Chapter 415: Chapter 158: Third-Generation Battery, Matthew Lee’s Terrifying Connections! (Part 4)

"This thing is expensive, just the material cost is astronomical, used in..."

"Source Rail technology?"

"Yes, you know about it?" Matthew Lee was slightly taken aback, then laughed, "But besides the battery, other things aren’t cheap either, ordinary people definitely can’t afford it."

Pushing the battery back into place and re-securing the cover, the two returned to the previous conference room.

Cheng Ye could already guess Matthew Lee’s intention of proposing battery rental.

Since the third-generation batteries are so expensive, why not turn to renting the cheaper first- and second-generation ones and open up the situation first?

But the question is, with the batteries, how do you solve the remaining issues with the car body, motor, electrical control, and the vehicle controller?

"Let me make a few calls to check, don’t worry."

As Matthew Lee spoke, he took out Defense Communication and rapidly scrolled through the contacts list with his fingertip.

The network he had cultivated over more than a decade as an Inspector was finally coming into play.

The first call was to the station’s logistics to confirm the rental policy for decommissioned batteries.

The second was to an old friend at the Industrial Bureau to inquire about the channels and prices for car frames, and the third was to the scrapyard manager to ask about the condition and prices of parts from dismantled vehicles...

The next four calls went to a craftsman at the Mechanical Bureau, a sales manager at the supply station, and even two caravan leaders he used to work with, meticulously confirming every step of the process.

Cheng Ye sat next to him, watching Matthew Lee adeptly switch his tone with each call, precisely extracting the key information.

Goodness, the old ginger really is spicier than the young.

During duty at the checkpoint, it wouldn’t be apparent what made these High-level Inspectors so remarkable.

They seemed like ordinary people, having risen through the ranks by building credibility over time.

But when it came to solving matters, a High-level Inspector’s logic, connections, and coordination...

Cheng Ye felt lucky that he hadn’t gone looking for Jiang Chuan for information that morning, but had asked Matthew Lee instead.

Given Jiang Chuan’s role as a clerk, he certainly wouldn’t have been able to discuss caravan or vehicle rental details.

Especially since many of these steps skirted the edge of regulations, navigating through gray areas.

Finally, after the last call, Matthew Lee exhaled deeply, a confident smile appearing on his face as he began to sync all the details with Cheng Ye:

"The route for the third-generation batteries is unviable; their interfaces and wiring are specialized, only compatible with active vehicles. You can’t rent them separately; you’d need to rent the whole vehicle, which is too costly and unnecessary."

"But there are still many decommissioned first- and second-generation batteries at the station, some are battle-damage refurbished versions. Their capacity might be compromised, but it doesn’t affect daily use. The key is we have to pick them ourselves, testing the range on-site, and check for any cracks in the battery casing to avoid ending up with useless scrap. Renting a 100kWh second-generation battery costs 500 Contribution Points per month, not points — this is a revenue project of the station, and the price is quite fair."

"As for the car body, I don’t recommend buying the station’s scrapped vehicles; most of those have been flooded or crashed. Though the frames might not visibly break, their internal structure is already fragile. We’d end up spending large sums on parts and inspection, and if something goes wrong during a long trip and we’re stuck in the Wilderness, we’d be in big trouble."

He paused, revealing his plan: "I contacted some people at the Industrial Bureau, asking them to help us get a few new car frames straight off the production line, entirely empty, without any parts installed. Brand new, without any wear marks. Key is, the price is half of what second-hand frames cost."

"Then we buy new wiring ourselves, replacing everything from the steering wheel to the motor lines to prevent aging and short-circuit problems. A wiring set costs only 200 points. For the motor, electrical controls, and these core parts, we retrieve them from scrapyards, specifically looking for heavily damaged vehicles. We have the craftsman inspect the parts; if they’re usable, we install them."

"Lastly, we get the master craftsmen at the Mechanical Bureau to help with assembly, and this is free — I happen to know several senior craftsmen, so it won’t be an issue. The cars built this way have clear parts sources; any fault is easily traceable, simplifying future maintenance. It’s far more reliable than buying ready-built second-hand cars."

Renting station batteries and setting up our own car frames?

Cheng Ye’s eyes shone; this plan seemed pretty solid indeed.

"So, what would the cost be per vehicle, based on this plan?"

"Excluding dismantled parts, the new frame is 800 points, wiring is 200 points, and we’ll budget 1000 points for dismantled parts. A vehicle’s total cost is around 1800 points, plus 500 for battery rental, making it a total of 2300 points."

Matthew Lee counted on his fingers, "An initial one-time investment of 10,000 points is enough to build 5 vehicles, and the remaining funds can be used for operations."

"Of course, the frames I’m talking about are for rectangular transport vehicles; other frames come at different prices and can be enhanced with various additional parts, but the frame is ours. If you find this plan feasible, we can finalize it today!"

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