My big concern with rebuilts compared to an original Valence battery concerns the level of testing that goes into the cells to get a 'matched set' of 92 which gets put together as a completed battery. There's currently a '14 OEM Seg battery on eBay with the computer test sheets showing 22 of the 23 sets of 4 paralleled cells with *exactly* the same voltage showing, down to the 1/100 of a volt - The 23rd set was just 1/100th off the other 22 sets
Does Valence just grab 92 cells and stuff them into a case? . . . . or, more likely, they test a few hundred cells and use 92 of them that match up best? Do those rebuilding Seg batteries just grab 92 cells, or are they just as carefully matching up sets of cells too?
I have no idea what expertise goes into rebuilding a Seg battery, nor any understanding of how Valence is doing it - The results you get with OEM batteries suggests they really know what they're doing though
A well cared for OEM Seg battery can go 10,000 miles and/or 10 years or more - Does anyone think we're ever going to see this sort of reliability out of a rebuilt battery? I guess only time will tell, but personally I kinda doubt it. Myself, I would pay as much or probably more for a 2 year old Valence 2014 battery than I would for any newly rebuilt battery, unless someone can show me some of the computerized test results with all the cells showing voltage readings with a spread of just a few 100'ths or less . . . .
Don
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