What Are Grade A, Grade B and Grade C Battery Cells?

When battery manufacturers produce the same batch of batteries, the batteries will be classified according to the electrical test performance, which are divided into three categories: Grade A, Grade B and Grade C.

 

Grade A cell is of the highest quality. Its battery materials, technology, energy storage, stable charge and discharge, specifications, and constant temperature standards are of high quality standards in the industry. Grade A cells are generally ordered directly by the factory using the cell to the cell manufacturer. Before placing an order, the cell manufacturer will confirm the parameters of battery capacity, thickness, length and width, etc. After a series of cell piece production processes, the cell is finally produced and delivered to the customer. A battery manufactured exactly to the order standards is called Grade A battery cell.  

 

Products produced in any factory will have a defective rate. In the lithium battery industry, from the perspective of technology, ingredients, etc., the gap between first-line lithium-ion battery factories and third-line lithium-ion battery factories will not be very large. However, considering the production process, there is a big gap in the defective rate of manufacturers, first-line manufacturers can reach about 2%, while second and third-line manufacturers may reach 5%-10%. It is because of this defective rate that the Grade B cell is produced. Grade B cells are only slightly different in capacity, or the length, width and thickness do not meet the order requirements, but the performance is not compromised, and the price is cheaper than that of Grade A cells. In addition, if Grade A cells are not shipped out in 3-6 months, they will be regarded as Grade B cells as well.

 

Grade C cells are below average in all aspects, lower than the standards of Grade A and Grade B cells. Grade C cells are very different from Grade A cells in terms of energy storage, stable charge and discharge efficiency, battery materials, technology and repeated charge and discharge. If the Grade B cells are stored in the warehouse for over 8 months and still have not been shipped out, they can be called Grade C cell. Due to the long storage time of the Grade C cell, the performance begins to decline with the aging of self-discharge. Battery expansion sometimes occurs during charging, and sometimes during leakage and short circuit. Generally, the performance of Grade C cells are only about 50%-60% of the performance of the same type of Grade A cells, and the best may reach 70%. The safety of Grade C cell is low. In addition, the Grade C battery cell is not durable. After several cycles of charging and discharging, the performance will be greatly reduced. Grade C cells' capacity, internal resistance and self-discharge rate do not meet the requirements.