Fenix Power - Took money and but never delivered

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Marktm said:

Just the emails they send me.

The last one was on August 7th saying that they went international with their reservations.

They also sent an update on the 27th of July saying that they are on track for a couple dozen test installs by the end of 2019 and plan to complete several hundred installs in the first quarter 2020.

You can sign up to get info from them I believe, I still receive updates because I used to have a battery reservation before I decided to trade up to a 2018. John seems like a good guy, I spoke with him for about an hour on the phone when I cancelled and he seemed genuinely interested in my thoughts.
 
This chineese company (and probably others) are selling powerful battery packs for cars:
https://lithiumbattery.en.made-in-china.com/product-group/NMFmVUErbphB/-100V-EV-Battery-catalog-1.html

They seem to offer high voltages and AHs (some options up to 30kwh), suitable for electric cars. And they are based on the resilient LiFePo chemistry. Prices probably low, that's not very clear.

Anyone has experience with those? I foresee some challanges: phisical fit in the leaf, bms interfacing, ...
 
LiFePo4 has a substantially lower energy density, so a 30kwh pack isn't going to be a shoe-in fit for a Leaf. At best some cargo area would likely be lost.
 
LiFePo has improved a lot in energy density (they are aproaching 200wh/kg, as far as i know).
Much better than my 2013 leaf.
And safer, and more durable. Not too bad.
 
Marktm said:
Anyone seen an update later than this on Fenix Power?
That whole section under "Charging Services" is a complicated solution to a mostly non-problem. I can't imagine anyone really using that.
 
jlv said:
That whole section under "Charging Services" is a complicated solution to a mostly non-problem. I can't imagine anyone really using that.

I actually agree - why would Fenix Power use any resources to resolve a non-problem when I'm sure they have many that need resolving - it actually worried me that they may be losing focus (unless it was for capital infusion).
I'm also worried that there has been no updates on this forum since I'd believe that many of Fenix's signed-on customers use this forum for needed information.
 
Marktm said:
jlv said:
That whole section under "Charging Services" is a complicated solution to a mostly non-problem. I can't imagine anyone really using that.

I actually agree - why would Fenix Power use any resources to resolve a non-problem when I'm sure they have many that need resolving - it actually worried me that they may be losing focus (unless it was for capital infusion).
I'm also worried that there has been no updates on this forum since I'd believe that many of Fenix's signed-on customers use this forum for needed information.

I read it as an attempt to keep the company in the news and to give a veneer of legitimacy. If no progress is being make on vapour 1.0, let's talk about vapour 2.0 !
 
Some questions for John Bysinger if he’s still checking this thread:

I really love what your company is offering, I was planning on getting rid of my Leaf eventually when one of the electric pickups come out because the Leaf’s lack of range and active cooling but with that addressed and your ability for me to go from 24 to an always fresh 30 and ideally one day 48-60 I’m seriously reconsidering.

1. I have a ‘15 with a lizard battery with only one bar missing. I’m getting by with my battery but having the convince of 6 more kWh and always fresh would be great but not completely necessary. I’d love to buy a battery and use the service but I’d hate to turn in such a viable battery. I read your stock battery return policy but paying to have it reinstalled is a non starter with that cost (which I understand). I’m fine purchasing your battery and stopping the service part if I ever sell.

Could there be any sort of additional credit on a sliding scale for turning in such a viable battery permanently so this feels like less of a value loss?

2. I’m still paying off my car for a couple years. I’m only interested in the purchase + service model but $200+ a month while I’m still making payments is probably also a non starter.

Could there be a sort rent-to-own in the $125-$140 range that you would own should you pay off the entire battery eventually? Maybe something like, should you keep the service for 40ish months (or whatever it comes out to), you own the battery but if you want to stop before then, you have to buy the rest of the battery balance to leave early?

I’d love to use your product and service but I’m not sure if I’ll keep this car forever and going back to the stock battery would be such a financial cost that it would destroy the valve in selling the car. Something like that rent-to-own would really allow me to get one of your batteries sooner.

