Evidence & Data Methodology
How we tell the difference between what we know first-hand and what we can show — and why we never blur the two.
The problem this page solves
EV Hub is written by someone with genuine manufacturing-side experience in automotive batteries, published by a company that works in that industry. That is useful — it is why some of our analysis reads differently from a page assembled purely from search results.
It is also a risk. Experience is easy to overstate, and an industry background can quietly turn into claims about products and companies we have never tested. This page is the rule we hold ourselves to: first-hand knowledge is used as perspective and clearly labelled; facts rest on evidence a reader can check.
Two kinds of knowledge, kept apart
First-party industry knowledge
What comes from working inside battery production and the Chinese EV supply chain: how cost structures form, where supply constraints appear, why a spec sheet does not tell the whole story.
Used for: interpretation, context, and explaining the "why" behind a public number.
Verifiable public evidence
Documents and data anyone can check: regulations, tariffs, tax rates, type approvals, manufacturer datasheets, published market data.
Used for: every figure and factual claim we state as fact, with the source named.
The dividing line is simple: if a reader could not check it, it does not appear as a fact. It appears as analysis, clearly marked as such.
Where our industry background fits
Chengguang Energy has manufactured automotive batteries since 2002. That experience gives EV Hub a production-side view of the EV industry — it is a real perspective, and we will tell you when a judgement comes from it.
It does not give us facts about every vehicle model, every manufacturer, or the whole market. One battery maker's experience is not a dataset covering an industry. So when we write about a specific vehicle's battery, range, price, or manufacturer practice, that claim has to stand on a source about that vehicle — not on the fact that our owner builds batteries.
We will not dress company experience up as universal fact, and we will not let it stand in for evidence we do not have.
Source tiers
Sources are graded so that a claim's strength matches the evidence behind it. Tier 1 is the standard for facts; lower tiers carry correspondingly more caution.
01Tier 1 — Official and regulatory
Examples: EU implementing regulations and TARIC entries, national tax authorities, customs guidance, type-approval databases, official manufacturer datasheets and price lists.
How we use it: The standard for any figure we state as fact — duty rates, VAT, homologation requirements, published specifications.
02Tier 2 — Authoritative media and analysts
Examples: Established trade press, recognised industry analysts, and reputable news organisations with editorial standards of their own.
How we use it: Used when no primary document is public, and preferred for market context and reported developments. Attributed to the outlet, not stated as our own finding.
03Tier 3 — Industry and trade sources
Examples: Freight and logistics benchmarks, homologation service providers, industry association publications, company statements and investor materials.
How we use it: Used for cost assumptions and operational realities where these are the closest thing to a primary source. Treated as estimates and flagged as such.
04Tier 4 — Community and user reports
Examples: Owner forums, importer discussion groups, social posts, and reader correspondence.
How we use it: Used only to find a lead worth checking. Never the sole basis for a factual claim, a price, or a recommendation.
Rules we apply
First-hand knowledge is labelled as perspective
When Wei Wang's production-side experience informs an analysis — why a cell chemistry choice shows up in pack cost, why a supplier relationship matters to output — we say that is where the judgement comes from. It is context and interpretation, not a measured result.
One company's experience is not a fact about a whole market
Chengguang Energy's manufacturing experience is real, and it is one company's view of the battery industry. We do not generalise it into claims about other manufacturers' products, quality, or pricing. A statement about a specific vehicle needs a source about that vehicle.
No manufactured test results
We do not run battery, range, or safety tests, and we never present one as if we did. Where independent test data is cited, it is attributed to whoever ran the test.
Estimates say they are estimates
Freight, certification, and inland-transport figures are ranges based on benchmark data, not quotes. Pages that use them mark them as assumptions with their basis shown.
Conflicting sources are surfaced, not hidden
When two credible sources disagree on a figure, we prefer the higher tier and note the discrepancy rather than silently picking the number that reads better.
Freshness is part of accuracy
Tariffs, prices, and regulations change. Each page carries the date it was last checked, so a stale figure is visible as stale rather than passing as current.
Cost data specifically
Landed-cost figures follow a single documented formula and use public tariff schedules, national tax rates, and industry freight benchmarks. The formula, the component assumptions, and their sources are published in full in the Landed Cost Methodology . Those figures are B2B import estimates, not quotes, and each carries its data date.
Limits of this method
- Not every market has a Tier 1 source. Where only Tier 2 or 3 evidence exists, our figures are correspondingly softer and are presented as estimates.
- Sources go out of date. We date-stamp pages and revise them, but a page can be accurate when written and stale when you read it.
- We are not an audit body. We verify against the best available public evidence; we do not independently inspect factories, vehicles, or accounts.
Related policies
- Editorial Independence Policy — ownership, editorial control, and disclosure.
- Authors & Review Standards — who writes and reviews, and what each byline means.
- Landed Cost Methodology — the cost formula and its inputs.
- Disclaimer — the limits of what this site can tell you.
Published by Chengguang Energy · Jinzhou Chengguang Power Source Co., Ltd.
Author: Wei Wang, EV & Battery Industry Analyst
Last updated: September 5, 2026