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What's the future of LTO swaps now that supply dried up?

3K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  retepsnikrep 
#1 ·
Is there any kind of other battery someone found to fill the void? I'd be interested in having something similar to a 72 or maybe even 84 cell LTO but it looks like that's impossible right now.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Yeah, the LTO supply from Greentec is exhausted. For big capacity, the next option may be the BMW batteries, as Natalya mentioned elsewhere.

If you want a Lithium pack with capacity similar to the stock pack, mudder is investing large effort into perfecting a conversion, essentially drop-in, making use of the 3rd Gen Insight cells. Those should be readily available at salvage yards. There are threads elsewhere on the site.

Later: Here's the thread:
 
#4 · (Edited)
Nissan Leaf cells are big and plentiful. (Certainly in the UK)
But as with any conversion there is a lot of work involved in making it fit safely and work reliably.

Lithium is never going to be cheaper or easier than a new Nimh pack with decent warranty.
 
#6 ·
I'll have to see how my car ends up being with transmission mods, etc first. I'm picking up one with 91k miles so it should be pretty fresh. I think with HCH transmission it should meet my needs pretty well and the lithium is more of a want than a need. I'd prefer lithium over a turbo as a power adder because of the need for premium fuel when going turbo.
 
#7 ·
I have great big sacks of cash to hand over but they're my bankroll for work and also my savings for a house, part of why I'm going back to an Insight is to save about 8k a year in fuel costs over the route I was thinking of going which was a Volvo V90. I can put a similarly comfortable seat in the insight and be pretty happy with it at 8k a year in fuel plus way lower depreciation. I drive 75 to 125k miles a year for work as a travelling professional gambler so I think the V90 would lost about 10k value a year or more pretty easily.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Do you have one of them? I do and two G1 Insights. The CR-Z is pretty cheap in the UK.
In the UK it is a four seater with rear seats. OK you can only get midgets or children in the back.

The CR-Z Is a very good stepping stone from a G1 Insight.
(It's still a Honda Series IMA Hybrid)
It's much more modern, better equipment, mildly sporty, handles well and around 40-60mpg.
It's also eminently hackable and tuneable.
(There is a big engine tuning turbo/superchargers and swap crowd)

I've done a huge amount of IMA work on the CR-Z in the last six months over on the CR-Z forum.
Double the IMA output is pretty straightforward, as are Lithium conversions and Supercaps, all of which I have done recently. ;)
They made the CR-Z in Nimh and Lithium versions, and you can potentially swap the OEM Lithium pack straight into the OEM Nimh car. (I'm testing that as we speak)

So which one do I prefer?

For now it is the more fun CR-Z, times change and we move on.. :)
 
#13 ·
Our version here doesn't get anywhere close to 60mpg.
Our gallons are bigger than yours ;) 4.54 v 3.78 L

(Anyway back on the LTO Lithium topic and in answer to your original question.. )

LTO swaps are finished unless you have packs in stock.
We will find other sources of Lithium packs from the multitude of new cars now fitted with batteries and use them.

The BMW modules look interesting and have been covered on another thread...
 
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