| Summary of significant accounting policies (Policies) | 12 Months Ended |
| Dec. 31, 2017 |
| Summary of significant accounting policies [Abstract] | |
| Basis of Accounting, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Basis of presentation The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the United States generally accepted accounting principles ("U.S. GAAP"). |
| Consolidation, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Highpower and its direct and indirect wholly subsidiaries. All significant inter-company balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The Company deconsolidates a subsidiary as of the date the Company ceases to have a controlling financial interest in that subsidiary. In 2017, the Company deconsolidated GZ Highpower (See Note 12). |
| Reclassification, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Reclassification The Company has reclassified certain comparative balances in the consolidated balance sheet for December 31, 2016 and comparative balance in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income to conform to the current period’s presentation. The reclassification includes the segregation of: 1) the balance of long-term prepayments related to the advances paid to equipment suppliers from the balance of prepayments and other receivables; 2) the balance of advances to suppliers related to raw materials from the balance of prepayments and other receivables; and 3) the amount of government grants from other income. The reclassification did not have an impact on the reported total assets, liabilities, stockholders’ equity and operations and comprehensive income. |
| Use of Estimates, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Use of estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include the allowance for doubtful receivables; recoverability of the carrying amount of inventory; fair value of financial instruments; provisional amounts based on reasonable estimates for certain income tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) and the assessment of deferred tax assets or liabilities. These estimates are often based on complex judgments and assumptions that management believes to be reasonable but are inherently uncertain and unpredictable. Actual results could differ from these estimates. |
| Concentration Risk, Credit Risk, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Concentrations of credit risk Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to significant concentrations of credit risk consist principally of accounts receivable. The Company extends credit based on an evaluation of the customer’s financial condition, generally without requiring collateral or other security. In order to minimize the credit risk, the management of the Company has delegated a team responsible for determining credit limits, credit approvals and other monitoring procedures to ensure that follow-up action is taken to recover overdue debts. Further, the Company reviews the recoverable amount of each individual trade debt at each balance sheet date with the consideration of credit insurance to ensure that adequate impairment losses are made for irrecoverable amounts. In this regard, the management of the Company considers that the Company’s credit risk is significantly reduced. No customer accounted for 10% or more of net sales during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016. No supplier accounted for or over 10% of our total purchase amount during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016. There was one major customer accounted for 10.1 |
| Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Cash Cash include all cash on hand and cash in bank with no restrictions. |
| Cash and Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Restricted cash Restricted cash include time deposit pledged for bank loan facilities within one-year maturities, cash deposit for bank acceptance bills within six-month maturities and special bank accounts required by government grant. |
| Receivables, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Accounts receivable Accounts receivable are stated at the original amount less an allowance for doubtful receivables, if any, based on a review of all outstanding amounts at period end. An allowance is also made when there is objective evidence that the Company will not be able to collect all amounts due according to the original terms of the receivables. The Company analyzes the aging of the customer accounts, coverage of credit insurance, customer concentrations, customer credit-worthiness, historical and current economic trends and changes in its customer payment patterns when evaluating the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts. |
| Finance, Loans and Leases Receivable, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Notes receivable Notes receivable represent banks’ acceptances that have been arranged with third-party financial institutions by certain customers to settle their purchases from us. These banks’ acceptances are non-interest bearing and are collectible within six months. |
| Inventory, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Inventories Inventories are stated at lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined using the weighted average method. Inventories include raw materials, packing materials, consumables, work in progress and finished goods. The variable production overhead is allocated to each unit of production on the basis of the actual use of the production facilities. The allocation of fixed production overhead to the costs of conversion is based on the normal capacity of the production facilities. Where there is evidence that the utility of inventories, in their disposal in the ordinary course of business, will be less than cost, whether due to physical deterioration, obsolescence, changes in price levels, or other causes, the inventories are written down to net realizable value. The Company wrote down inventories of $ 1,109,702 87,236 |
| Property, Plant and Equipment, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Property, plant and equipment Property, plant and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Cost represents the purchase price of the asset and other costs incurred to bring the asset into its existing use. Maintenance, repairs and betterments, including replacement of minor items, are charged to expense; major additions to physical properties are capitalized. Buildings 20 40 Furniture, fixtures and office equipment 5 Leasehold improvement Shorter of the remaining lease terms or estimated useful lives Machinery and equipment 10 Motor vehicles 5 Upon sale or disposal, the applicable amounts of asset cost and accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and the net amount less proceeds from disposal is charged or credited to income. Construction in progress represents capital expenditures for direct costs of construction or acquisition and design fees incurred, and the interest expenses directly related to the construction. Capitalization of these costs ceases and the construction in progress is transferred to the appropriate category of property, plant and equipment when substantially all the activities necessary to prepare the assets for their intended use are completed. Construction in progress is not depreciated. |
