ts and lithium pricing

Post by **sparau** » Mon, 15 Dec 2008, 23:28

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone has current pricing on ts batteries - a couple of months ago in a post here i worked out 45 160ah TS were about ~11k (this should work out nice for a 205gti conversion)

Rob M wrote: There will probably be a bulk order of Thunder-Sky batteries soon. The price of the last order was Au$1.62 per Ah delivered including freight, customs clearance, GST and insurance. there might be slight variations depending on the exchange rate. You can register your interest by email to rob@mpcwa.com

Now after the Aussie peso has been smashed for no apparent (to me) reason?

Also what are people's opinions on the longer term cost of lithiums? Is the process complicated enough that prices wont go down much or (as i suspect) they might fall significantly once commercial ev's come into production in the next year or two.

Just asking as obviously this is a pretty major cost - i have thought about approaching the bank for a car loan but figured the likelyhood of them lending 15k (i can come up with 5-10 in the short term) for an untested, unskilled (relatively) person doing a DIY conversion would be ZILCH !! lol

Thx in advance

Post by **drowe67** » Fri, 19 Dec 2008, 01:15

I've heard of USD$1.20 per AH from Blade EV, not sure how current that is.

Consider lead acid, that will get you driving an electric car for around $2500 in batteries (e.g. 8 x 12V 100AH). You can always go Lithium a little later. I know the long term per km calculations may favour Lithium - but that big capital cost is a killer for a lot of people.

I figure a lot of conversions are on hold due to the AUD$, oil prices and financial crisis - which is a pity. I drive a lead acid EV and it's great - much better than driving ICE. People are doing very nice conversions for $4k-$6k - you don't need much of a loan for that!

- David

Post by **sparau** » Mon, 29 Dec 2008, 20:32

Hi - thx drowe.

I will look into it - however removing rear seats isnt an option as the car is to ferry kids around and since the conversion object is a pug 205gti i dont think i've got the weight capacity to take on lead acids... especially as it will have to be a gearbox in conversion.

From my guesstimations so far i would be removing only 60kg fuel tank, 160kg alloy engine (and im not sure if that is with gbox and ancillaries - having trouble finding an accurate figure) and ~20kg exhaust.

Shane