The uncomfortable truth about buying EVE cells in Pakistan is that a Grade A cell and a factory-rejected Grade B cell look nearly the same sitting on a table. Same blue case, same terminals, same model number silkscreened on the side. The difference shows up eighteen months later when one cell in your pack drops and takes the whole bank's usable capacity with it.
You do not have to trust anyone's word. Here is how to check, in the order you should check.
1. Count the characters in the QR code
Every genuine EVE cell carries a QR code laser-marked on the top face. Scan it with any phone QR reader and count what comes out:
- 24 characters — a normal genuine cell.
- 19 characters — an officially recycled or reclaimed cell. Legitimate, but it is not new, and it should not be priced as new.
- Anything else, or a code that will not scan at all — walk away.
This single check catches most counterfeits, because printed fake labels are generated without knowing the format.
2. Look for the B
EVE marks cells that fail its Grade A spec with a B at the QR code. Two things give it away:
- The letter B stamped as part of the code area.
- The QR code itself is visibly smaller than on a Grade A cell. Put two cells side by side and it is obvious.
B-grade cells are not fake and not useless — lower capacity, wider spread across a batch, shorter life. Sold cheaply and honestly they have real uses. The problem is B-grade sold at A-grade prices, which is the single most common way buyers get cheated here.
3. Decode the manufacturing date
The date is encoded in characters 15, 16 and 17 of the QR string:
- Character 15 — year. A = 2020, B = 2021, C = 2022, and so on through the alphabet.
- Character 16 — month. 1 to 9 for January to September, then A, B, C for October, November and December.
- Character 17 — day. 1 to 9 for the 1st to 9th, then A to V for the 10th to 31st.
This matters because LFP cells age on the shelf as well as in use. A cell manufactured three years ago is not fresh stock, however new the carton looks. If every cell in a "new" batch decodes to an old date, you are buying someone's dead inventory.
4. Check the safety valve
Every genuine prismatic LFP cell has a pressure relief vent on the top face — a deliberately weak point that lets gas escape safely if the cell is abused. Counterfeit cells frequently do not have one.
This is the part of the article to take most seriously. A cell with no vent does not fail gracefully; it fails as a rupture. This is not about getting your money's worth, it is about not putting a fire hazard inside someone's house.
5. Put a multimeter on it
Before you accept a carton:
- Measure open-circuit voltage on every cell. Cells from one genuine batch should sit within a few millivolts of each other, typically around 3.2–3.3V at storage charge. A spread of 100mV or more across a "matched" batch means they were never matched.
- Check the terminals. Genuine terminals are cleanly machined with crisp threads. Rough, burred or re-welded terminals suggest a cell pulled from a previous pack.
- Look at the case. Dents, scuff marks around the terminals, or residue where old busbars were bolted on all point to a reclaimed cell.
6. Ask for the test report — and ask before you pay
A real supplier can produce a per-cell test report for your batch showing capacity and internal resistance. This is normal paperwork in this trade, not a special favour. A seller who cannot or will not produce one either does not know what they bought, or does and would rather you did not.
How Voltec handles this
We import EVE cells directly and we publish what we actually have in stock — teardown footage, load tests, and the QR codes on the real cartons rather than stock photography. Every carton ships with its test report. You are welcome to scan the codes and run a multimeter over the cells before you hand over money; if a cell fails any check above, it is not your problem to absorb.
See the LF100LA product page for current stock, or read the complete EVE cells buyer's guide for prices and pack sizing. If you want to check a seller's authorisation claim, we wrote that up here.
