Poll: 16kWh Battery Purchase

[JoeS]

In USA, we are gathering data for expressions of interest in purchasing a replacement original-capacity battery pack (LEV50N or better longer-lived chemistry) installed by a Mitsubishi dealer at various price points.
The next poll will ask the same question but for a 30kWh capacity pack (as has been successfully implemented by our Aussie friends) and probably different price points. Please do participate in this poll now.
Please don't get your hopes up as we are simply trying to judge how much interest there might be domestically before continuing. If successful, this hopefully could possibly lead to expansion to Canada and the rest of the world.
Anticipate this poll running for three weeks. Allowing voters to change their mind and everyone to see poll results.
Ref: https://myimiev.com/threads/an-open...a-group-buy-offer-for-replacement-packs.5789/

 

[JoeS]

Burping this poll again to have it show up near the top of What' New. Disheartening to see over a hundred views and yet only three votes in the USA. Next poll will be worldwide and broader in scope.

 

[michael8554]

You think a Mitsubishi dealer will agree to install these cells ?

 

[JoeS]

You think a Mitsubishi dealer will agree to install these cells ?

No. This particular poll is defined very narrowly: complete battery pack provided by Mitsubishi USA and installed by a Mitsu dealer at an affordable price. Simply attempting to gauge interest before escalation.
So far, judging by the (lack of) interest shown, we'll probably abandon this avenue of pursuit (IMO).

 

[jray3]

C'mon guys, please vote because if we don't ask, we'll have no recourse when OEMs claim there's no demand for out-of-warranty battery replacements!

 

[MickeyS70]

No. This particular poll is defined very narrowly: complete battery pack provided by Mitsubishi USA and installed by a Mitsu dealer at an affordable price. Simply attempting to gauge interest before escalation.

4000$ sounds about right for a DYI cell upgrade, but to be realistic, no OEM will offer a brand new pack fitted for that kind of money considering getting rid of the old pack won’t be cheap either…

So far, judging by the (lack of) interest shown, we'll probably abandon this avenue of pursuit (IMO).

Agreed…

 

[JoeS]

4000$ sounds about right for a DYI cell upgrade, but to be realistic, no OEM will offer a brand new pack fitted for that kind of money considering getting rid of the old pack won’t be cheap either…

@MickeyS70, but what if the OEM can be induced to rebuild an existing pack at the dealerships so all they need to do is supply the replacement cells to the dealer? Good training for the techs to learn about high voltage. Mitsu would need to provide their pack extraction contraption which they used to ship around with their replacement packs. I understand the precautions the dealership would have to take to isolate this activity and, of course, the technical training.
Anyone hazard a guess as to the dealer's labor hours to drop a pack, open it up, replace the cells, button it back up, reinstall into the car, and then reprogram the BMU as needed? Our shop labor rates here in Silicon Valley are on the order of USD$250/hour.

 

[MickeyS70]

@MickeyS70, but what if the OEM can be induced to rebuild an existing pack at the dealerships so all they need to do is supply the replacement cells to the dealer? Our shop labor rates here in Silicon Valley are on the order of USD$250/hour.

Ok, let me play the devil’s advocate here:

I have dropped a pack, replaced a CMU and reinstalled it in half a day (pristine case, no snapped bolts)

Add another 4 hours to swap cells and program BMU at a minimum.

That’s $2000 in labour alone, not including recycling cost of old cells.

Mitsubishi techs are not trained to work inside a HV pack, therefore upskilling is required @ top $$$.

Add cost of new 16kwh cells (@ $125/kwh) $ 2000

We’re now around $5000 of pure cost, no profit…

I’d say a price tag of $7k+is the lowest that would make any commercial sense for an OEM, almost twice what folks are prepared to pay???

 

[jray3]

I agree with Mickey, that the only practical approach would be just a full pack replacement at the dealership, with the old packs graded and sold off for either stationary reuse or salvage and recycling. Rebuilding at a centralized facility would likely be uneconomical due to the cost of all this extra back-n-forth freight.
HowEVer, there’s one precedent in the 2025-17 KIA SOUL EV, which had a high percentage of packs replaced under warranty. In some cases, KIA just shipped in a standard-sized pallet of stacked modules and the battery pack was rebuilt inside the dealership.

 

[jray3]

But, here’s a reminder of how good the final 16 kWh production packs are, as I departed home on a freezing Feb 1st with typically good RR in a 2012 with warranty-replaced battery.… The 100+ mile figure is a relic from my wife’s prEVious commute and always drops to 80+ after turning on the heater and a bit of my spirited driving.

 

[JoeS]

But, here’s a reminder of how good the final 16 kWh production packs are, as I departed home on a freezing Feb 1st with typically good RR in a 2012 with warranty-replaced battery.… The 100+ mile figure is a relic from my wife’s prEVious commute and always drops to 80+ after turning on the heater and a bit of my spirited driving.

Wow, haven't seen that in over ten years! Is she coming down a mountain in the preceding 15 miles?

Back on topic, I agree with @MickeyS70 and thus we should perhaps abandon instigating Mitsubishi USA to provide us with an inexpensive pack, as indicated by the poll results.

The alternative, for those of us who like to get our hands dirty, is thus perhaps best expressed by @Jiminy with a request directed at the Chinese distributor:
https://myimiev.com/threads/making-a-custom-battery-pack-for-miev.5459/page-4#post-52145
I would sure prefer that number to be $3,500 and include shipping + Customs duties (which were already 20% before the latest political upheaval).

 

[jray3]

Wow, haven't seen that in over ten years! Is she coming down a mountain in the preceding 15 miles?

No Joe, we climb 453 feet in elevation over the final 15 miles to home! The point is that I now have two i-MiEVs with nearly new battery packs, as they were warranty-replaced very late in their warranties. That great range is what we could expect with new packs supplied by Mitsu.

 

[JoeS]

...The point is that I now have two i-MiEVs with nearly new battery packs, as they were warranty-replaced very late in their warranties. That great range is what we could expect with new packs supplied by Mitsu.

... and as @jray3 had pointed out elsewhere, Mitsubishi is building MiniCabs with the i-MiEV drivetrain in Indonesia so would perhaps have a relatively inexpensive source of batteries (or battery packs) for the rest of the world?
https://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/en/newsroom/newsrelease/2023/20231215_2.html

 

[suziauto]

https://ozelectricvehicles.com.au/pages/mitsubishi-i-miev

 

[JoeS]

https://ozelectricvehicles.com.au/pages/mitsubishi-i-miev

Graeme, thank you for reminding us. Yes, we would love to have someone provide a turnkey solution for us for a reasonable price ... and that's the kicker, which is the reason for this poll. I well understand the time and effort it took to design and develop the upgrade kit.

I just sent a query to [email protected]

With today's tariff increase on Chinese products we're clinging with our fingernails hoping to get cells at a price which would enable purchase and installation of your kit or even direct cell replacements. IIRC, your kit also had a firmware mod which actually enabled 'one-pedal' driving with the i-MiEV, a feature many of us find attractive.