# Importing LiFePo4



## sailfish11 (Sep 15, 2007)

Does anyone know what paperwork is necessary for importing LiFePo4 batteries into the US? Apparently Customs views them as hazardous material. Has anyone out there successfully imported them (themselves, as opposed to doing it through a distributor)?


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## batteryshow (Nov 4, 2008)

We have this approval docs, and we had sent so more goods to our clients in USA,Canada ,EUROPE, Israel ,Australia . I don't know what's your real meaning ? YOu must purchase the batteries from us .Thanks


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## sailfish11 (Sep 15, 2007)

I'm talking about importing them myself -- not through a distributor (or OEM). No one has done this?


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## TexasCotton (Sep 18, 2008)

batteryshow said:


> We have this approval docs, and we had sent so more goods to our clients in USA,Canada ,EUROPE, Israel ,Australia . I don't know what's your real meaning ? YOu must purchase the batteries from us .Thanks


"YOu must purchase the batteries from us" WHY
You may want to consider a local distribution network in North America.


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## sailfish11 (Sep 15, 2007)

I don't know where 'batteryshow' came from; I have no connection with them. I'm just wondering how an average joe would go about importing LiFePo4 batteries into the US. Apparently they're considered 'hazardous material' and require special paperwork. Does anyone know what paperwork is required? Surely someone on this forum has brought batteries into the US! Any help?


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## jackhyq (Nov 3, 2008)

sailfish11 said:


> I don't know where 'batteryshow' came from; I have no connection with them. I'm just wondering how an average joe would go about importing LiFePo4 batteries into the US. Apparently they're considered 'hazardous material' and require special paperwork. Does anyone know what paperwork is required? Surely someone on this forum has brought batteries into the US! Any help?


we mostly send them by courier with MSDS, Guarantee letter, Custom Records is so smooth to USA,Canada,Australia,EUROPE. SO now i don't know what's your real problems.


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## sailfish11 (Sep 15, 2007)

jackhyq said:


> we mostly send them by courier with MSDS, Guarantee letter, Custom Records is so smooth to USA,Canada,Australia,EUROPE. SO now i don't know what's your real problems.


I guess I need more specific information. Exactly what forms are required? What is a MSDS? Who writes the guarantee letter and what are you guaranteeing? What custom records are required?

I appreciate your trying to help. 

If you are also trying to sell me batteries, then please respond to my PM asking for prices, weight, and dimensions for your 60Ah and 90Ah LiFePo4 batteries.

Thanks!


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## jasonbatrn (Nov 12, 2008)

we have a EV shop.
we have been buyed three unit batteries pack(72v 200ah) from China Ieehoo company ,

tested is OK(no others problem)


748W. ALGONQUIN
ARLONGTON HTS.,IL 60005,USA


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## sailfish11 (Sep 15, 2007)

Wow, I'm getting lots of battery retailers on this thread! 

What I'd really like, is to hear from some of you EV'ers out there that have brought batteries into the US. What did you have to do? Is there some place where I can find out which forms I need to fill out, etc.?


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## escooter (Nov 12, 2008)

i'm come from France ,
and working in Escooter company in France , 

we company purchase 48v 40ah LiFePO4 Batteries Pack from Ieehoo company , 
The LiFePO4 Battery and Balance Charger is good.


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## favguy (May 2, 2008)

I think it's hilarious how these newbies with only 1 or 2 posts keep popping up to endorse Ieehoo. Isn't it funny how they also have the same poor English 

I'll give you 10 out of 10 for effort, but please do we all look like we got off the boat yesterday?

ROFLMAO


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## sailfish11 (Sep 15, 2007)

I know! I mean come on! Not only are these guys trying to highjack the thread, but they're not even responding to my PM requesting a real quote (as opposed to vague promises about their product).

On the other hand, no regular EV'ers are responding, so maybe importing LiFePo4 batteries is a relatively new thing for us (as individuals and not through an importer anyway).


