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Battery Prices Rising - Should I buy now?

Seneca Solar

New Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2021
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Good morning everyone! My first post here and I wanted to get people’s feedback on purchasing an Ampere Time 12V 300A lipo battery. I read that distributors are signaling upcoming price increases and I’m considering getting the battery now for a project I’ll be starting in early Spring. The current price is $1,139.99 plus a 5% off coupon.

So my question is should I buy the battery now and have it sit around for a few months or not worry about the price increases because prices will go back down (and even lower potentially) in the Spring (March-April time frame)? Something tells me electronics will continue increasing in price, but the batteries themselves will eventually continue going down in price. I’m just not sure that will be true in the Spring time.

Any and all thoughts are appreciated. Thank you!
 
I've been operating under the assumption that prices will continue to rise, shortages will get worse, and the value of the dollar will only continue to shrink. That being said, I'm blessed to be in a position to buy what I want without financing things. I carry little debt and hate credit cards!
 
Buy now or later? Will the price go down from expiring patents and shipping problems solved or go up from printing press inflation? My guess is both. Save your money and keep your options open.
 
I've been operating under the assumption that prices will continue to rise, shortages will get worse, and the value of the dollar will only continue to shrink. That being said, I'm blessed to be in a position to buy what I want without financing things. I carry little debt and hate credit cards!
Good moto in life with the debt free attitude. And I think you’re probably right about prices continue to climb. It’s not making it easy to figure out what to buy now vs later.
 
Buy now or later? Will the price go down from expiring patents and shipping problems solved or go up from printing press inflation? My guess is both. Save your money and keep your options open.
Thanks for the feedback. I’m leaning towards waiting until the Spring.
 
I bought the parts to build one more battery. But this is to add to my system and allow flexibility in the future. I am NOT (yet) buying other equipment as I 1) don't have the free cash to spend on it, 2) am not sure exactly what I will be needing, and 3) my wife would probably kill me.
 
Good morning everyone! My first post here and I wanted to get people’s feedback on purchasing an Ampere Time 12V 300A lipo battery. I read that distributors are signaling upcoming price increases and I’m considering getting the battery now for a project I’ll be starting in early Spring. The current price is $1,139.99 plus a 5% off coupon.

So my question is should I buy the battery now and have it sit around for a few months or not worry about the price increases because prices will go back down (and even lower potentially) in the Spring (March-April time frame)? Something tells me electronics will continue increasing in price, but the batteries themselves will eventually continue going down in price. I’m just not sure that will be true in the Spring time.

Any and all thoughts are appreciated. Thank you!

You came to a DIY forum. What advice did you think we would give you?
You can buy four cells and a BMS, build your own similar battery for around $500
 
You came to a DIY forum. What advice did you think we would give you?
You can buy four cells and a BMS, build your own similar battery for around $500
I don’t think I get your point. Are you saying because this is a diy forum everyone needs to build their own battery from components, and that buying a battery ready to go, then wiring it with the appropriate ancillary components etc isn’t worthy of a DIY forum?
 
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I built mine .... I think I posted pics of it ...https://diysolarforum.com/attachments/20191219_171853-jpg.3689/
20191219_171853-jpg.3689
 
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?

How many amps are you pulling off that (likely) 15A wall receptacle with that mega outlet whatever that is?
 
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You came to a DIY forum. What advice did you think we would give you?
You can buy four cells and a BMS, build your own similar battery for around $500
I’m a DIY guy too, but a quality LiFePO4 battery for $0.28 per Wh ready to go with a quality 200A BMS is a no brainer.

Your feedback is also not at all related to the question of rising prices and when to buy.
 
From a quick search:

".. We see significant upside risks to our 2022 price forecasts,” FSCRIR said."
"SQM (NYSE: SQM), the world’s second largest lithium miner, expects average prices for the battery metal to rise close to 50% in the last three months of the year from the previous quarter"
"Outside China, Tesla recently flagged a move to LFP for its high volume, standard range Model 3 and Model Y electric cars...Ford has also flagged that it will use LFPs in some commercial vehicles while German giant Volkswagen also plans to use LFPs."
"Bank of America recently said in its research report that the global electric vehicle industry faces an imminent threat that battery supply could run out as early as 2025."
"LFP batteries like BYD’s Blade modules have reportedly seen huge prices hikes this year as well, but manufacturers are more eager to eat those costs out of fear it will lose orders for the relatively nascent battery technology."