| Investment, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Long-term investments For an investee over which the Company holds less than 20% voting interest and has no ability to exercise significant influence, the investments are accounted for under the cost method. For an investee over which the Company has the ability to exercise significant influence, but does not have a controlling interest, the Company accounted for those using the equity method. Significant influence is generally considered to exist when the Company has an ownership interest in the voting stock of the investee between 20% and 50%. Other factors, such as representation on the investee’s board of directors, voting rights and the impact of commercial arrangements, are also considered in determining whether the equity method of accounting is appropriate. An impairment charge is recorded if the carrying amount of the investment exceeds its fair value and this condition is determined to be other-than temporary. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, management believes no impairment charge is necessary. |
| Land Use Rights [Policy Text Block] | Land use rights Land use rights represent payments for the rights to use certain parcels of land for a certain period of time in the PRC. Land use rights are carried at cost and charged to expense on a straight-line basis over 50 years the rights are granted. |
| Asset Retirement Obligations, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Other assets Other assets represent the long-term rental deposits and a royalty-bearing, non-exclusive license to use certain patents owned by an unrelated party ("License Provider"), to manufacture rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries for portable consumer applications (“Consumer Batteries”) in the PRC, and a royalty-bearing, non-exclusive worldwide license to use certain patents owned by License Provider to manufacture, sell and distribute Consumer Batteries. |
| Revenue Recognition, Deferred Revenue [Policy Text Block] | Government grants Conditional government grants are recognized as deferred income when received. Specifically, government grants whose primary condition is that the Company should purchase, construct or otherwise acquire non-current assets is recognized on the consolidated balance sheet as deferred income and deducted in calculating the carrying amount of the related asset. The revenue from such grants is recognized in profit or loss over the life of the related depreciable asset as a reduction of depreciation expense. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company recorded deferred income of $ 309,638 761,491 Government grants as compensation for expenses or losses already incurred or for the purpose of giving immediate financial support to the Company with no future related benefit are recognized in the period in which they become receivable. Approximately $ 1,357,852 1,762,266 |
| Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Impairment of long-lived assets The Company reviews its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may no longer be recoverable. When these events occur, the Company measures impairment by comparing the carrying value of the long-lived assets to the estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to result from the use of the assets and their eventual disposition. If the sum of the expected undiscounted cash flow is less than the carrying amount of the assets, the Company would recognize an impairment loss, which is the excess of carrying amount over the fair value of the assets, using the expected future discounted cash flows. |
| Revenue Recognition, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Revenue recognition The Company recognizes revenue when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, the sales price is fixed or determinable, delivery of the product has occurred, title and risk of loss have transferred to the customers and collectability of the receivable is reasonably assured. The majority of domestic sales contracts transfer title and risk of loss to customers upon receipt of product by customer. The majority of oversea sales contracts transfer title and risk of loss to customers when goods were delivered to the carriers. Revenue is presented net of sales tax and value added tax. The Company does not have arrangements for returns from customers and does not have any future obligations directly or indirectly related to product resale by customers. The Company has no sales incentive programs. |
| Cost of Sales, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Cost of Sales Cost of sales consists primarily of material costs, labor costs, depreciation and related expenses, which are directly attributable to the production of products. Write-down of inventories to lower of cost or net realizable value is also recorded in cost of sales. |
| Research and Development Expense, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Research and development Research and development expenses include expenses directly attributable to the conduct of research and development programs, including the expenses of salaries, employee benefits, materials, supplies, and maintenance of research equipment. All expenses associated with research and development are expensed as incurred. |
| Share-based Compensation, Option and Incentive Plans Policy [Policy Text Block] | Share-Based Compensation The Company recognizes compensation expense associated with the issuance of equity instruments to employees for their services. The fair value of the equity instruments is estimated on the date of grant and is expensed in the financial statements over the vesting period. The input assumptions used in determining fair value are the expected life, expected volatility, risk-free rate and the dividend yield. Share-based compensation associated with the issuance of equity instruments to non-employees is recorded at the fair value on the measurement date. The measurement of stock-based compensation at fair value is subject to periodic adjustment at each reporting period. |
| Income Tax, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Income taxes The Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements or tax returns. Under this method, deferred income taxes are recognized for the tax consequences in future years of differences between the tax bases of assets and liabilities and their financial reporting amounts at each period end based on enacted tax laws and statutory tax rates, applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. |
