# How much did you pay for batteries?



## LargoEV7 (Jan 8, 2018)

I thought it would be helpful for people planning to know what others have paid for what type and quantity of batteries if you wouldn't mind sharing please?


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi
I will start
I'm using most of a Chevy Volt Battery

I paid $1800 US for this at a California scrapper - on Car Parts
http://www.car-part.com/

Time I got it here (NZ) and paid GST on it it was $3,300 NZ

That's 16 kWhrs - 
I'm using 14 kWhrs - I could only fit 6 off the 2 kWh modules and the 2 off 1 kWh modules 

The KEY problem for people who are not in the USA is finding a shipper!

I used a local Hot Rod Import company that had a link to a Californian site


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## LargoEV7 (Jan 8, 2018)

Duncan said:


> I paid $1800 US
> 
> it was $3,300 NZ
> 
> That's 16 kWhrs -



Thanks Duncan, good info.

I presume 16KWhrs gets you around 100 KM/60 miles? (I'm still learning sorry).


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

LargoEV7 said:


> Thanks Duncan, good info.
> 
> I presume 16KWhrs gets you around 100 KM/60 miles? (I'm still learning sorry).


I wish!!

My car is not very aerodynamic! - my range is more like 50 km 

I haven't checked for a while but at 100 kph (60 mph) I used to use 200 amps at 120v - 24 Kw 
That would eat 16 kWhrs is 40 minutes - 40 miles - 64 Km
But that would be the whole 16 kWhrs - and I'm charging to 90% and discharging to 20% 
So 70% usable - 45 km?

I've actually cut down my frontal area a bit since then and I think I'm using less amps but my meter is all over the shop so I'm not sure

I just keep an eye on the battery voltage - Chevy Volt batteries have a usable voltage/charge slope 

The old Lotus 7's were unbeatable below 100 mph - above that the aerodynamics .........


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## Kevin Sharpe (Jul 4, 2011)

In Europe we can typically buy Leaf 25kWh packs for 2500 Euros and Tesla 80kWh packs for 11000 Euros. Transport within the EU is pretty cheap but end users will pay VAT (in UK 20%).

In my experience buying complete cars is cheaper if you have the time to strip them down and sell off the parts. For example, I purchased a complete 2014 Leaf for 2500 Pounds and once I'd sold off the parts the battery was effectively free (assuming you ignore the time I invested) 

One final thought, buying as a group has a dramatic impact on prices. If you can organise a group buy you'll have breakers falling over themselves to fulfil your order


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## GoElectric (Nov 15, 2015)

The best deal is to buy Tesla modules, for about 1,200/each. I can vouch for the guys in Houston who are stripping Teslas, I believe you can find them on Endless Sphere.


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## goingbush (Jun 20, 2017)

Australia is very slow on the uptake of EV's and as such we have no source of salvage batteries, I paid $10,500 AU for 46x new Sinopoly LiFePo4 200aha prismatic cells, imported from china , delivered to my door, thats US $8500

and Im not totally happy with their performance , and I now find this is typical of Prismatics , not being able to use the full advertised capacity. 

Next conversion I'll follow Duncans lead and have a 3rd party export some salvage batteries for me. 

Im expected to get 80-100km range but realistically get about 60km , but my vehicle has the aerodynamic co-efficiency of a brick, but still happy with the way it performs.


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## electrico (May 18, 2017)

In September 2016, Tesla priced the Powerpack at *$445*/kWh, and a system with 200 kWh of energy and 100 kW of peak power was the cheapest available priced at *$145,100*. A bi-directional 250 kW inverter costs *$52,500*. By October 2016, a limited system of Powerpack 2 cost $398/kWh.


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## piotrsko (Dec 9, 2007)

My volt pack was $2000 full pack. Some have gotten damaged packs for 750. The big thing with tesla is that the factory essentially junks a damaged car. Imho lots of parts with essentially no demand.


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## jhuebner (Apr 30, 2010)

I paid round about 6000€ (I think back then €:$ was 1:1.2) for 160 ThunderSky LFP40 for a total of 20kWh.

This was 2011 and GWL still advertises the same price today.


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## LargoEV7 (Jan 8, 2018)

First, thanks guys for the varied replies, informative and helpfult o many I'm sure.

Secondly, Holy Moly! Coming in to this I didn't realise just how much people are spending.

I'm looking into an alternative purchasing scheme some may be interested in, I'll get my facts right first though, even though it is the Internet!


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## kennybobby (Aug 10, 2012)

How much do you spend on gasoline in a year? Now multiply that x10 for ten years. So that is the $$ number to compare with the price of the battery pack.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

kennybobby said:


> How much do you spend on gasoline in a year? Now multiply that x10 for ten years. So that is the $$ number to compare with the price of the battery pack.


If you are building for economy - that is the way to look at it!

If you are building for performance then look at what you would need to spend for a similar performance engine - 500+ Hp tends to be expensive!

And look at what people routinely spend on "Hot Rods" or things like decent paint jobs

IMHO anybody building or converting a car to save money is kidding themselves - buying a used OEM Ev will be much cheaper


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## goingbush (Jun 20, 2017)

Both those points are Valid.

I conservatively spent $100 a month on petrol (gas) driving my LandRover , just as a local runabout . @$100 a month my conversion is paid for (motor & batteries) in 15 years , Most likely quicker as no doubt the price of fuel will go up. 

(And I dont pay for electricity as I have a 5Kw PV array. )

At 3000 charge cycles my cells will last 25-30 years . 

So basically the batteries are free, eventhough I pad more than anyone else that declared their cost.

But like Duncan said, its not about the money or economics , nor even about being green, ( Ive removed the EGR & DPF on my other car -
so I suppose it makes up for that) for me it about the project & the uniqueness , and its hoot to drive !!


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## LargoEV7 (Jan 8, 2018)

kennybobby said:


> How much do you spend on gasoline in a year? Now multiply that x10 for ten years. So that is the $$ number to compare with the price of the battery pack.


People find $50 per week (whatever) for petrol, while not everybody has a chunk sitting in their bank account for a one hit battery deal. You forgot to mention charging costs as well, some countries like Australia, electricity rates are murder.

I'm not here to argue the price, which I can afford, but being new to the scene I was just a bit surprised by it, and since I can buy whole brand new cars for well under $15000 with 33kwh batteries and 110hp, I am trying to find where the balance point is. I have to buy 5 cars at a time though to get the fleet purchase Government new energy subsidy.

EVWest has a complete VW Beetle kit for $19,000 and only 22kwh for comparison. Their other kits are $7000 with no batteries.

http://www.evwest.com/catalog/produ...ucts_id=217&osCsid=l27a9nhdal3b4cu9mukh7srev5

Just on batteries, I went out this morning in Zero temps and light snow in the Tesla and a warning notice came up that battery use would be very high due to the very low temperature, yup, chewed through the charge at twice the normal rate.


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## piotrsko (Dec 9, 2007)

2 comments: 15k$ includes the gummint paying for half of the price.
Here you pay full price.

What utility economy or practicality is there in a C cab resto hot rod?


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## Yabert (Feb 7, 2010)

I paid 7000$ for 12 kWh of Headway Lifepo4 in 2009 including shipping.
I paid 1500$ for 16 kWh chevy Volt battery in 2014...

Can't wait to put my hand on a 60 kwh Bolt battery or a 40 kWh Leaf battery.


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## LargoEV7 (Jan 8, 2018)

piotrsko said:


> 15k$ includes the gummint paying for half of the price.


Yeah, great innit, think of it as fuel tax being put to work to offset the damage they cause.



piotrsko said:


> What utility economy or practicality is there in a C cab resto hot rod?


Promotion of EVs in these early times, and a little bit better localised air quality.

- I'm no Greeny by the way, but numbers of cities could do with more EVs and less ICEs, especially light to medium delivery trucks.



Thanks Yabert.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

goingbush said:


> (And I dont pay for electricity as I have a 5Kw PV array. )


So you have so much PV capacity that you don't buy any energy, and the energy for the EV would have otherwise been wasted? That's unusual.


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## goingbush (Jun 20, 2017)

brian_ said:


> So you have so much PV capacity that you don't buy any energy, and the energy for the EV would have otherwise been wasted? That's unusual.


No Brian, and yes, its the argument for people that tell me Im still burning non-renewables in the form of coal.

The solar Array is generating Electricity every day (up to 5kw) and the Grid pays me more for what I generate during the day, than what I pay to buy it back at off peak rates at night , and I only charge the car once every few days, at Night. 

The charger is 3.3kw so even if I plug it in during the day its still getting all its power for free unless its a cloudy day. 

Of course I sometimes use more than that & still pay for electricity for the pool heater , clothes dryer, milling machine & stuff , its just the car thats free wink wink . 

If we go away for a winter as often is the case the PV keep generating and builds up a credit, so yes a lot of the time we have excess electricity, but it dosen't go to waste, someone else is paying us for the use of it.

All in all yes, The car costs nothing to run.


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## LargoEV7 (Jan 8, 2018)

goingbush said:


> No Brian, and yes, its the argument for people that tell me Im still burning non-renewables in the form of coal.


I just tell them about localised air quality in the cities and how much a gas or EV vehicle improves that. They get the picture of thousands of people walking next to hundreds of cars in traffic jams breathing in all that crap.


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