FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Volume Compensating Fee

Elithion charges a per-order fee of US$ 2500 ($ 1500 for subsequent orders).

(Our resellers do not charge a per-order fee, though then you would need to get tech support from them instead).

This fee allous us to remain focused on larger clients, while at the same time offering others access to our products through our resellers.

Though a Quantity Discount fee may accomplish the same goal, the Volume Compensating Fee is administratively simpler. For example, for $ 500 worth of parts:

• With a quantity discount pricing structure:
  • For 1 system, the price is $ 3000
  • For 10 systems, the price is discounted 75 %, to $ 750
  • For 100 systems, the price is discounted 82.5 %, to $ 525
• With a volume compensating fee:
  • For 1 system, the price is $ 500 + $ 2500/1 = $ 3000
  • For 10 systems, the price becomes $ 500 + $ 2500/10 = $ 750
  • For 100 systems, the price becomes $ 500 + $ 2500/100 = $ 525

Some of the advantages of this fee to the Elithion customer include:

• Calculation of total prices is extremely simple
• High volume prices are shown directly: no need to ask for volume pricing
• As the price of individual components is reduced over time, the saving is immediately passed to the customer
• Incremental prices for larger systems in small quantities are tiny: doubling the size of a pack doesn't double the price of the BMS
• This fee makes it economically viable for Elithion to serve individual customers who buy a single system (who require as much attention as larger companies buying in volume)

Elithion strives for complete transparency so that the customer understands the full product cost structure. If your company prefers a single figure quote without a breakdown (that shows this fee), please let us know.

Will you give me a discount in exchange for advertizing?

Thanks for the offer, but satisfied Elithion customers tend to advertize Elithion's products at no charge. In any case, Elithion does not have an advertizing budget.

Visiting us

On occasion we have had requests for face-to-face meetings. Those meetings have always been very pleasant and we seemed to have left people with a good impression of our company. However, those meetings have taken away productive time away from us, at a time when we are over-stretched.

We have noticed that all of Elithion's clients have placed orders without the need to visit us before hand; conversely, none of the people who visited us turned out to be serious about buying our products.

We have generalized from this experience (forgive us if you feel that that generalization does not apply to you), and assumed that such visits, while pleasant, are an uncompensated drain to Elithion's resources. Therefore, while we welcome your visit, please understand that we may need to suggest that the time spent visiting us should be compensated on a consulting basis.

Does the Elition BMS log data?

There is no data logging on the BMS. For that matter, there is no data logging in any controller used in vehicles. Yes, the BMS controller does log event (just a few events) as other vehicle controllers do, but not data. Data logging is a job best left to data loggers, which are product designed just for that purpose. Even if a BMS controller did data logging, its data (voltage, current and temperature) would be of limited use, without the ability to correlate it with what else was going on in the vehicle at the time. The best placement for a data logger, is on the CAN bus, where it is able to record a variety of information (e.g.: throttle position, RPM, battery status...). Just Google "OBD II logger" to get some possible solutions. One such logger is the "CarChip".

I would like a quote for a battery

Elithion doesn't make batteries. You can make your own battery and use an Elithion BMS in it. Or you can hire a battery manufacturer and specify that they use an Elithion BMS.

If you are looking for a small battery, then it may use a "protector".
A protector is a small BMS, plus a protection switch.
Protectors are quite easily available, but not from Elithion.
Small batteries are also quite easily available, but not from Elithion.
Please search the web for "custom battery assemblies" and look for one in your country.

Vextrix battery

We get many requests for Vectrix batteries.
No, Elithion does not sell Vectrix batteries.
K2 Energy hired the consulting services of Elithion to develop a BMS for a LI-Ion battery for the Vectrix battery.
K2 owns that design, not Elithion.
We are in contact with K2, to see if they are in a position to offer Vectrix batteries.
When they decide, we will announce it.
In the meanwhile, please do not contact K2 nor Elithion on this.
Thank you.

When will my product ship?

Please look at our quote. One of the item in it is "Delivery", such as "Delivery: 30 days ARO". That means that the product is scheduled to be shipped 30 days after we received your order. Please look at the date you e-mailed your PO to us, add the number of days days shown in the quote, and you'll get the scheduled delivery date.

If the quote says "Delivery: 30 days ARO or 5 days after receipt of payment, whichever is last", then:

1. Add 30 days from the day you placed a Purchase Order to get the 1st date
2. Add 5 days from the day we get your payment to get the 2nd date

Look at the 2 dates, and whichever one is later, that is the due date for us to ship your product.

What are contactors?

Contactors are high power relays. In many systems one or two contactors are used to open the circuit between the battery and the load. For example, some motor controllers do not include contactors, and it is your responsibility to add them in the system. If so, you may choose to have the BMS drive the contactors.

Often, a precharge circuit is used in conjunction with the contactors.

What is an interlock?

An interlock is a switch (normally open or normally closed) that is activated if something is not OK: for example, an inertia switch, a panic button, a tamper switch or a thin wire that is cut in case of accident.