Chimera "Group Buy" Round 2— Including The Evora!

[Thomasio]

Hey everyone!

I want to start this off with a bit of an apology and an explanation.

I know this group buy is long overdue— we had a handful of people who
missed out on the original one ask us for a second one. We kept putting it on
hold because we were working on a large set of orders as well as some R&D
and didn't want to have any delays delivering the systems you ordered.

With that said, we now have time again so we have no concerns with
getting you your systems in a timely manner.

On top of that (drumroll!)— after a good deal of testing, we have officially
made the RBS and CBS available for the Lotus Evora; it performs at the
standard you've come to expect.

If you want to learn more about the batteries, here you go:

Chimera CBS

Chimera RBS

Here is a picture of the CBS (The RBS looks pretty much the same-- just
missing a button and a slightly different carbon fiber case):



Same insane battery as before (Some fun facts from the threads above):

*Started a Lotus Elise SC 95 times in a row without a hitch

*Weights only about 7 pounds... but is 3x more efficient (powerful!)
than a comparable lead acid battery

*Race-grade Carbon fiber monocoque case

*Hand-polished gold-plated aluminum posts weighing 3-hundredths of
a pound (versus ~1/4 lb) and 8x more conductive than lead posts

*Automotive-Grade Internals— not cheap power drill cells.

*A TRUE Warranty (not pro-rated, "We will give you 10% off a
new battery" or "Not for street use, but we void your warranty if used on
track" BS!)

Anyway, just like last time, we are able to pass a pretty nice savings on to
you if we are able to custom-make our parts in bulk and produce them at
once.

Regular prices:
Chimera RBS: $597
Elise/Exige specific mounting system: $125

Discount schedule:
3 - 5 units: 6% off of battery or 8% off of battery + mounting system
6 - 9 units: 8% off of battery or 10% off of battery + mounting system
10 - 12 units: 12% off of battery or 15% off of battery + mounting system

Like last time: You don't need to put any money down until the Group Buy is
closed.

Also-- if anyone here who has a CBS or RBS wants to chime in, feel free

Let me know if you have any questions-- let's do this!

PS- If you are set on the CBS instead of the RBS, just let us know in this
thread or PM myself or Ali.M and we will set it up for you.

[Ali.M]

Lets do this!

[JuLiAn-Y]

I got a RBS from last group buy. It's beautiful and super light. The user manual is even made of CF!
I have no problem starting my car even it sits in my garage for 3 weeks.

[Heavyweight]

How much would the CBS be? Saw Kimgt's and that thing is beautiful

[Ali.M]

Shooting you a PM, my good man!

[d-onion]

I have the CBS and the button works great. No problems starting it up even after the cut off kicks in.

[Kimgt]

Anyone on the fence about this should definitely get one now.

My RBS has been extremely great, starts up after 2 weeks sitting no problem. I love the way the exige starts up with this battery. Superlight and very secure with the hold down bracket. took me about 30 mins to install being very careful and taking my time.

[btotheje]

Hells. Yes.

RBS with mount - sign me up.

CBS is a little too pricey for me, but I don't really need the features since I near daily my car.

And besides. The RBS is just that *teeny* bit lighter

[ewalberg]

I'm not really a weight weenie but I bought one of the chimera batteries a while back specifically for the fact that it will switch itself off and can be switched back on with the button. I don't remember exactly what i bought but it's got a reset button...

If you are ever tinkering on your car for extended periods of time without starting it, like to run the stereooccasionally with the car off, or leave it for a while... or when in eventuality it finally starts to have a hard time holding charge, having it shut itself down so you can later fire it back up is SOOOO nice and convenient.

I've had to hit the button a few times on mine and it's so satisfying not having to jump the car. It also fires the car right up in freezing weather... I've looked out the window after i was about to go to bed and seen my interior light on and it was freezing outside and it was so nice just thinking... meh,... worst case i have to hit the button in the morning if it doesn't start. It started up just fine the next morning without having to hit the button, but not having to get dressed up just when i wanted to go to bed sure was nice...

I've had to hit the button when i had passengers and i much preferred having to explaining to them that i needed to get into the boot to get the car to start, than having to explain that i would need to flag down a random car to jump start me... (i will admit i kinda wish there was an option for a extended wire remote option for the button but it's worlds better than than nothing).

