[shewb]

I don't have time to post the whole story, but I'll log in later and finish.
Long story short -
The second used IMA battery pack I purchased for $400 from LKQ in California just failed, after 3.5 months. It had a 6 month replacement guarantee, so I got my $400 back. Thanks, Gene at LKQ.
So I'm tired of messing with used batteries. My Insight has a salvage title, so I don't have any warranty coverage, although Wittmeier in Chico replaced my control modules for free last year. I decided to spring for a new one. $2800. The dealer is letting me install it myself!
The battery came from "Calhac" in southern CA. It's a Honda subsidiary. Only took two days to get it. It was encased in a heavy suitcase with seven latches and three hinges, and "danger" stickers all over it. The dealer didn't want to part with the case, so we unloaded it into the back of my car. They also tried to get me to use the "tool" that Honda recommends. It weighs about 30 lbs all by itself!
More later...

 

[shewb]

I installed it last night in 1.5 hours again... there's like 50 machine screws holding everything together under there, and a dozen connectors to deal with.
On the drive to work this morning everything worked fine. It charged up rather more quickly then I expected - about 5 minutes at 2000-3000 rpm on my gravel country road. After slowly rising to about 30% SOC, it jumped two or three bars at a time in the next minute, to 100%.

I think I'm getting more ASST than ever before - 100 percent ASST when I needed it.

The new battery was shipped in a state of discharge. I couldn't measure any voltages like I did on the used batteries I've had.
Is this a first - that the dealer sold me the battery pack over the parts desk (not literally!) and let me install it myself :?: IIRC they always insisted on doing the work themselves.
- Jim

 

[shewb]

Oh, and speaking of recycling, guess what the "core charge" was, to entice me to return the old battery pack to the dealer?
.
.
.
$3000.00 yes that's Three Thousand US Dollars. :shock:
I guess they don't want anyone dumping them in the local landfill. They want to recycle all that Nickel and Cobalt.
Needless to say, I returned one of the old battery packs from my garage at the same time as I picked up the new one.
- Jim