thought all of you might find this interesting, Just got off the phone with valence sales dept. who has been working with edrive. edrivesystems.com. I requested a price for a 4 kw (storage) battery system. He told me that edrive has been using 18 U1 batteries in combination for a total of 10k storage and gave me a price tag for one system starting at 15K. A 4or 5 KW system he said would run you about half that which from testing would only give you about 20-30 miles of all electric drive. They have tested these batteries in crash conditions and are proven to be automotive safe. He also said that if there is a demand for these systems say people like edrive and myself ordering them in large volume, Prices would drop dramatically, as can be predicted. Now just to find someone who is willing to invest a few thousand. hope this was interesting.
I only need a 25 mile ev mode (at speeds <40mph) to get me to and from work. So it seems a 4-5kW system would work for me. Still $7500 is a large cost, and that still would leave the problem of updated electronics etc. I hope someone starts selling retroftitable systems for the Prius soon. I would love to prove this technology working!
I have the money but it just does not seem cost effective yet. I know it probably will never be any time soon. But if you could get the 30-60 miles of EV that would be good, but far from being worth 10,000. I'd do it for 6,000 or so. It's not about the money, It's about the value. Even the coolness factor isnt worth 10k to me
