Well....I don't know how long it's been since anyone here has approached A123 about buying cells directly. It's a new day at A123. There were very strong (I won't say good) reasons that the company simply COULD NOT source cells to this (the DIY/hobbyist) community when they were trying to grow into a giant overnight. We were struggling to make enough cells for our OEM's; the resources just weren't there. Our new leadership (despite containing some of the same key players) is not so allergic to slower growth and the summing together of smaller revenue streams. I don't speak for A123 here, certainly not for sales, but I see an opening here. If loads of guys keep hitting the company up for "factory seconds"--which, based on the reported capacity I'm seeing around for the "grey market" cells is exactly what everybody here is working with even when the cells are described as "top quality"--to build bike packs and lawn mower packs etc., they might actually entertain the idea recovering cells not suited for the automotive market--but still damn good--for secondary uses. There are a few parties out there working to get repurposing of automotive cells off the ground, and this market is ideal, IMO. I'll talk to a guy I know today who has a boat load of used Li cells and see if he's interested in dealing with this community.