| Income Tax Uncertainties, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Uncertain tax positions The Company accounts for uncertainty in income taxes using a two-step approach to recognizing and measuring uncertain tax positions. The first step is to evaluate the tax position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates that it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained on audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes, if any. The second step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely of being realized upon settlement. Interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions are recognized and recorded as necessary in the provision for income taxes. According to the PRC Tax Administration and Collection Law, the statute of limitations is three years if the underpayment of taxes is due to computational errors made by the taxpayer or the withholding agent. The statute of limitations is extended to five years under special circumstances, where the underpayment of taxes is more than RMB 100,000. In the case of transfer pricing issues, the statute of limitation is ten years. |
| Comprehensive Income, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Comprehensive income Comprehensive income is comprised of the Company’s net income and other comprehensive income. The component of other comprehensive income or loss is consisted solely of foreign currency translation adjustments, net of the income tax effect. |
| Foreign Currency Transactions and Translations Policy [Policy Text Block] | Foreign currency translation and transactions Highpower’s functional currency is the United States dollar ("US$"). HKHTC's functional currency is the Hong Kong dollar ("HK$"). The functional currency of Highpower's other direct and indirect wholly owned subsidiaries in the PRC is the Renminbi ("RMB"). Most of the Company’s oversea sales are priced and settled with US$. At the date a foreign currency transaction is recognized, each asset, liability, revenue, expense, gain, or loss arising from the transaction is measured initially in the functional currency of the recording entity by use of the exchange rate in effect at that date. The increase or decrease in expected functional currency cash flows upon settlement of a transaction resulting from a change in exchange rates between the functional currency and the currency in which the transaction is denominated is recognized as foreign currency transaction gain or loss that is included in earnings for the period in which the exchange rate changes. At each balance sheet date, recorded balances that are denominated in a foreign currency are adjusted to reflect the current exchange rate. The Company’s reporting currency is US$. Assets and liabilities of HKHTC and the PRC subsidiaries are translated at the current exchange rate at the balance sheet dates, revenues and expenses are translated at the average exchange rates during the reporting periods, and equity accounts are translated at historical rates. Translation adjustments are reported in other comprehensive income. |
| Segment Reporting, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Segment Reporting The Company uses the “management approach” in determining reportable segments. The management approach considers the internal organization and reporting used by the Company's chief operating decision maker for making operating decisions and assessing performance as the source for determining the Company's reportable segments. The Company’s reportable segments are based on products, geography, legal structure, management structure, or any other manner in which management disaggregates a company. Therefore the Company categorizes its business into three reportable segments, namely (i) Lithium Business; (ii) Ni-MH Batteries and Accessories; and (iii) New Material. |
| Fair Value of Financial Instruments, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Fair value of financial instruments The carrying values of the Company’s financial instruments, including cash, restricted cash, trade and other receivables, deposits, trade and other payables and short-term borrowings, approximate their fair value due to the short-term maturity of such instruments. ASC Topic 820 defines fair value as the price that would be received from selling an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. When determining the fair value measurements for assets and liabilities required or permitted to be recorded at fair value, the Company considers the principal or most advantageous market in which it would transact and it considers assumptions that market participants would use when pricing the asset or liability. ASC Topic 820 establishes a fair value hierarchy that requires maximizing the use of observable inputs and minimizing the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. A financial instrument’s categorization within the fair value hierarchy is based upon the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The Company measures fair value using three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value: -Level 1 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. -Level 2 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in markets with insufficient volume or infrequent transactions (less active markets); or model-derived valuations in which significant inputs are observable or can be derived principally from, or corroborated by, observable market data. -Level 3 applies to assets or liabilities for which there are unobservable inputs to the valuation methodology that are significant to the measurement of the fair value of the assets or liabilities. |
| Derivatives, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Foreign Exchange Derivatives From time to time the Company may utilize foreign currency forward contracts to reduce the impact of foreign currency exchange rate risk. Management considered that the foreign currency forwards did not meet the criteria for designated hedging instruments and hedged transactions to qualify for cash flow hedge or fair value hedge accounting. The currency forwards therefore are accounted for as derivatives, with fair value changes reported as gain (loss) of derivative instruments in the statements of operations. The derivatives asset is recognized in the balance sheet at the fair value (level 2). |
| Warrant Liabilities Policy [Policy Text Block] | Warrant Liability For warrants that are not indexed to the Company’s stock, the Company records the fair value of the issued warrants as a liability at each balance sheet date and records changes in the estimated fair value as a non-cash gain or loss in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income. The warrant liability is recognized in the balance sheet at the fair value (level 3). The fair value of these warrants have been determined using the Black-Scholes pricing mode. The Black-Scholes pricing model provides for assumptions regarding volatility, call and put features and risk-free interest rates within the total period to maturity. The Company revalued the warrants utilizing a binomial model as of December 31, 2016 with no material difference in the value. The warrants expired on April 17, 2017. |
| Earnings Per Share, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Earnings per share Basic earnings per share (“EPS”) is computed by dividing income attributable to holders of common shares by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the year. Diluted EPS reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common shares were exercised or converted into common shares. |
