the max you are willing to pay for lifepo4 cylindrical cells

[ejonesss]

i am doing a poll to find out what's the average max that most users would be willing to pay for the cylindrical lifepo4 cells (bmi,lifebatt,cyclone,psi style)

here is what the cell looks like in comparison to a soda can

the image was taken from a google search result and posted via tinypic.com to prevent issues with hotlinking and therefore the make of of the cell will be different.

this is the first step to determining how many cells to stock.

the minimal price i have seen is $40 us per cell + shipping via ebay and other searches and emails.

 

[Ypedal]

 

[Ypedal]

So far, i paid :

1500 $ for my 72v 20ah LiMn pack on the Chaos ( 20 cells = 75 $ per 20ah cell )

1700 $ for the 48v 24ah Duct Tape POS ( 32 x 12ah cells = 53 $ each )

The PSI cells, were 24.50$ USD each + 175 $ for shipping form taiwan + 323 $ for duties/brokerage + 60 $ wire transfer + exchange rate = aprox 1900 $ ( 48 cells = 40 $ each )

That's without BMS.. Without Chargers.

Edit to add : What am i willing to pay ? All relative to what i get.. but the PSI cells imo are worth the 40 $ each..

 

[Link]

Yeah, I'll hand over like $40/cell for PSI or something, but you won't get $25 out of me if they're comparable to duct tape cells.

 

[ejonesss]

ok here is the story.

i want to get cells that are being sold at http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=7059

being at $40 i think that is too much per cell 16 of them comes out to $640. (call me a tight wad)

i talked to the seller and he can get a discount from the manufacturer by ordering in large quantity

they are the same cells used by lifebat to make the Eonyx battery pack that goes for $2000 on electric rider.

cyclone uses the same cells too.

i have an email into the seller to find out the numbers for bulk.

my idea is if i can set up a group buy ()so far the lowest price that anyone would want to pay is $25 per cell witch for a 16 cell system is $400 more reasonable.

i have a paypal account so i can collect everyone's money and place a bulk order (if we can get enough users on the board to want the cells.

with ggoodrum's board and mouser list just around the corner and winter around the corner and shipments from taiwan taking a month or 2 by sea (container ship) this may be a good time to stock up.

basically the idea is if we all can go together and order enough cells to get the price down to say $25 per cell then everyone may be happier.

this is for the 10 ah cells

more updates as i find out the numbers.

 

[Link]

If you could get those cells down to $25 each, that would officially be the most awesome deal on batteries that has ever happened in the history of man.

 

[Ypedal]

It's the shipping / duties / brokerage / assembly parts / bms / charger that gets you in the end..

Shipping by sea is much less expensive but a pallet of cells, or better yet a container is big $$$$$$

 

[ejonesss]

that is where mcstar would come to the rescue because he has dealt with the makers and the customs stuff he would be negotiating with the importers and makers.

the bms as soon as ggoodrum can release the mouser list and board we can build our bms witch can be re used with many size lifepo4 cells.

the charger get a soniel 48v lead acid charger and tweak it for lifepo4 usage.

assembly you can do yourself me i have assembled kits in the past.

as of cost of shipping by sea from tiawan to usa mcstar can talk to the cell makers and maybe work out something where they can conglomerate or group ship the goods so the container ship would have our purchases,walmart's purchases,sears's purchases,and some mannequins for stores and collectors.

once the ship docks in the usa then the goods are distributed to the the customers via a warehouse.

if you want to save money a little you can just build a bunch of lvc boards to protect from over discharge and then either a bunch of the single cell chargers or 1 single cell charger and configure a series to parallel switch for charging and discharging.

It's the shipping / duties / brokerage / assembly parts / bms / charger that gets you in the end..

Shipping by sea is much less expensive but a pallet of cells, or better yet a container is big $$$$$$

 

[recumbent]

I think this has been tried before, but conditions are better now.

$30 is still a reasonable price, if indeed we get the 2,000 cycles posted. But real life tests show this is mostly not the case, LIFEPO4 cells start to deteriorate after the first season of use. I speak from personal experience and monitoring this forum of course.
Poor BMS design is blamed for many of the cells loosing amp/hr's.

Shouldn't we get an exsisting importer shop with years of experience dealing with Chinese battery makers? like http://www.ebikes.ca to bulk order? This gives us more leverage because the shop is a respected dealer already with experienced staff.

I'd sure like to see how "Ypedal's" & "Garys" & "miroslaw" cylindrical cells hold out after a seasons usage.

3,000km's was the distance when i started to loose range on my LIFEPO4 pack and others told similar stories. Hopefully it is only BMS issues.

 

[Link]

3,000km's was the distance when i started to loose range on my LIFEPO4 pack and others told similar stories. Hopefully it is only BMS issues.

Wow, that's weird. That's around only like, what, 100 cycles?