment instead of forcing a recall.

Home ESS wall units parallel up to 12–16 per system. Rack systems scale further: sixteen 51.2V 100Ah modules reach 81.92 kWh per cabinet, high-density builds extend to 32 modules at 163.84 kWh, and commercial cabinets reach 322 kWh. A master BMS aggregates SOC, temperature and alarms over CAN, so the array reports as one system to your inverter or SNMP platform.