# electric car parts company



## mrmeseeks (Jun 14, 2014)

Does anyone have any experience buying from electriccarpartscompany.com? I have heard they have some questionable business practices and would like to get some more opinions.


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## Roderick (Dec 8, 2013)

I know this doesn't answer your question but I have been in touch with them for some parts and their help is good so far, just not sure about quality of their products and after service yet.


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## mrmeseeks (Jun 14, 2014)

Yes they have been pretty good with answering my questions and getting back to me with quotes quickly, which is why I was surprised when I was told that they weren't reliable. As has been reiterated here and elsewhere before though, being helpful before you purchase something doesn't necessarily mean they will be helpful once they have your money though.


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## sholland (Jan 16, 2012)

I've had nothing but a good experience from them... They always confirm my order and send follow up emails with delivery schedule. I've never had to chase them for anything...

Jon, Matt and Carl at Electric Car Parts Company have all been great. I will buy from them again too...


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## esoneson (Sep 1, 2008)

They have always treated me with repect, before, during and after the sale. Great guys. I have purchased motor, coupler, adapter plate, motor cradle, etc, etc and have been very happy with their service and products.

A big thumbs up from me.

Eric


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## twright (Aug 20, 2013)

I have had good luck with them.

One caveat: DO NOT BUY HI POWER CELLS FROM THEM (or anyone). HIPOWER CANNOT SUPPORT THEIR PRODUCT.


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## mrmeseeks (Jun 14, 2014)

Interesting it seems everyone here has only good things to say, that's promising. Although I was actually looking at the hipower batteries so that is good to know.


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## DavidDymaxion (Dec 1, 2008)

I have bought things from them and their service has been good. I bought some little 10 Ahr HiPower (or thereabouts) lithium cells from them, and they met their 10C spec in my testing (by memory, delivered 10C for 83% of the capacity with reasonable sag). For comparison, Headways spec 25C, so I think they are better high power cells.



mrmeseeks said:


> Interesting it seems everyone here has only good things to say, that's promising. Although I was actually looking at the hipower batteries so that is good to know.


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## Baratong (Nov 29, 2012)

mrmeseeks said:


> Interesting it seems everyone here has only good things to say, that's promising. Although I was actually looking at the hipower batteries so that is good to know.


I just received an order from Electric Car Parts Company. I ordered contactors, fuses, pot-box, 2/0 cable, and four 60ah HiPower batteries. The batteries arrived within days of the order and I'm very happy with them.

The rest of the order arrived a week and a half later, but they told me up front that they were expecting a shipment from their supplier that contained one of the parts in my order (reversing contactor), and they would ship as soon as that came in. Also included in the shipment was a bag of 20 2/0 copper lugs and two lengths of heat-shrink tubing. I didn't specifically order this and it wasn't indicated on the web site when I placed my order that these would be included, so I'm assuming it's an 'extra' they put in.. (yea!)

They were very communicative and surpassed my expectations. I would definitely recommend them as a supplier.

Paul


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## Gumpy (Mar 15, 2012)

mrmeseeks said:


> Interesting it seems everyone here has only good things to say, that's promising. Although I was actually looking at the hipower batteries so that is good to know.



Don't trust this company. They sold me defective batteries and won't honor the warranty, even after admitting they knew the batteries were defective and they recognized they owed me a refund - in writing. Deceitful, dishonest and predatory. They will tell you whatever to get the sale but they won't honor their obligations later.


They owe me $16,000 for a 38kw pack. There's another company here in the Atlanta area that had the same experience with them. They sold them some bad batteries and left them hanging for the whole pack.

I'm posting this info everywhere it might be found by people who may be considering buying from them or using their services. 

As long as the product you buy from them never fails, you could have good success with this company. But the moment you have an issue, you're not likely to ever get them to honor any warranty. 



I can provide detailed proof, in writing, in their own words that they knew the batteries they sold be were defective and they admitted they should be reimbursed or replaced under the warranty. 2 years later I'm still trying to get them to resolve this issue. 



I'm hoping to provide enough pressure from their customer and potential customers to get them to just honor their warranty. Not looking to hurt the company, but they've idled my project for over 2 years, I'm out $16k and can't afford to buy a different pack until they resolve this outstanding debt.


Carl Clark is the owner. He personally spec'd the specific batteries for my project. He has personally stated in writing (email) the batteries are defective and his company owes me restitution. 

He sounds sincere. He comes across as a solid person, honest and helpful. But if he owes you reimbursement, you're out of luck. 



Please spread this info to everyone you know so they can avoid the mistake I made with this company. 

I would recommend that if you intend to buy from Electric Cart Parts Company, you buy only the products you know to be good quality. Don't expect them to have any quality control behind any of their products that you don't already have experienced, positive reviews on. 



I hope this helps.


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## john61ct (Feb 25, 2017)

New member first post


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## Electrons4me (Jul 9, 2019)

Hi Gumpy,

I'm interested to know if your ($16K) issue with electric car parts company has been resolved? I was going to buy batteries from them but now I'm skeptical and I have decided to wait until I hear from you.

Thanks for posting your story.

