This is Andy Chu, VP of Marketing & Communications at A123. It is untrue that it is “impossible to buy” A123’s products unless you’re a large company. A123 serves customers in one of three ways:
1. Custom solutions: if the application is a good fit and it makes business sense, A123’s engineers will design, develop, and produce a custom solution for the customer. Admittedly, this is usually for larger customers that can either afford the non-recurring engineering (NRE) expense or have sufficient volume that it is profitable for A123 to spread the development expense over many units sold.
2. Standard solutions: A123 sells standard lead acid replacement batteries, called our “ALM” line. These off-the-shelf solutions can meet the needs of many customers and are beginning to be distributed through partner channels.
3. Value Added Channel Partners (VACP): if the custom or standard solution from A123 is not appropriate, we may refer you to a Value Added Channel Partner. Our trusted strategic VACP’s have the knowledge and technical capabilities that are required to design and integrate advanced solutions using A123’s cell technology. See http://www.a123systems.com/solutions-commercial-vacps.htm
We’re trying to serve our customers in the way that is most appropriate for them. Given finite engineering resources, A123 can only provide custom solutions for certain customers. The VACP program helps bridge that need and ensure that the customers’ needs are met as quickly, safely, and cost-effectively as possible.
Regarding the safety point: the reality is that not every customer who buys cells or modules knows how to make a safe pack. When batteries experience incidents, it is invariably the cell supplier that is blamed for the problem, even if it was not the cell supplier’s fault. We have had a number of issues over the years where batteries failed due to improper third-party design or manufacturing, not because of A123’s cells. It is impractical to review every design or to visit every potential customer’s location to review their assembly and safety procedures. We have done that for certain partners (VACPs) and thus trust them to use our products safely and to build packs from them. High voltage systems, in particular, are not toys. They can be dangerous if proper safety procedures are not used, regardless if it is a 14-year old or a seasoned engineer who hasn’t worked on high-voltage systems in the past. It may be conservatism from a company that has a reputation to protect, but I hope you’ll understand that there are very legitimate reasons for A123’s caution in this area.
To help us connect your inquiry with the right party, please fill in the Contact Us form on the A123 website:
http://info.a123systems.com/contact-us-select-application/
I agree with the statements in this article and I think that Chinese EVs will make their way to the US and Western Europe eventually. The only defense that the domestic auto makers have against this is to make really good, affordably priced EVs and plug-in hybrids. If the domestic auto makers don't do this Chinese EVs will push them off the road. And they will push ICE's off the road as well as the price of oil increases.
I think A123, Saft and others have dropped the ball big time by only trying to support the larger players. Selling batteries on the retail market is hardly an unprecedented thing and yet they have refused to do it. And they have refused to support the smaller manufacturers. To say that that smaller players don't know what to do with lithium batteries is silly. And A123 may pay the ultimate price of going out of business as a result if Fisker goes under. Thunder Sky, or Winston Battery, is not going to go out of business.
But one contrary thing is that BYD continues to disappoint. They were supposed to release their E3 US crash testing data in the fall of 2011 but they have not done so.