@Bruce Arnold, why are you tagging moderators in an implicit request for them to censor the forum over truthful brand criticism? Forums here have always served to disseminate multiple kinds of information, both mutual aid and consumer awareness. This thread is about the latter, on a topic that consumers often ignore, the long term cost of ownership. Forums both general and brand specific are as much for current owners as they are prospective owners - and often, like you, they are both at once, because they are current owners mulling buying again. Plus, in this thread, including you, people have shared pointers about alternative sources of batteries (which personally would make me a little skittish if it needed modding).
Forums evolve over time as the obvious ground is covered - from building on open land to modifying existing structures, in city planning terms. Threads are naturally now focused not on low hanging fruit but changes in Juiced's offerings, battery pricing among them. (Juiced used to sell a 922 wh battery for $900-100.)
There have been dubious criticisms occasionally on EBR, of people making false claims about a brand, but that's not what is happening here. If the OP is being truthful about Juiced saying it has no control over its own battery pricing, then it's likely just the opposite, the brand is lying.
Without seeing the company's finances, it's impossible to tell if charging 2.5-3x cost for batteries is necessary to turn a profit or not, and neither you nor I have that info. Circumstantially, it seems highly doubtful, because Juiced was operating with lower battery prices and much lower volumes before, and it doesn't appear to be a venture capital funded company that can afford to lose money on sales for years at a time. It doesn't ultimately matter. What does matter is what Juiced is charging and what the alternatives are charging, and people can decide accordingly.