E4M


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## Gumpy (Mar 15, 2012)

No, it has not. 
Carl has admitted they owe me warranty resolution but has not responded in over a year.

I engaged a lawyer but no luck.
My only recourse at this point is to sue them because the amount exceeds small claims. 

Unfortunately, a full up lawsuit will cost me about 15k. If I win, the lawyers get it all. If I lose (not likely) I'd break even. 

So I'm warning people in all the forums I can find so others might avoid the problem with ecp. 

If what you get from them works, you're good. But if it doesn't and it's a substantial amount, I doubt they'll honor their warranty. 

I suspect they don't have sufficient volume or insurance to cover large losses. 

So yes, this is a real situation and I can document the whole thing with Carl's own words.

Please let everyone know as a warning. 

Thanks for your help. 

You can reach me any time on my mobile at
770. 713. 1111
Or my email at
Mikestevenson. At. comcast.net 

As an update, I'm just about done rebuilding my vehicle with salvaged leaf batteries. I can't afford a replacement for what ecp owes me. 

And FYI - ECP also sold a lot of the same batteries to an electric vehicle conversion company here in Atlanta. They had the same exact results -those batteries were defective, they all failed. ECP wouldn't honor the warranty. 
They wrote the loss off and didn't pursue it so ECP got away with that one, too.

My advice is if you use ECP for anything, make sure you can afford to have to go find the same thing elsewhere if it fails. Especially if it's a large purchase. 

Carl and his people are very nice and knowledgeable but they don't honor their warranty. At least that's my experience with them. 

I'm not trying to cause ECP trouble though if that would help resolve the issue, it may be worth while. 
I'm just trying to warn others so they don't assume the risk uninformed. 

Hope this helps.


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## Electrons4me (Jul 9, 2019)

Hi Gumpy,

Thanks for your reply.

Have you tried posting this issue on Yelp? A lot of folks visit this site to learn about businesses before they engage with them. I went there myself to see if ECP was reputable and found only good posts. I wish yours was there.

Could you possibly point me to other sites where you posted you story? I'm a member of a few battery forums and will make sure to post the link of Diyelectriccar and your story so more people know about ECP and their unwillingness to resolve your issue. They sold you the batteries they are responsible to get a fair resolution for you.

Could you possibly (if not confidential) share the battery brands that failed? I will be sure to stay away from this brand like the plague if I ever decide to buy from ECP; but I am absolutely not convince I want to do business with them if they cannot force they suppler to honor their warranty. This is pathetic from ECP.

Thanks again for sharing and hope you get your money back.
Cheers
E4M


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## john61ct (Feb 25, 2017)

Perhaps insisting on structuring a deal with Carl through his eBay store.

At least then you could ensure their and PayPal protection.

Must be shipped though, not pickup


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## Electrons4me (Jul 9, 2019)

Hello John61CT,

Thanks for the suggestion.

My issue with eBay/Paypal is that there is a finite time to file a dispute. However, typically, with a Lithium cell a long cycle life is what you want and that is also the problem. So if the cells are rated for 3500 cycles to 80% capacity, and you cycle them once a day (solar application) it could take a few years to figure out that your cells were not new good quality LiFePO4 cells but rather used/bad ones. By that time the dispute window on eBay/Paypal is long gone...

ECP sells a 240Ah Xcell LiFePO4 battery for $253. For a 24V system you need 8 of them that's over $2K... so you really want their cells to be legit because that's expensive to replace specially in an off-grid solar application.

Cheers
E4M


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## john61ct (Feb 25, 2017)

Electrons4me said:


> My issue with eBay/Paypal is that there is a finite time to file a dispute.


The testing procedures to determine if what you received is as described are not trivial, but do not take rocket science nor gear you shouldn't have anyway for maintaining and monitoring your bank.

Initial voltage recorded per cell.

Commission charging to identical top-balance point, resting paralleled 24 hours, then isolated again, 24 hours later record voltages.

Precisely timed CC load discharge tests from 100% to 0%, repeated if needed. to determine Ah capacity accurately.

Internal resistance while all at precise same SoC, top and bottom.

Are values satisfactory?

How closely matched is the set in the different values?

Done. There will be dozens of variables determining cycle lifetime, all under owner control, protective systems etc, so that is irrelevant, a warranty claim needs to be made within weeks of delivery.


_____

ECP sells a 240Ah Xcell LiFePO4 battery for $253. For a 24V system you need 8 of them that's over $2K... so you really want their cells to be legit because that's expensive to replace specially in an off-grid solar application.


I would have no interest in some off brand manufacturer.

Currently my candidates list for bare cells is:
Winston/Thundersky/Voltronix, CALB, GBS, Sinopoly and A123 (now Lithium Werks / Valence / Super B)



Maybe K2 at a lower price, since they are Trojan's OEM for the new Trillium line.

This is not an arena to cut corners if you are looking for longevity, it costs per kWh what it costs. The challenge isn't saving money, it's making sure you spend enough to actually get what you pay for. Yes, that means thousands of dollars for even a pretty small bank.

ECPC has not been a credible vendor IMO for a long time.


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