Why are batteries suddenly so expensive?

[grsthegreat]

You would not believe the mark up in batteries

I buy in small bulk loads, maybe 10-20 at a time. Theres a huge price break from supplier, and they include pickup and removal of all my cores. I easily save 30-40% or more than the cost of same battery from auto parts store.

 

[aircommuter]

A google search for "lead-acid battery tariffs" gives the answer.

Not really. Because the battery manufacturers in this country supplied this country until the government leaning environmental policies forced manufacturers out. Now if you come to California no matter where a battery or tire is made there is a state fee on each one, plus paint and lumber. Tariffs within.

 

[papalynn]

The reason batteries and everything else are so much more expensive than 5 years ago is the Biden era. Solar and wind was going to power the world in their opinion. They put the kibosh on fossil fuel and the price of energy rose exponentially. The cost of every step in the supply chain from design to final delivery was tripled. In many products there are many levels in the supply chain. When each entity raises their price by 2x, you will pay 2x what it was worth yesterday. However, if the price of a product increases 100% in one year but only goes up 2% this year, that is what you hear on the news. We are happy with 2% inflation. Problem is the prices will not go back down as that is considered deflation and the government doesn't want that. Bad for the GDP. Suggestion: Thank God the battery was only $200 as the prices will only go up. Beleive it or not but that same battery will be $10,000 some day.

 

[Snobdds]

I looked up the commodity price of lead...pretty consistent.

Most batteries are made in the US, so not subject to tarrifs.

This looks like a companies trying to keep price parity in the economy. Meaning, it's better to keep a steady price increase than have large price shocks. It's stupid, but most companies do this.

 

[Snobdds]

OP: Where is your $200 battery made?

Hint - Tariffs are an imported goods tax paid for by consumers.

There was a study done at the San Francisco Fed about tariffs, and it surprised a lot of people. Even some of my peers that understand Economics were surprised.

Cliff Notes: Tariffs decrease inflation due to less demand.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1989478883377213709

 

[Snobdds]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1989561113084928052

 

[aircommuter]

The reason batteries and everything else are so much more expensive than 5 years ago is the Biden era. Solar and wind was going to power the world in their opinion. They put the kibosh on fossil fuel and the price of energy rose exponentially. The cost of every step in the supply chain from design to final delivery was tripled. In many products there are many levels in the supply chain. When each entity raises their price by 2x, you will pay 2x what it was worth yesterday. However, if the price of a product increases 100% in one year but only goes up 2% this year, that is what you hear on the news. We are happy with 2% inflation. Problem is the prices will not go back down as that is considered deflation and the government doesn't want that. Bad for the GDP. Suggestion: Thank God the battery was only $200 as the prices will only go up. Beleive it or not but that same battery will be $10,000 some day

I looked up the commodity price of lead...pretty consistent.

Most batteries are made in the US, so not subject to tarrifs.

This looks like a companies trying to keep price parity in the economy. Meaning, it's better to keep a steady price increase than have large price shocks. It's stupid, but most companies do t

I looked up the commodity price of lead...pretty consistent.

Most batteries are made in the US, so not subject to tarrifs.

This looks like a companies trying to keep price parity in the economy. Meaning, it's better to keep a steady price increase than have large price shocks. It's stupid, but most companies do this.

View attachment 4517932

Look at the big spike after the lead smelting shutdown. But after that the batteries started coming from other countries more than before. Other variants in the chart are economic. Where is the chart further back? Some countries are buying lead ore from the US so shipping is both ways. Lithium batteries are largely shipped around the world in different stages of manufacture manufacturing. That pollution is hidden in the batteries.

 

[CH4Ohio]

I remember when they were $35 at Walmart. Guess that was around 50 years ago. Yes I’m pretty old.

Hate to admit it, but I remember when there was no Walmart . . .

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

There was a study done at the San Francisco Fed about tariffs, and it surprised a lot of people. Even some of my peers that understand Economics were surprised.

Cliff Notes: Tariffs decrease inflation due to less demand.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1989478883377213709

I'm no economist but something's not adding up. I get that adding tariffs reduces demand because it increases prices. How do increased prices lead to lower inflation? Isn't increased prices the very definition of inflation?

 

[CH4Ohio]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1989561113084928052

Looks like their analysis on the charts only account for swings from -10% to +15%. Wonder how this would look if they studied daily random whimsical country-specific swings from zero to 150%. Hard to measure the disruption caused by the constant confusion.

 

[Snobdds]

I'm no economist but something's not adding up. I get that adding tariffs reduces demand because it increases prices. How do increased prices lead to lower inflation? Isn't increased prices the very definition of inflation?

Roughly a 10 point tariff jump cuts inflation about 0.5 percentage points while adding about 0.3 points to unemployment.

Same CPI, fewer paychecks.

Tariffs don't lead to inflation, they lead to higher unemployment in low skilled jobs. But so does AI.

So we can big mad at tariffs, when AI does the exact same thing.

 

[Snobdds]

Looks like their analysis on the charts only account for swings from -10% to +15%. Wonder how this would look if they studied daily random whimsical country-specific swings from zero to 150%. Hard to measure the disruption caused by the constant confusion.

The outliers were only out 15% from Standard Deviation.

 

[CH4Ohio]

The outliers were only out 15% from Standard Deviation.

This is why I dropped Statistics . . .

 

[Eagle1]

Look no further than government restrictions. The Doe Run lead smelting shutdown by environmental restrictions. That accounted for 70% of the lead in this country. Nothing to do with tariffs. I don’t remember exactly but the galena belt was a huge operation. Not political just facts.
Optional method.

Doe Run is also the only battery recycler in the USA, all a processed underground in an old leadmine.
They still mine but send all the Galena overseas to process and smelt (verboten in this country). The also mine lead in Peru, process and smelt there, then import the lead into the USA.
That is the made in the USA problem.

 

[Deanes]

I noticed this with an older car I had. Today I'm trying to replace a 1979 VW Beetle battery and I'm seeing $200!
Are they filling batteries with gold now?


WTH ???

Cost is through the roof!
I've always gotten good service with cheap farm store branded batteries, but quality seemed to be getting worse.
3 1\2 years ago another pickup battery failed so I bought the expensive premium one with 4 year full replacement warranty. Cost about $100 more than the cheap one.
Last week it failed. Returning it, I walked out with another 4 year battery at zero cost, not even sales tax. I felt like the smartest man in the store! That will probably be my go-to plan from now on.

 

[Texasmark]

I noticed this with an older car I had. Today I'm trying to replace a 1979 VW Beetle battery and I'm seeing $200!
Are they filling batteries with gold now?


WTH ???

EPA regs is my guess. Dallas had a battery factory for a lot of years and the folks that lived in the area had health problems for a lot of years and attention to that problem wasn't until fairly recently. Not too long ago they were shut down because of that. I think some law suits came as a result once the facts were known. You need lead (Pb) and Sulphuric Acid (H2SO4) to make the popular lead-acid batteries and both are health hazards.

 

[grsthegreat]

Exide batteries move production to india. Alot of other battery brands are not made in usa any longer.

I was surprised on the last batch of AA Duracell batteries i purchased. They were stamped made in china

 

[rontaki]

Even though they cost more, I prefer batteries filled with organic, vitamin-enriched gluten-free vegan electrolyte, as that is much more healthy to drink than the electrolyte made with artificial colors and flavors.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

The "factory"...barefoot workers...

 

[Highlandr]

Go to a real battery store

This is what I do. Pretty much 1/2 the price of auto price stores. If the battery doesn't last the stated lifespan you get money back - pro-rated of course.