One thing to note... i'm not sure exactly what the time frame is, but if you hit the button and don't start the car in the near future, it will eventually turn itself off again after some period of time so you'll have to hit the button again... which took me by surprise at first, but if it didn't do this then it would continue to discharge itself so in the end i think it's a fundamentally necessary that it's programmed to do so.

[Brian C]

I was on the previous group buy for this battery. I am a very happy customer and no probs about postage to Australia.

[walter]

Maybe you answered this before, but I don't remember... Can we hook up a regular battery tender to the CBS?

[Ali.M]

Originally Posted by walter

Maybe you answered this before, but I don't remember... Can we hook up a regular battery tender to the CBS?

If you're using a high quality tender, there should be no problem. However, there's really no need to use one-- these things are bulletproof. As long as you drive it once every three weeks, you're good; no need to tend.

[lotus nut 21]

YES! I'm in for an rbs and mount for an elise. I missed out on the lady group buy

One question... When we spoke at the last meet, you told me this group buy would have the highest discount once we got to 5 people.... But here it says it has the biggest discount at 10? Which is it?

[d-onion]

Originally Posted by walter

Maybe you answered this before, but I don't remember... Can we hook up a regular battery tender to the CBS?

I have a Battery Tender Plus dongle attached. I used it once when I was traveling for a month, but really haven't had a need to connect to it since. That was before I had confidence in the cutoff logic and button. I've since used the button twice without any issues.

[martinm1]

Can you confirm the CBS fits the evora? Is there a mount kit for it? Their web site makes no reference to the evora

[squidward]

Originally Posted by martinm1

Can you confirm the CBS fits the evora? Is there a mount kit for it? Their web site makes no reference to the evora

With Evora's rear latch being completely electronic, you would have to use the emergency cable latch underneath the passenger seat to operate the latch. The emergency cable latch is not intended for repeated use. And it also takes 5 minutes to get to the battery even after you unlock the hatch.

That's why the RBS is the one they tested for the Evora. The CBS's low voltage cutoff switch is a great feature but not optimal for the Evora, if you intend to use it a lot.

[martinm1]

I had an Elise sc with a cutoff switch and i realize that the evora has more electronics. I would prefer to have to reset the nav unit due to a cutoff than to have to call for a jump start. If the claims are true about the chimeric battery then this should be a rare experience as long as you drive the car at least every 2-3 weeks. I live in so cal and this any sitting is not weather related, but more on vacation for 2 weeks and to wanting to come back to. Dead battery. Maybe I could accomplish the same by just locking the door with the key and not arming the alarm. (Car is in a secured underground garage)

[Ali.M]

The CBS/RBS fit in the Evora, and both were tested and work with the car perfectly.

A flat CBS/RBS would put you in the same situation as a flat lead acid battery in your Evora-- using the rear seat release to open the engine bay. Using a CBS/RBS bears no impact on it-- except for the fact that both hold a charge longer and require less charge to start the car than a lead acid battery.

We spoke to the techs at Galpin and they gave us the "go ahead" for using the engine bay release. It is a cable just like most engine bay releases in "normal" cars. Regardless, your battery isn't going to be going flat anytime as long as you follow common sense precautions.

The CBS' electronics make it so 1) you don't need to jumpstart the battery if it goes flat (you'd need to do this with a lead acid anyway) and 2) you don't damage the cells. Theres no risk or extra hassle (there's less hassle, which is the point).

Scott is right, however, the CBS' cutoff and other features are great as a BACKUP, but it's much less hassle to turn off your light ;-)

[Ali.M]

Here's the list so far!

As LotusNut mentioned, for some reason this current price schedule Thomas posted is incorrect. We are probably only able to make ~6 units in terms of time we have, and we don't want to leave anyone hanging...

At the same time, we didn't think it was fair to cut the discount because of that (after all, it's not your fault we are swamped!)

The price schedule is ACTUALLY:

1 - 2 units: 6% off of battery or 8% off of battery + mounting system
3 - 4 units: 8% off of battery or 10% off of battery + mounting system
5 - 6 units: 12% off of battery or 15% off of battery + mounting system



1) Heavyweight: CBS + Mount
2) btotheje: RBS + Mount
3) LotusNut21: RBS + Mount
4) Walter: Discussion Via PM.
5) HappyFunTimeHr: RBS + Mount
6)

We MIGHT be able to make more, but neither of us felt comfortable promising that until we know our schedules.

[HappyFunTimeHr]

Would you mind throwing me into the list for the RBS and mount?