| New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block] | Recently issued accounting pronouncements In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (“ASU 2014-09”), which was subsequently modified in August 2015 by ASU 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Deferral of the Effective Date. This guidance will be effective for fiscal years (and interim reporting periods within those years) beginning after December 15, 2017. The core principle of ASU 2014-09 is that companies should recognize revenue when the transfer of promised goods or services to customers occurs in an amount that reflects what the company expects to receive. It requires additional disclosures to describe the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows from contracts with customers. In 2016, the FASB issued additional ASUs that clarify the implementation guidance on principal versus agent considerations (ASU 2016-08), on identifying performance obligations and licensing (ASU 2016-10), and on narrow-scope improvements and practical expedients (ASU 2016-12) as well as on the revenue recognition criteria and other technical corrections (ASU 2016-20). In 2017, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2017-05, Other IncomeGains and Losses from the Derecognition of Nonfinancial Assets (Subtopic 610-20), which was originally issued in ASU 2014-09. The amendments in this Update require that an entity to initially measure a retained non-controlling interest in a nonfinancial asset at fair value consistent with a how a retained non-controlling interest in a business is measured. During 2017, the Company made significant progress toward its evaluation of the potential changes from adopting the new standard on its future financial reporting and disclosures. The Company has established a cross-functional implementation team on assessment on the five-step model of the new standard to its revenue contracts. Under Topic 606, an entity recognizes revenue when its customer obtains control of promised goods or services, in an amount that reflects the consideration which the entity expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. It also impacts certain other areas, such as the accounting for costs to obtain or fulfill a contract. The standard also requires disclosure of the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. Management has adopted this standard effective January 1, 2018 using the modified-retrospective approach, in which case the cumulative effect of applying the standard would be recognized at the date of initial application. The Company also estimates there will not be a material impact to the beginning balance of retained earnings. In November 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-17, Income Taxes (Topic 740). Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes which requires entities to present deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities as noncurrent on the consolidated balance sheet. The Company adopted this guidance effective January 1, 2017 and it was applied retrospectively for all prior periods. On February 25, 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). It requires that a lessee recognize the assets and liabilities that arise from operating leases. A lessee should recognize in the statement of financial position a liability to make lease payments (the lease liability) and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. For leases with a term of 12 months or less, a lessee is permitted to make an accounting policy election by class of underlying asset not to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities. In transition, lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. Public business entities should apply the amendments in ASU 2016-02 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early application is permitted for all public business entities and all nonpublic business entities upon issuance. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2016-02 on its consolidated financial statements. In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230). The amendments in this update provide guidance on eight specific cash flow issue. It applies to all entities. For public business entities, the amendments in this Update are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those annual periods. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-16, Income Taxes (Topic 740). The amendments in this Update is to improve the accounting for the income tax consequences of intra-entity transfers of assets other than inventory and align the recognition of income tax consequences for intra-entity transfers of assets other than inventory with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Public business entities should apply the amendments in ASU 2016-16 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230). The amendments in this Update require that a statement of cash flows explain the change during the period in the total of cash, cash equivalents, and amounts generally described as restricted cash or restricted cash equivalents. The amendments in this Update are effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within those fiscal years, including adoption in an interim period. If an entity early adopts the amendments in an interim period, any adjustments should be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. In February 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-02, Income StatementReporting Comprehensive Income (Topic 220). The amendments in this Update allow a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Consequently, the amendments eliminate the stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and will improve the usefulness of information reported to financial statement users. However, because the amendments only relate to the reclassification of the income tax effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the underlying guidance that requires that the effect of a change in tax laws or rates be included in income from continuing operations is not affected. The amendments in this Update also require certain disclosures about stranded tax effects. Public business entities should apply the amendments in ASU 2018-02 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption of the amendments in this Update is permitted, including adoption in any interim period, (1) for public business entities for reporting periods for which financial statements have not yet been issued and (2) for all other entities for reporting periods for which financial statements have not yet been made available for issuance. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting ASU 2018-02 on its consolidated financial statements. The Company does not believe other recently issued but not yet effective accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the consolidated financial position, statements of operations and cash flows. |