With a sudden global push towards green battery electric technology increasing demand on top of rare material and supply chain distributions plus continuing inflationary concerns into 2022-2023, there is great uncertainty to say the least. I don't see the harm in being prepared and buying early. Shelf-life isn't really a concern if they are stored properly. Prices are more likely to increase rather than decrease in the next year.

Also Ampere Time might use Grade B cells that are used, so the longevity could be better.
 
I don’t think I get your point. Are you saying because this is a diy forum everyone needs to build there own battery from components, and that buying a battery ready to go, then wiring it with the appropriate ancillary components etc isn’t worthy of a diy forum?
Thanks for having my back! I am a DIY guy, but the hassle of waiting months for cells to arrive and the insane shipping prices makes an all-in-one 300A battery for $0.28 per Wh really appealing.
 
Thanks for having my back! I am a DIY guy, but the hassle of waiting months for cells to arrive and the insane shipping prices makes an all-in-one 300A battery for $0.28 per Wh really appealing.
I agree. And from what I’ve read and youtubed quite often cells arrive and are in one way or another not what was expected.
Additionally prices are down considerably from a historical standpoint.
Personally I think NOW is a good time to buy batteries if you need ‘em and have the cash.
Will reviewed a 349$ weize 100ah battery that had temp protection etc and was made relatively well. That’s a deal compared to anything before. This week someone posted a 100ah lifepo4 battery for 299. Yeah that’s cheap.

Larger capacity quality batteries from big battery, signiture solar and others seem to be at price lows… if actually available.
 
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I would rather see 2 steel plates for compression with allthread and bolts forcing it down that way you get uniform pressure across the surfaces.
Yea, I noticed the lack of uniform end support too. But, based on what looks like flexible (or avant garde styling?) bus bars, maybe allowing for expansion is his intention.
The 4P4S battery is fairly bold too.

I would be interested in seeing a report on how this is working in a “show and tell” thread. Not many (any?) data points on a 4P4S LiFePO4 battery.

And sorry for the distraction.
 
From a quick search:

".. We see significant upside risks to our 2022 price forecasts,” FSCRIR said."
"SQM (NYSE: SQM), the world’s second largest lithium miner, expects average prices for the battery metal to rise close to 50% in the last three months of the year from the previous quarter"
"Outside China, Tesla recently flagged a move to LFP for its high volume, standard range Model 3 and Model Y electric cars...Ford has also flagged that it will use LFPs in some commercial vehicles while German giant Volkswagen also plans to use LFPs."
"Bank of America recently said in its research report that the global electric vehicle industry faces an imminent threat that battery supply could run out as early as 2025."
"LFP batteries like BYD’s Blade modules have reportedly seen huge prices hikes this year as well, but manufacturers are more eager to eat those costs out of fear it will lose orders for the relatively nascent battery technology."

With a sudden global push towards green battery electric technology increasing demand on top of rare material and supply chain distributions plus continuing inflationary concerns into 2022-2023, there is great uncertainty to say the least. I don't see the harm in being prepared and buying early. Shelf-life isn't really a concern if they are stored properly. Prices are more likely to increase rather than decrease in the next year.

Also Ampere Time might use Grade B cells that are used, so the longevity could be better.
Well said. Thanks for the references related to shortages and price increases. I'm now leaning towards making the purchase now. And regarding the Ampere Time cells, I reached out to the company to get more details and they replied back with:

"Our 12V 300Ah battery has 3840Wh energy, consists of 8 auto motive grade battery cells, which are all new and grade A excellent cells."

Based on the reviews, capacity tests, and Will's teardown I believe this to be true. And I'm not worried about not having the low temp charging protection since I mitigate it with a temp sensor from Victron and a heating pad in an insulated box. At $0.28 per Wh I still think this might be the best value battery on the market.
 
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