Posted on 08/14/2015 7:36:11 AM PDT by Red Badger
Ohm is a 6-pound drop-in replacement for your car battery. What's not to like about what it claims to deliver. It never needs jump-starting. Works on the coldest days (in temperatures as low as -40C). Lasts more than twice than lead-acid batteries, which go for three years. Here, you are looking at a 7-year average lifetime. No lead, no acid. When Ohm says it is a drop-in replacement they mean that it is installed in the same way.
The site says to "remove the positive and negative leads from your old battery, drop in Ohm, and reattach the lead to Ohm (red/positive lead first to prevent sparking)."
Also, Ohm is "smart" enough to prevent accidental draining if the driver forgets to turn off the lights. It can automatically turn itself off when critically low and switch back on when the driver starts the car.
How it works: There is a "burst of energy" for starting the engine which comes from a bank of supercapacitors. When the engine is not running, the supercapacitors are kept charged by a small array of batteries.
As for materials the company said its supercapacitors are mostly carbon. The batteries are LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate.)
As for dimensions, Ohm's are 9.0"x6.8"x6.8", and will fit Group 35 batteries. "It will also fit in most cars above Group 35, but may require some extra fixturing, " according to the site.
When will you see Ohm in the marketplace? Not yet. Greg Kumparak, an editor at TechCrunch, reported that Ohm is in private beta testing and they plan to roll out a crowdfunding campaign in the next month or so. The website, meanwhile, said they plan to ship Ohm early to mid-2016.
Kumparak of TechCrunch addressed the question of price. He said he was told by the company that they aim for a price point of around $200. Kumparak said that would put it "on the high end of what you'd normally pay for a battery ($120-$180) if you wandered into your local auto parts store."
Nonetheless, viewers might find the pricing amenable considering how long it lasts and some other benefits."Conventional car batteries contain dangerous acid and are responsible for over 24 million pounds of environmental lead contamination each year. Ohm has no lead, no acid, and is safe for the environment." Another promotion point being highlighted by Ohm is its light weight. "It's the easiest, most affordable way to instantly drop 30 pounds or more from your curb weight by switching from a lead-acid battery."
Explore further: New battery could lead to cheaper, more efficient solar energy
More information: www.getohm.com/
It could also mean they “don’t want to surrender a huge chunk of equity.”
“You can get about 4 regular car batteries for that price. “
Have you purchased a battery lately?
Best deal I could find was $89 at Sam’s Club on sale.
What happens when those batteries go bad?
You can get about 4 regular car batteries for that price. ($200.00)
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You ain’t bought a battery in a long long time, have you?
I would buy at $200 for my old 57 Bel Air and 67 Camaro. It actually makes sense for me to buy top of the line for my babies, especially if there is longer life and a 30 lb drop in weight.
I’m sure it would run the 1500 watt inverter and the 12000lb winch in my Jeep just fine. I’ll stick to my Optima yellow top.
I’m not buying the environmental impact of lead acid batteries as described in this article. Most retailers charge you a core fee if you don’t turn in your old battery. And the cost of lead is so high that recycling the old battery makes economic sense.
As with nearly every ‘technological breakthrough’ it is priced right on the margin of stupidity. Why can’t the boffins come up with a real technological breakthrough that has obvious pricing advantages. It’s enough to make me believe in the stories about the everlasting match and everlasting razor.
I put an Interstate battery in my car about 6 years ago, cost me $110.00 installed.
It's still cranks like new, and that is a real testament to Interstate considering the temperature extremes her in Vegas.
I had a lithium battery in my motorcycle. It died after about a year. And the cold weather performance was dreadful. Useless below freezing. You also need a special charger if it gets too low to start the vehicle. A regular battery charger will destroy it.
Sounds really cool and I wish them well.
However, I’ve learned from past experience to not be on the cutting edge of new tech. I’ll wait until things shake out and the price comes down, and then maybe I’ll give it a try.
I recently replaced the original battery on my Honda S2000, it was 10 years old. Not bad for an item that was garaged a fair percentage of the year.
Unfortunately, the OEM battery isn’t available in the States, it was imported with the car but not as a part.
On the 57, you could take off the hubcaps and lose 30 pounds. Either way, you wouldn’t notice it off the gross. :)
About frikkn’ time.
In recent years I saw a community lake drained for dam repair. I saw about 10 or 12 car/motorcycle batteries in a 200 sq foot area of mud near a pier. I don’t know the age of the batteries nor when ‘core charges’ started but many people seem lazy about disposing batteries for some reason.
Weight is a big consideration, and those cold mornings after 3 years. After 3 years, and it starts cranking a little slow I replace it right away. The first cold snap and she’s a gonner.
How does it handle cold temperatures? That’s the real issue.
Here in Wino country/Californicator land our batteries last 5-6+ years.
We don’t sit in our vehicles and run the radio for long time periods. We still use our electronic lock command to turn off the car lights as well as lock the doors. We, also, turn off our AC or Heater and fan before we turn the key to off.
We have neighbors with similar vehicles, who barely get past 3 years and use AAA a lot to start their run down batteries.
We haven’t usesd AAA in decades to start a vehicle. A dying battery needing AAA used to be our warning, that we needed a new battery. Now Big O informs us.
Like I said... I’ll consider it something more than vaperware when they get a huge corporate customer.
“Best deal I could find was $89 at Sam’s Club on sale.”
$100 to $120 installed and taking the old battery at Big O or via AAA.
I agree with the ‘huge corporate customer.’ My comment was about ‘investor.’
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