Hymotion Plug-in a123 battery pack available for consumer purchase

$10K including installation. I wonder what the manufacturing cost would be (to Toyota) if the same A123Systems LiFePO4 battery was a factory installed option package? Few thousand less?

Along the same lines, why do 5KW-Hr worth of LiFePO4 batteries cost almost $10K? The fundamental material costs (of Lithium) are low. Is the high cost simply an 'economy of scale' issue because A123Systems is still a small and relatively new company? What about if the US Government dropped a few billion dollars to build a 'massive' LiFePO4 battery manufacturing facility (in the USA for once). Would scaling then significantly reduce the manufacturing variable cost to less than half the current $10K cost? If so, wouldn't it make sense to spend a few billion dollars to allow car manufacturers to immediately build hundreds of thousands of 100mpg cars that only cost the consumer a few thousand extra dollars (per car)?

 

How would this affect the Prius warranty? Void it I presume?

 

I would like to know if any members are using the Hymotion module? It appears that the install uses the wheel well area. I wondered where the plug in is mounted. Thanks in advance, ---Kent

 

Ok guys and gals, it is here! Who will be first to jump in? I am tempted!


Lee

 

Hands up everyone who hates the space saver spare tyre?
Here is a valid reason to get rid of it. Yippee!!

Now hands up anyone who would hate to be 50 miles from the nearest town with a flat tyre and no spare?

I had a flat tyre last week, I was about 50 miles from the nearest town with no phone coverage, I love my spare tyre. My valve stem was broken so the sticky fix a flat stuff wouldn't have worked.
It was bad enough that the flat tyre wouldn't fit in the spare wheel space, would have been worse if I had no spare.

Please don't get me wrong, I love the concept but in practise there is a cost of removing the spare.

 

They don't.

A123 have said that they will be able to produce their LiFePO4 cells for $300 per kWh, which puts the battery in the Hymotion kit at $1,500. The rest of the $10k price is development, profit and electronics.

BYD are already producing LiFePO4 batteries for well under $300 per kWh.

If Toyota put these in a Prius, it would have 20 miles EV range for only ~$500 more than the standard NiMH battery Prius (since the NiMH battery in the Prius costs around $1,000).

 

Do you have a link?

 

Put my deposit down. You can cancel up to 30 days before scheduled installation will full refund less $75.

 

With no spare, would it make sense to replace the existing OEM tires with runflats - similar to what's on a new BMW 3-series which do not use a spare tire? And we know just how much everyone loves the OEM tires

 

Thanks Evan for the pictures. I know it does not make economic sense, but I'm ready to put down the deposit. Maybe on Monday or Tuesday. I'm going to ponder it for a few days.

---Kent

 

I soooo much would love to get this. If price weren't a factor... I would do it. I wonder... does anyone think the price will come down as production/demand increases?

 

I soooo much would love to get this. If price weren't a factor... I would do it. I wonder... does anyone think the price will come down as production/demand increases?

 

I am hugely tempted to put down a deposit as well. Two things are stopping me.

First, there are only 5 official locations where one can go to install it: Seattle, San Fran, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Boston. I live in eastern Ontario, Canada, so there is no convenient locatin for me.

Second, I have questions about the warranty. As I understand it, in the US, due to some court cases, a car company is not allowed to declare your warranty void if, for example, you installed a hymotion then your steering column broke. If your car problem has nothing to do with the thing you added to the car, the the company must pay up. I don't know whether there is similar jurisprudence in Canada. I'll have to ask around.

 

The value might be there if the 100 miles a gallon touted here actually worked for more than 20 miles a day. I drive 120 miles a day and this spare battery pack would be completely drained in the first part of my commute. Back "down" to 48 after that until I find a plug. No thanks. Even after 5000 charges, which is probably the limit for any commercially available battery at this point, you're looking at 100000 miles for 10000 dollars. That's 10 miles per dollar or about 37 miles per gallon at $3.70. Is that good? Justified?