Counterfeit Lithium-Ion Batteries Infiltrate Market

As an auditor of battery manufacturers around the world, University of Maryland mechanical engineer Michael Pecht frequently finds himself touring spotless production floors. They’re akin to “the cleanest hospital that you could imagine–it’s semiconductor-type cleanliness,” he says. But he’s also seen the opposite, and plenty of it. Pecht estimates he’s audited dozens of battery factories where he found employees watering plants next to a production line or smoking cigarettes where…