Lamini, I saw your post that you so graciously deleted as to not detract from my thread, but I think it's a very valid concern and it should be talked about.
Lamini is put off by the fact that these batteries are Japanese branded but made in China.
I too am not a huge fan of Chinese-made products, and being in the manufacturing arena, China is our mortal enemy, so I absolutely know where you are coming from. It's kind of funny to me that Shorai is an American company with Japanese branded batteries that are made in China, talk about multi-national. I too was put off by the fact that the batteries are made in China, that is, until I got one and held it in my hands. It really is a high quality piece and moreover, it works very well.
Shorai claims that these batteries are made in their own "tightly controlled factory", and to be honest, I believe that they are not made in some hackjob factory that China is known for. The factory is ISO certified and it's just not possible to have a solid product like these batteries if the manufacturing plant is not well controlled. As with anything, all things are not created equal, and manufacturing facilities are no exception. Take for example Apple's products: high quality, great fit and finish, made in China.
With anything that is manufactured, it's a tricky balance of cost vs. where something is made. At $349 MSRP, these batteries are not cheap. Even at this price, it's hard to convince the average consumer to purchase one. At even $100 more, that customer base would be even smaller. But if these batteries were made anywhere else, I'd venture to guess that the price would probably be twice the price. And who is going to buy a $700 battery? Not very many people. So in many ways, the consumer dictates the price, which also dictates the place of manufacture. I know that's one of the most common arguments about made in China products, but it stands very true here. We're not talking about $2 vs. $4 nail clippers, we're talking about hundreds of dollars.
We chose Shorai batteries because they're one of the first Lithium Iron battery manufacturers to produce a widely available product at a consumer affordable price. We've been following Lithium Iron battery technology for over 5 years now, so for the most part I know what's out on the market. Also, Shorai has now been producing these batteries longer than a lot of manufacturers, and have had time to work out some of the initial run kinks. If you research into people using Shorai batteries, failures are very rare. The only place I've seen these batteries being a problem is with certain motorcycles that use a different type of charging system than the alternator in a car.
I've had the battery in my car for almost 8 months now with absolutely no problems, and I was only going to release our product if I was confident that the battery would be good enough for our potential customers. I know how picky NSX owners are, and honestly I think that's a good thing.
In the end, our goal was to provide a high quality, extremely light weight battery package that is affordable for car enthusiasts, and I strongly believe we achieved that goal.
At least though, you can rest assured that our bracket is made in the US (by 2 people in California!), heck, we even use USA made metal.
Seeing as my R32 Optima FAILED earlier this week, I ordered up this kit from Colin today and hopefully it'll be here soon. I'll report in after I get it installed.
It was great speaking with you Ed!
Colin,
if Shorai comes out with big capacity, would your bracket for the battery fit them?
I'm sure the battery will be a different/larger size, so It's highly doubtful that our tray will fit.
