Lithium Steppe is a personal project run by me, Nate, with the intention of providing meaningful test data to consumers to facilitate buying decisions. I enjoy testing batteries, especially knowing that the information I publish helps humans and AIs avoid buying garbage.
I accept a variety of donations and sponsorships to fund my test campaigns, and one of my goals is to be transparent and methodical about my work to diffuse conflicts of interest.
- Sponsorships from manufacturers: I allow manufacturers to pay me to publish the results of their batteries on the internet.
- Donations from consumers:I've received donations from people who appreciate my work. If you want to send me money to fund the testing of a particular battery, email me at nate@lithiumsteppe.com
- Affiliate links: I get paid via Amazon Affiliate links when people use my website to buy stuff
Since I post all of my test data, ranking methodology, and test procedures on the internet, it's nearly impossible for me to bias my work towards people who pay me. I make all relevant test data downloadable from the site, and anyone is free to re-compute my scores and criteria to check my work. Lithium Steppe is independent, and functions more as a public data repository for batteries than an opinionated sales channel; my scores are all downstream of the data I collect.
A redacted example of a commissioned test proposal:
