# Balqon -still in Business ???



## GROOVY2 (Dec 4, 2015)

does anyone know if Balqon is still in business ??
I was interested in one of their battery packs-
Have been calling/email them for a month -Daily-

Only reply I got was a email with their PH# -
Left dozens of messages - Nothing -

I even called a business located across the street from Balqon
and asked if company was still there -man said there was cars in 
the parking lot --a few days ago -

Now Balqon phone is disconnected --PH#310 326-3049

I was looking at Balqon T1209 -

was/is Balqon a reputable company ??


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## CKidder (Dec 12, 2009)

I wanted to buy some Winston cells from them and never was able to get a hold of anyone. The telephone number was to the CEO's cellphone which I find a bit odd. They seem to be essentially defunct.

I ended up going to http://www.evlithium.com/ and buying through there. It won't make you feel much better. evlithium is in China and seemingly based around a cellphone too. But, they did talk to me and did send me all of the things I asked for. So, they seem legit. At least, I paid and got what I paid for.


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## Yukon_Shane (Jul 15, 2010)

We should start a "dead companies" list. It seems like a lot of the long standing diyev parts suppliers and manufacturers are in limbo.

we haven't heard from Evnetics in months,
EVSource is pretty quite (what ever happened to the controller/charger combination product they were promising?),
Synkromotive seems gone (or at least hibernating),
Rebirthauto is done,
emotorwerks just seems to sell there EVSE unit now (I don't see any EV components on their website anymore),
even EVWest hasn't updated their Youtube channel or website in half a year (they used to be pretty good for update).

any others that I'm missing?

Doesn't seem to bode well for our little hobby.


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## CKidder (Dec 12, 2009)

It bodes fine for the hobby but badly for the older companies that were supplying parts. 

Evnetics is likely fine but transitioned to higher power drive systems for trains instead of EVs.

EVSource was run by someone who has now (as far as I hear) gone to work outside the EV field. I believe the website was turned over to someone else and I don't know what happened after that. Since the original person is gone I'd expect that Netgain control hardware of any sort (not the motors) is going to be hard to come by. 

Yes, the other companies seem to be scaling back or gone too. There are two factors at work here

1. You can buy a decent OEM electric vehicle for $10k (used) these days. It's hard to build one for that. You can get a used Tesla Model S for in the $50k's and you can easily spend that in parts and labor trying to build a car. When most of the now defunct companies started there were basically no OEM EVs but now there are several models. Some people who would have built one are now buying a finished car instead.

2. Some OEM EV makers went out of business. They had stock and people bought it. This flooded the market with high quality parts. Also, people started to wreck OEM EVs and OEM EV components began to be available online and through dealers. All of this transpired to pit OEM components against the small time DIY vendors. Now Evnetics was basically trying to compete with drive trains from a Coda or Transit Connect EV. This is not a sustainable business model. You can't compete with salvage and bankruptcy auction parts. They're going to be cheaper. Some people that will remain nameless facilitated this process by producing the means to integrate OEM hardware into DIY builds. 

The DIY scene is here to stay. We have right to repair now as a DMCA exception. We have many components to choose from. But, unfortunately some companies are not going to be able to make that transition with everyone else. Luckily it seems that many of them have found other markets.


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## GROOVY2 (Dec 4, 2015)

OucH --
Thanks for the Quick replies --

what Im looking for Plug and Play battery system for use in a van I am building as a power supply for Electronics- Lights -Fans -small AC etc-

Van will be used to travel USA -

On a Van forum that I am on a man said he owns one of these Balqon
systems and is Happy with it - But the man had Only 1 post on this forum
and made me a little lerry of what he was saying -

From info I have read online Winston batteries seem to have a good reputation
with the EV car guys as far as I can tell - are Winston batteries Good ? 

What other batteries brands are Good?

Any suggestions where I could purchase a system like this in the USA-

I had a email conversation with a Winston supplier in China but they said
that they Dont ship to USA -- they did not say a word about Balqon and
they were/are supposed to be partners -

I would like to find a company located in the USA-
its a lot of money that I cant afford to lose -- 

what I am looking for is something similar to this Balqon system-

Thanks--Jay-
-
-
http://www.balqon.com/online-store/#!/12-Volt-9-kWhr/p/34783145/category=12286436 

-
-


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## Yukon_Shane (Jul 15, 2010)

Hey CKidder,

I'll definitely agree with you on where the market has gone and why but we'll have to agree to disagree on that necessarily being a good thing for the hobby. Seems to me to be a very select few who are benefiting from pulling parts from auto recyclers and bankruptcy sales and I'm not sure it's all that easy to hack these systems for conversion purposes. 

It's great that you can buy OEM ev's now but owning an ev is really only half of what makes this hobby fun. It's being able to make the car you want to make that really interests me.

Hopefully the efforts of yourself and others to hack OEM parts results in these products being accessible to the broader public. I don't think there are going to be too many backyard mechanics that are going to be able to hack Chevy volt or Nissan leaf drive trains and if things keep going the way they are that's going to be our only option.


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## GROOVY2 (Dec 4, 2015)

I sure Hope someone here can Help me find a solution --
The Van forum Im on is ALL Lead Acid battery guys -

I told them Lead batteries are- So Last Century -
this comment started a Sh-t storm of comments -
the van guys LOVE Lead batteries --

I could very easily use Lead batteries but I want
to join You in the 21st Century --

So if someone can point me towards a US company that
makes a LiFePO4 power pack system it would be Great --

I may have to build the power pack system myself but
my knowledge on the subject is somewhat limited -
and will have to spend more time than I really have -

I also want to purchase equipment made in the USA if possible -
Supporting innovation in the USA with my money --
Thanks for your time-Jay -


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## alvin (Jul 26, 2008)

I bought my cells from Balqon about 3 1/2 years ago. When I ordered they sent an e-mail to me. Then they called me. I placed the order on a Thursday and received it the following Tuesday.

Have you tried to place the order and see what happens?


Someone mentioned EVWest . I got an order from them a couple weeks ago.


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## CKidder (Dec 12, 2009)

GROOVY2 said:


> I sure Hope someone here can Help me find a solution --
> 
> So if someone can point me towards a US company that
> makes a LiFePO4 power pack system it would be Great --


There are options. If you want a US company then check out EnerDel. They make a variety of ready-made packs that you can just drop into a vehicle. Thye also have modules you can use to build up a pack. They then sell the actual pouch cells too. So, you can get as fine grained as you want. But, it isn't cheap. The full EnerDel packs are something like $15,000 for a 27kwh pack. Some people have old stock packs from when Think Corp went out of business and quit making their "City" cars. It's the same EnerDel pack but we got them pretty cheaply. I actually have five such packs. They're nice, they have a built in BMS, they're fully wired inside. But they're either expensive (new) or hard to find (old stock or used). Still, you can find people selling pieces of them on this forum in the sales section.

Another option is to look for a battery pack taken out of a salvage vehicle or from a bankruptcy sale. 

Such as: 
http://store.evtv.me/proddetail.php?prod=Betterplace


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## GROOVY2 (Dec 4, 2015)

Thanks Guys for the help --
I will call the companies you suggested -
anymore suggestions of companies would be greatly appreciated - 

I called and Emailed Balqon a bizillon times -
they did send me One email with their ph# 
but all I got was a recording about leave message and they
would get back to me but it Never happened - Zero -

I had even considered purchasing one of their motor systems to
make my van Electric powered --

Long range is not important to me --
if there was a E van available that fit my needs I would have purchased it-

Anyways Thanks for your help -Jay-
-
-
--


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## sirwattsalot (Aug 27, 2012)

I tried to buy some LIFEPO4 cells from them and weeks later no one could find my order. So I wanted a refund which I did receive but then I got an email asking me if I still wanted the cells since they had just come in from China. It was too late since I had already purchased CALB cells from another company that keeps them in stock. It was unfortunate because the Balqon batteries were advertised at a very good price.


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## tenthousandclowns (Jun 21, 2012)

I got two cells from balqon with no problems, but that was about two years ago. I got an order from evwest as of a couple weeks ago.
Have you tried Calbusainc.com or evtv.me? I think they do cells, not whole packs.


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## sailfish11 (Sep 15, 2007)

I live in the San Diego area and can speak to EVWest and Balqon.

EVWest is still active - I visited them a couple months ago. They're crazy busy, which may explain their lack of recent updates.

I ordered some LiFeYPo4 cells from Balqon back in September. At the time, they warned me that it would be 2-3 months before they arrived. Like the OP, I have sent MULTIPLE vms and emails asking for an update with no reply. I drove up to their warehouse a few weeks ago (they're in the LA area, about 90 min from my house) and spoke with them.

They lost their lease on their current location and are moving (they think to the Riverside area). So they're still around, but may be hard (even harder than usual) to get a hold of for a while.

Samra (owner?) gave me his personal mobile number to text/call, but I've since sent three texts and left a vm with no reply. Yesterday I tried to leave another vm and his mailbox was full.

So....bottom line, EVWest is fine. Balqon - jury is still out.


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## GROOVY2 (Dec 4, 2015)

Sailfish-

Thanks for the info - 

Please let me know if you ever receive your cells from Balqon and if
you ever get any further contact info for them-Jay-


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## sailfish11 (Sep 15, 2007)

I was up in the LA area last week, so I stopped by Balqon's office in Harbor City to check on them. They are completely moved out. There are still a couple work-in-progress electric trucks in the parking lot, along with some empty shipping crates, but their offices are empty.

I've left numerous vms and emails for Samra with no reply. Sometimes I can leave a message; sometimes it says his vm is full. I assume that means he's reading the messages at least some of the time.....

Their website is still up, but their FB page hasn't had an update since October and it looks like their timeline is closed. It still lists their Harbor City address and phone number (which is disconnected).

I pre-paid for my 12 cells....getting nervous.


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## GROOVY2 (Dec 4, 2015)

Sailfish

Thanks for the info - 

Damnn that is not good -
Hope you paid for 12 cells with credit card-
may be able to get your money back that way-

when I emailed Winston in china they did not say anything about 
Belqon being their distributor here in the US and that was
several months ago--Kind of made me wonder at the time -

Please keep me updated if you would -
I have heard good things about Winston cells
and the Belqon price was very good -

Thanks- Jay


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## bwjunkie (Jul 31, 2013)

Balqon, 
the good: 
I received 50x batteries from Balqon (60ah) around May 2015. They tested perfect, cheapest around, and free shipping and free lift gate service into my garage.

the bad: This size was not in stock so the wait time was 3 months to receive from China and get shipped to me. Actual time was almost 5 months.

I'm happy to have the product functional in my car, not sure what to tell others. You WILL pay more elsewhere, but whatever, maybe it's worth it.

josh


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## sailfish11 (Sep 15, 2007)

Well, I finally gave up on Balqon and requested my refund through PayPal. The good news is PayPal just refunded me the money (whew). But I still don't know what's happened to Balqon - they were never good at keeping in touch, but now they've fallen off the radar completely. Hopefully they'll get back on their feet in a new location.

I discovered that Voltronix has a plant in the same LA area (actually a little closer to me than Balqon) so I've ordered 12 new cells from them. They were a bit more expensive than Balqon, but totally worth it if they'll actually respond to me (which so far they've been great). My only concern is whether the Voltronix version of the cell is exactly the same as my old TS.

They had three in stock, so I'm picking those up this weekend and the other nine are on order and will arrive in May. So I'll find out soon if they actually fit. If they're the same, I'll just slip them into my pack (the "bad" cells are distributed throughout) where I need them. If they're a little off (dimensionally), I may still be able to use them if I wait until I get the rest and them group the new cells together (assuming the bms modules will still fit). If they're way off, then it's back to the drawing board....


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## bwjunkie (Jul 31, 2013)

sailfish11 said:


> My only concern is whether the Voltronix version of the cell is exactly the same as my old TS...


Agreed Voltronix has been great for me too. I run Balqon and Voltronix sourced cells side by side every day. They appear and measure IDENTICAL in every way. Both have given me roughly 73ah from 3% to 97%. 

I'd say go with the good customer service over price. Jaya Krishnan at Balqon was super nice to me and made several efforts and adjustments for my order, but that was 9 months ago, so who knows. If you aren't getting what you need, sounds like Voltronix is your best bet.


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## GROOVY2 (Dec 4, 2015)

Sailfish -That is good news getting money back-

Just talked to guys at EV West and was told that they have problems
getting Voltronix from china so they are dropping them as supplyer -

So I am going with CALB 100 CA cells -Jay-


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## recent newb (Feb 21, 2016)

For fear of derailing this thread I was hoping some of you could check out the thread I just posted, *("LiFEPo4 sitting several months NOT hooked up = freaking about self discharge = Brick?") - I am desperate for help and advice!!!*

But to add to the Balqon debacle, I had the same experience. Samra spent over an hour on the phone with me last summer, I bought a huge battery bank, it shipped much later than promised, and despite DAILY calls and emails from myself and the Solar company I went through, they have YET to reply. - And all I've been wanting is a User Manual for the thing! - Now that they are or may be moved/closed I may be in deep trouble trying to pursue Warranty issues...

Thanks


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## tenthousandclowns (Jun 21, 2012)

Balqon's phone number is inactive, and I can't get their website to load... any salvage sales going on?


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## bwjunkie (Jul 31, 2013)

I have 65 of the 60ah yellow LiFeYPO4 for sale, that came from Balqon in 2014.


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