Company selling “Australia’s cheapest battery” is in liquidation

One Step Off The Grid

A small Victorian energy storage business that had been gathering attention in the market for claiming “the most affordable battery in Australia” – and offering the longest warranty – has gone into liquidation.

In a notice published on May 31 (see below), insolvency firm Rodgers Reidy said it had been appointed as liquidator of Melbourne-based Ampetus Energy, to wind up the battery company’s affairs and to act for its creditors.

According to the notice, the case involves claims from a number of Ampetus Energy customers “who have been or will be seeking refunds from the Company in respect to faulty batteries … purchased from the Company.”

The Ampetus Super Lithium battery first got a mention on RE in March 2017, in this article, which noted that the “relatively unknown” company’s 3kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery retailed for $2,300, beating out Tesla’s Powerwall offering both on price and warranty, offered at 15 years.

As Solar Quotes’ Finn Peacock noted in the article – which included the above chart – before Ampetus, the longest product warranty for a battery had been 10 years; “so they must be very confident in their product.”

And judging by their website – which shows no sign that the business is currently being liquidated – they were.

It takes some digging to discover that the battery components of the “Australian designed systems” Ampetus was marketing – which rather remarkably included a “voice interface” that allowed customers to “literally have a chat” with their homes! – were made in China, by a completely separate company called Sinlion Battery Tech.

According to ITP Renewables, which still has the Super Lithium in its online Battery Test Centre line-up, the Ampetus Super Pod, which contained between 1 and 5 Sinlion batteries, had been promoted for its long lifetime, marketed at 10,000 cycles.

But notes in this report from the Battery Test Centre hint at problems with the delivery, commissioning and proper functioning of the Ampetus battery – although it also stresses that service from the company was prompt and helpful.

One Step understands that Ampetus Energy, which is headed up by Melbourne businessman Avrohom Jacks, is cooperating fully with the liquidators. Creditors or customers with inquiries or concerns are urged to contact Rodgers Reidy for more information.

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This article was originally published on RenewEconomy’s sister site, One Step Off The Grid, which focuses on customer experience with distributed generation. To sign up to One Step’s free weekly newsletter, please click here.