Another Segway owner found this thread and made me aware that I hadn't actually posted the results.

Well, because MTO Battery ended up being located in Pennsylvania and only about two hours from me by car, I decided to drive there myself. The main reason was that I had two sets of batteries, so shipping them would have been far more expensive than the gas and wear on the vehicle (and I wasn't doing anything anyway).

Man, Jason at MTO Battery freaking KNOWS HIS STUFF! Sadly I wasn't able to go into his workshop where he keeps his laser cutter, but he told me all about his operation and he is truly the only game in town when it comes to Segway batteries. I was especially impressed by the way he goes the extra mile for his clients. He personally tests each set of batteries before they go out the door. He laser etches his logo on each battery along with the date to stamp his approval on his work. He ships the batteries back with boxes four times the weight he's required (as well as shipping them as hazardous materials). I could go on. His operation was first class.

The end result was this: for $250 he attempted a reconditioning of my lithium batteries. The idea was that if I wasn't happy with the resulting battery life, he would buy the lithiums from me and I'd spend a decent amount more to get refurbished nickels. The goal was to get 50% battery life from the lithiums, which is about what the less expensive set of nickels would get me (the equivalent of about 12 miles on the Segway).

He wasn't optimistic, given the amount of time my lithiums has spent sitting, but after the reconditioning he ran his load tests on it and determined that they would get the desired ~50% battery life. I decided that sounded good to me, so I had him ship the lithiums back to me. He then purchased my dead nickels from me for $100. I'm perfectly happy that instead of $1900 for 100% battery life, I paid $150 for 50%.

I got the batteries back, installed them myself, and fully charged them. After two tests of riding my Segway around until the batteries died, I'm satisfied that I have right around 40-50% of the original battery life. It's certainly more than I need. So I'm extremely happy with the results.

I was facing $1900 or the sale of my father's favorite toy. In the end the Segway was given second life for a mere $150 (plus shipping and gas). I can't thank Jason at MTO Battery more for the amazing work he's doing.


ps- side note, he also does a lot of work for Segs for Vets, the program that donates Segways to soldiers who have been injured in battle enough to affect their mobility. He's a good guy.