Project Lithium Failure after 2 years.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by dnlshrn, Jan 10, 2025 at 7:23 PM.

  1. dnlshrn

    dnlshrn Junior Member

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    2007 Prius
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    Pack was purchased in late 2022.

    Started throwing codes after starting car in 30-40 degree mornings early 2024, and eventually failed completely (P3000 and P0A80 that can't be cleared for more than a few minutes of driving) in late 2024.

    A lot of people here sing praises about the company's excellent support. I did not have the same experience. This was the company's response:
    upload_2025-1-10_16-1-43.png
    Obviously I was not happy with needing to spend an additional $980 on top of the original price of the pack (which was already more expensive than OEM) to get a replacement of similar questionable reliability after only 2 years of use. This battery was heavily marketed at release to last at least 10 years (all while OEM was proven to last even 12-15 years)

    Additionally, I found the last section of instructions to be a direct contradiction to their current marketing on their website:

    upload_2025-1-10_16-3-56.png

    I ended up following those instructions anyways and it did not fix the problem in the very least.

    Despite this battery at first being superior in terms of capacity and weight, from this experience I must strongly recommend that anyone who's looking for a cost effective battery replacement to get OEM instead of spending possibly multiples of the price of OEM in labor and "extended warranty replacements" over 10 years.

    As a bonus, here's a screenshot of how my battery looked like right before it failed:

    upload_2025-1-10_16-14-26.jpeg

    I would guess that the pink prius we're all familiar with had similar numbers going on in the trunk before it went poof.
     
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    sorry to hear it. i hope your posting here will light a fire under their butt
     
  3. jacktheripper

    jacktheripper Senior Member

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    Hi Matt,

    I’m really sorry if my email upset you—that wasn’t my intention. The truth is, we’re a very small company going through a tough time financially. Over the past four years, we’ve poured everything into sodium-ion battery R&D and covering lithium warranty claims.

    Out of the $900 out-of-warranty replacement program, $450 goes toward UPS air-shipping fees because the factory has paused freight shipments until we can settle our outstanding debts. Another $130 goes to government fees, and the rest helps us cover basic expenses like rent. It means that I still have to pay factory the cost of the battery with my own money.

    Honestly, it would have been easier to shut down the business entirely, but I’ve stayed behind because I have a responsibility to the existing customers and to the entire Prius community. I’m committed to seeing this through, even if it means carrying the debt until we can ramp up sodium-ion production and get back on solid ground. I wish you can understand the situation and help us out during this difficult time.

    If you have any other questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to email me directly.

    Thanks for your understanding,
    Jack
     
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  4. Hayslayer

    Hayslayer Junior Member

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    The truth is, we’re a very small company going through a tough time financially. Over the past four years, we’ve poured everything into sodium-ion battery R&D and covering lithium warranty claims.

    Out of the $900 out-of-warranty replacement program, $450 goes toward UPS air-shipping fees because the factory has paused freight shipments until we can settle our outstanding debts. Another $130 goes to government fees, and the rest helps us cover basic expenses like rent. It means that I still have to pay factory the cost of the battery with my own money.


    I guess I don't understand this. You're essentially saying that you got in over your head, ended up hoodwinking people about the lithium battery and now expect people to just trust you on a sodium ion battery? Any customer that bought a Lithium battery can get an SI battery to replace the Lithium battery by paying $900 for an extended warranty? and that you may or may not be around in the near future?

    The three salesmen on here sure try to make it sound like they're all super close to you and know everything going on in the business and that warranty issues are super rare and only a minor problem. Your post gives the impression it's totally opposite. Which means they really don't know anything about what was going on and are completely ignorant, OR they knew everything going on and were blatantly LYING on your behalf to keep the $$ rolling in, even though you all knew there were problems. Both options are a super bad look for you.

    And there are posters on here who are basically telling me I "have no courage" or I'm ridiculous for considering an OEM replacement because I desire reliability? witw........I wish you the best of luck with your business and hope the new battery works out for you, but mostly I hope it works out for your customers, and it doesn't end up being hoodwink 2.0.
     
    #4 Hayslayer, Jan 11, 2025 at 12:35 AM
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2025 at 12:40 AM
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  5. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    There's 4k packs on the road with a very small number having problems. This would be manageable for a big company, but very difficult for a small business that was funded almost entirely from the revenue of Dr. Prius app.

    And as for the so called "three salesman" on average we get 1/2 of 1% commission for selling a pack with an affiliate link and for way too long there's been almost no packs available to help sell.

    Meanwhile, I just hit the 53rd month of use of my winter testing Prototype pack with no issues. And at this stage when I say it's a great product its no longer has anything to do with selling the product, just that it's always been reliable and fully functional.

    Lastly it's because of Jack's generosity in the past of replacing packs for free, even ones no longer under warranty that has dug him into a hole he's trying to climb out of. If he was a big corporation, all the debt he's piled up would of been passed onto customer long ago and he wouldn't be having the problems he's having today. And I'd rather do business with the latter rather than the former.
     
    #5 PriusCamper, Jan 11, 2025 at 2:32 PM
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2025 at 2:40 PM
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  6. dnlshrn

    dnlshrn Junior Member

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    Dean, respectfully, i don’t think me nor anyone else who now has a $2000 brick in their prius cares about your constant astroturfing on behalf of this company on facebook, reddit and priuschat etc…

    Jack, I did not consent to “helping you out”. I bought a product from you which made some very bold claims, and the product did not come close to meeting those claims, and additionally, made me afraid to be in my own car with it. Alas, this is my mistake for believing in you.

    I do not expect a free replacement, i am just letting people know what they are getting into if they are considering your product. Do not make the same mistake i did.

    I am disappointed that priuschat allows people with a financial interest (product links in signature types) in the company to pass their opinions off as unbiased reviews.