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## joseph3354 (Apr 2, 2008)

importing batteries is a matter that you would have to take up with an import broker.you have to make sure that all duties and taxes are paid.last i checked it was someting like 3.4% of value for importing batteries,but there was no specific category for lifepo at the time( 3 months ago).

edit: you would need a broker to try and break down into specific catagories to get the actual costs.


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## maximus-racing (Aug 17, 2009)

jackhyq said:


> we mostly send them by courier with MSDS, Guarantee letter, Custom Records is so smooth to USA,Canada,Australia,EUROPE. SO now i don't know what's your real problems.


Hi All !
I am french distributor of lifepo4 batteries.
Beware of this "non existing" company !!!
I first test one lifepo4 battery pack that was very good and 26650 cells that was great too.
I've bought several e-bike packs following to the good test (last summer 2008). (36V10Ah to 48V20Ah)
From this time I only have problems with a lot of bad packs.
Some are good and I don't have any news from clients and some give me many troubles !!!
Either few cells dead after 2/3 cycles (sometimes cannot be used one time !!!), or BMS fail.
I succeeded to get some replacement packs MONTHES and replacement packs was dead too !
I had claim to be refound for one bad pack with high rate 26650 cells, but on the 50 cells I've got, half had burnt in the parcel (???), and the good cells was only low discharge cells (fraud on the goods).
I think this guy doesn't reprensent any "big" company but only buy second hands material and try to make business and try to mislaed clients over the world...
No replies to my complains, no solutions, no refound....
He only can say "I told my engineers", "sorry", etc...
"welcome,other problems ,i am still pushing
Battery,(L)Jack_Huang_非常活跃！ Maximus engineers must confirm that situation and need more docs and signatures ,so it is trouble for me to push whole process,i hope sometimes you can understand me and support me ,"
etc, etc....and can cut and past full MSN conversations with this kind of talking....
If you want to have problems, buy to him !!!
Cheers
Maximus


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

sailfish11,

I recently did a group buy for Headway cells (now I work for evcomponents) so I know how it goes. Check with a customs agent to see if you can ship via air, depending on quantity, it may be illegal. ALWAYS check legality if shipping air. 

First thing, get your order together, make the purchase.

Next you get a bill of laiding from the shipper when it ships, this must be a physical bill of laiding sent via mail so your customs broker has it.

Next, get a customs broker. They're all over. Depending on how far you are from a port, you might need to make arrangements with a Freight Forwarder.

The customs broker will tell you what their fees are, what the total customs duty is, what the warehouse fees are and give you an invoice.

Give the broker the bill of laiding. Make arrangements for freight forwarding if needed. Wait until shipment comes in. When it comes in, pay the Customs broker.

Pick up from the warehouse that the customs broker has arranged, or get it delivered somewhere else by the freight forwarder.

Long and the short of it, its a PITA. There's a good amount of paperwork and lots of contact between yourself, broker and the shipper/exporter/manufacturer. If you can arrange to get more people involved, it makes it much cheaper per cell. It would've been expensive for me to import the number of cells I wanted, but with 33 other people, it made more economic sense.

What kind of cells are you thinking of ordering? What quanitities?


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## gte718p (Jul 30, 2009)

I looked at doing it myself and honestly could not do cheaper then evcomponents.

MSDS is material safety data sheet. Almost everything in the world has one these days. It tells you the chemical properties of the substance, safe handling, and an special precautions. 

Without an order of several hundred cells you are still going to be working with a distributor. http://www.alibaba.com can help you find a supplier. Its one of the leading clearinghouses of Chinese manufactures.


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## EVComponents (Apr 20, 2009)

We make this very easy for people to get LiFePO4 cells from ThunderSky, Sky Energy and Headway.

We are based in the USA (Seattle area) and pass along our bulk rate to individual buyers no matter how small your order is.

www.evcomponents.com


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## Drew (Jul 26, 2009)

I think you just need a dangerous goods declaration or a certification from the manufacturer that they don't breach the FAA dangerous goods requirements. I don't really have links for it, but the manufacturer should be able to provide that.