The flexibility of both of these options may open up more potential customers perhaps?
 
They said they were supposed to do something by late 2019.
We should know soon enough.
 
Nothing since May and it is almost November. This is troubling... Any news from anyone? John also never replied to the questions above. I'm wondering what is the status of the test installs for this year. We are already nearing the end with 2 months left to go...
 
What happened? Haven't seen a comment from John Bysinger since April 11th and I'm wondering how well Fenix is progressing.
 
More than 2 years ago when I was investigating the possibility of buying a leaf I had heard of these guys and even then they were saying by late 2019 they would have their modular tesla sounding battery out.
IMO they don't have anything that remotely resembles a finished product.
Furthermore I doubt that 6 months from now anything will change.
They have never released videos showing off progress under the guise of "some one might steal our idea".
I call BS on that.
Muxsan shows off everything on YouTube videos. A few people have tried to imitate muxsans tech for their own personal entertainment but no one has tried to steal his idea and his stuff is very diy compared to building a modular liquid cooled replacement pack.
 
:mrgreen: https://fenix.systems/news/fenix-news/2019/11/14/fenix-power-moving-into-new-facility?mc_cid=62bc08ead7&mc_eid=593d3cb615
 
Oilpan4 said:
More than 2 years ago when I was investigating the possibility of buying a leaf I had heard of these guys and even then they were saying by late 2019 they would have their modular tesla sounding battery out.
2 years ago? Seems like they made their announcement in Sept 2018. Here's a snapshot from back then: https://web.archive.org/web/20180926020752/https://fenix.systems/leafbattery.
Oilpan4 said:
They have never released videos showing off progress under the guise of "some one might steal our idea".
I call BS on that.
I think that's a legitimate reason/excuse, at least for anything showing significant details. There are Chinese counterfeits of SO many things. Heck even in 2010 there were counterfeit microSD cards readily available (https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?page_id=1022, you can see a 2010 snapshot at https://web.archive.org/web/20100223040647/https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?page_id=1022). Just Google for stuff like counterfeit markets china or counterfeit markets shanghai.

I saw this story on TV awhile back: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/30/how-one-entrepreneurs-american-dream-turned-into-a-copycat-nightmare.html.

That said, if they actually showed a car with its pack removed, their pack installed, L2 charging, operating at highway speeds + evidence of liquid cooling working (e.g. original Leaf pack being DC FCed before, during and after temps vs. theirs being DC FCed), I could be more convinced they've made real progress towards something working.
 
Seems to me that if a “Leafer” from the Charlotte NC area could pay them a visit and write up his impressions, that could put some meat on the bones.
 
joeriv said:
Seems to me that if a “Leafer” from the Charlotte NC area could pay them a visit and write up his impressions, that could put some meat on the bones.

I’d love to do that and I’m about 35 miles from their Harrisburg NC (bedroom community on the East side of Charlotte) location. That’s sadly about 5 miles out of range for my 2012 SL without a refueling stop. But I like the idea and I could easily make it in my other EV. I’ll try to set up a meeting there. In case that doesn’t work, even a drive-by might be helpful.

They’ve recently contracted a 7000 sq.ft. facility in another part of Charlotte though currently it’s only an empty building. Baby steps, apparently. Still mildly optimistic but would really like to see a retrofitted LEAF rolling around the area sometime, maybe even mine.
 
cwerdna said:
That said, if they actually showed a car with its pack removed, their pack installed, L2 charging, operating at highway speeds + evidence of liquid cooling working (e.g. original Leaf pack being DC FCed before, during and after temps vs. theirs being DC FCed), I could be more convinced they've made real progress towards something working.

Since they just got their building I would be surprised if we see any of that before 2021.
 
:cool: https://mailchi.mp/22cd5e7a6363/fenixpowerco?mc_cid=733ae5d795&mc_eid=593d3cb615
 
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