Hi everyone, I just wanted to give you an update on this developing situation with regard to the fast-growing market demand here in Florida for plug-in Priuses with the crash-tested, government-certified A123/Hymotion aftermarket conversion kit. I am now getting lots of calls from people in Florida who do not yet own a Prius and want an A123/Hymotion plug-in Prius. I can't claim ownership of this particular idea I am about to explain, because it was the first such person I spoke with who came up with this idea, which I then immediately picked up on and ever since have been suggesting it to all others who call me.
The idea is this: Why buy a Prius from your local Toyota dealer here in Florida if you then have to pay to either drive it or ship it or take in on the AutoTrain all the way up to Gaithersburg, Maryland to be converted at Fitzgerald Toyota there in Gaithersburg, which is the A123/Hymotion certified installer closest to us here in Florida? Why not just arrange with Fitzgerald Toyota there in Maryland to buy your Prius right there from them just prior to your scheduled conversion installation date, since they are the ones who will be doing the conversion? Brilliant idea! (... Which as I said, I would love to take credit for, but I wasn't the first person who thought of it; I'm just passing it along to others.) The main procedural point, however, which I am very emphatically insisting to all such people here in Florida, is that anyone who wants to do this absolutely *must* follow the proper ordering sequence by going *first* to A123/Hymotion's order reservation webpage (https://www.a123systems.com/hymotion/products/reserve_yours) to sign up and reserve your conversion kit order first, including paying the $1,000 refundable depost, then wait about a week to hear back from A123/Hymotion with a tentative delivery date on your kit and installation at Fitzgerald Toyota in Gaitherburg, and only *then*, after all that, should you then contact Fitzgerald Toyota in Gaithersburg about arranging with them to purchase your Prius a week or two before your scheduled installation, or whenever Fitzgerald Toyota advises you to do so. You absolutely CANNOT and MUST NOT call Fitzgerald Toyota in Gaithersburg, Maryland first and try to arrange for the purchase and installation of the conversion kit through them together with the purchase of the car as a sort of "package deal". It cannot be done that way as a package deal through Fitzgerald Toyota. That is not the proper procedure and will not get you in A123/Hymotion's order queue. A123/Hymotion will not honor any such attempts to do things that way. You absolutely *must* go through A123/Hymotion *first* to reserve your order for your conversion kit. There is one additonal thing I would add here, which I think is another great idea, and I wish I could also take credit for this idea, but I can't claim originality on this idea either, as I got it from reading a post written earlier today by Ted Ellyatt. And that is this: If you are going to do this, i.e. to order your plug-in hybrid conversion kit from A123/Hymotion and then purchase your car from Fitzgerald Toyota in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where the conversion will be done, you should also make sure that you go to your local Toyota dealer here in Florida and let them know that you are doing this!!! Let them know that you are not buying your Prius from *them* and tell them *why*!!! Tell them that if *they* offered the A123/Hymotion conversion kit installation service like Fitzgerald Toyota in Gaithersburg, Maryland does, that you would obviously prefer to buy the car here at your local Toyota dealer in Florida and have *them* do the conversion. Give them the website information for A123/Hymotion (www.a123systems.com/hymotion) and tell them to get in touch with the company about becoming a certified installer for A123/Hymotion's crash-tested, government-certified plug-in hybrid conversion kit for the Prius so that they won't miss out on future sales of the Prius like how they are missing out on your purchase. We need to put pressure on our local Toyota dealers here in Florida to let them know that they are losing out on a lot of local sales to a Toyota dealer a thousand miles away in Gaithersburg, Maryland, simply because that dealer offers the A123/Hymotion conversion kit installation service while they here in Florida do not. Charles Whalen Delray Beach, FL [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles Whalen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Florida EAA" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2008 12:09 AM Subject: clarification on ordering procedure for A123/Hymotion plug-in conversion kit for Prius Hi all, Unfortunately, I was the original source for incorrect information that has now gotten out and proliferated around Florida, especially among our Florida EAA membership, on this particular subject, and senior management at A123 has made a request for me to please correct the erroneous information and set the record straight. By way of background, in trying to be helpful, I had unwittingly given false information to Fran Sullivan-Fahs in Tallahassee based on some seemingly logical (at the time) but ultimately incorrect assumptions I made, by directing Fran to a A123/Hymotion commercial fleet installer. This caused some issues for A123, as it does not correspond to their standard ordering procedure. Fran's situation ultimately rose up to the highest levels at A123, whereupon senior management made a decision to make a one-time exception for Fran and Fran alone, which will not be made again nor allowed to happen again in the future, and they would like that to be known. Senior management at A123 would like everyone in Florida to know that there is one, and only one, way and official procedure for individual retail customers to place an order for their A123/Hymotion plug-in conversion kit for the Prius and arrange for it to be installed by one of A123's certified retail installers, and that is to sign up on A123/Hymotion's secure order reservation webform at: https://www.a123systems.com/hymotion/products/reserve_yours, with the payment of $1,000 refundable deposit. Doing this will put you in the official order queue for a conversion kit and schedule for installation at A123's nearest certified retail installer, which at the present time for us here in Florida is Fitzgerald Toyota in Gaithersburg, Maryland. A123's national list of certified retail installers can be seen here: http://www.a123systems.com/hymotion/get_charged/where_can_i_get_one. A123 is increasingly signing up local Toyota dealers around the country as their certified retail installers. At some point, there may well be some Toyota dealers here in Florida that become A123 certified retail installers, but the only way that can happen is if A123 knows where the retail demand for their kit is coming from and that there is substantial demand here in Florida; and the only way they will know that is if people sign up on their official order reservation webform on A123/Hymotion's website, and not by trying to contact one of their certified installers. A123 has no idea where the end demand is coming from and can't get a handle on that if people go through their certified installers rather than through A123 itself. So that is the rationale for their policy, which makes perfect sense. To reiterate the policy, because this is important -- anyone who tries to order their plug-in hybrid conversion kit through one of A123's certified installers and not through A123 itself will *not*, I repeat, will *NOT*, get in A123's system in their official order queue and will *NOT* get a conversion kit. You *must* use A123's order reservation form on their website. The one-time exception that was made for Fran Sullivan-Fahs will *not* be made again for anyone else. The price for the conversion kit, including installation, is $10k, plus a $400 destination charge, and comes with a 3-year warranty. Right now there is a 6-month order backlog, from order to delivery and installation. Anyone who signs up on the order reservation webform today will be scheduled for delivery and installation of their conversion kit in December 2008. A123/Hymotion has the only US Government (DOT, EPA, and NHTSA) certified, crash-tested, and approved plug-in hybrid conversion kit on the market for the Prius. Sorry for any confusion I may have caused by the situation surrounding Fran's conversion and the incorrect information that has gotten around because of that, which was solely my own fault. Hope this helps to clarify matters. Best regards, Charles Whalen Delray Beach, FL [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Florida EAA mailing list [email protected] http://www.floridaeaa.org