Also, MSDS Stands for Material Safety Data Sheet which will help with handling, but shouldn't have much of an impact on flight requirements.


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## DC Braveheart (Oct 12, 2008)

I don't see how you can possibly save enough money on a single order to justify doing this yourself. Save yourself the hassle and go with EV-Components or similar - they'll deal with he paperwork and get you a bulk buy rate you just can't get on your own.


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## EVComponents (Apr 20, 2009)

DC Braveheart said:


> I don't see how you can possibly save enough money on a single order to justify doing this yourself. Save yourself the hassle and go with EV-Components or similar - they'll deal with he paperwork and get you a bulk buy rate you just can't get on your own.


Thank you for the vote of confidence. 

There is a lot of paperwork and grief to deal with via customs and freight agents. Ground shipping once landed in the USA is another chore. Because we are doing so much volume now, we are getting much better ground freight rates than an individual can achieve.

Most of these battery orders are very heavy pallets. We can put other products (chargers, BMS, etc) on top of your battery pallet and ship those for free at the same time. The extra weight of a charger or another product is negligible. There are some savings to be exploited here by buying everything at one location.

James
www.evcomponents.com


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## batteryshow (Nov 4, 2008)

maximus-racing said:


> Hi All !
> I am french distributor of lifepo4 batteries.
> Beware of this "non existing" company !!!
> I first test one lifepo4 battery pack that was very good and 26650 cells that was great too.
> ...


 
What do you want to do ? I had tried my best to coordinate with our company and had replace new packs to you for free including packs+shipping cost ,why you always appeared bad packs ? why other clients no bad pack to respond ? i am still fuzzled about them. And now you try this kind of way to denigrate me or our company , do you think it is funny thing ? I retain our rights too !


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## AndyH (Jun 15, 2008)

sailfish11 said:


> ...On the other hand, no regular EV'ers are responding, so maybe importing LiFePo4 batteries is a relatively new thing for us (as individuals and not through an importer anyway).


I've been importing small quantities of LiFePO4 cells into the USA via UPS air/ground for just over a year. The only thing I have to do is order the cells, wire money, and unpack the boxes when they arrive.

The manufacturer does the paperwork required for the shipment and hands the packages to UPS. UPS ships, handles customs, duties, and brokerage, and forwards the boxes to me. They bill me later for the duties and pass the required cash to the customs folks.

The shipment is via air across the Pacific and via surface once in the US. Taipei to San Antonio is 10 days. It takes longer to get packages from Ontario.


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## jackhyq (Nov 3, 2008)

hehe, so long time ,Andy, how about you and your business ?


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## EVComponents (Apr 20, 2009)

AndyH said:


> The shipment is via air across the Pacific and via surface once in the US. Taipei to San Antonio is 10 days. It takes longer to get packages from Ontario.


We do air shipping of Headway cells to customers. In quantities below 2 packs I think it can be done for $95 via air. That is still fairly expensive shipping as a percentage of the entire purchase.

For Sky Energy and ThunderSky cells, they are much bigger and heavier per cell. Maybe a testing cell or two you could be air. We had one customer ship a pallet by air. It was a small pallet and it was something like $704 for the air freight. 

If you are doing a long term EV project (and there are very few quick projects) then it makes the most sense to plan in advance and do ocean and ground shipping.


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## TexasCotton (Sep 18, 2008)

batteryshow said:


> What do you want to do ? I had tried my best to coordinate with our company and had replace new packs to you for free including packs+shipping cost ,why you always appeared bad packs ? why other clients no bad pack to respond ? i am still fuzzled about them. And now you try this kind of way to denigrate me or our company , do you think it is funny thing ? I retain our rights too !













LOOK
China Warning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## jackhyq (Nov 3, 2008)

TexasCotton said:


> LOOK
> China Warning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


 Look,USA Warning !!!!


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