Buying a Citycoco Batttery on Aliexpress
Buying batteries online can be a risky endeavour. Tales abound of battery scams and fire risks. But UK retailers are generally unable to ship batteries within the UK for safety reasons, leaving Chinese suppliers as the only option.
But how can you avoid getting a low quality, perhaps even dangerous battery?
We conducted test purchases of five batteries on Aliexpress. We received four batteries and we tested their capacities.
| Stated Capacity (Ah) | Test 1 Capacity (Ah) | Test 1 Capacity (Wh) | Test 1 Time Taken | % of Stated Ah |
| 40 | 16.47 | 974.2 | 08:14 | 41% |
| 40 | 17.51 | 1033.3 | 08:45 | 44% |
| 40 | 20.77 | 1234.4 | 10:23 | 52% |
| 40 | 17.96 | 1061.6 | 08:48 | 45% |
We didn't do a full teardown but there didn't appear to be anything obviously wrong from a quick look inside the case.
Unfortunately the sellers we purchase these four batteries from are no longer selling on AliExpress. Whilst the batteries do not meet their claimed capacities, they do seem to work and provide roughly 15-20Ah of power.
Generally would suggest purchasing from the seller with the most or nearly the most orders and paying close attention to the shop rating (would personally only purchase if it is 97%+).