Nissan LEAF Battery Upgrade

[J1000]

I met a new friend Scott through the EV world. He is a member of the Denver Electric Vehicle Council and has been helping me with some of my electric projects. He has a 2012 Nissan LEAF with terrible battery degradation. The early LEAFs suffer badly from degradation and his LEAF was down to only 25 miles range maximum!

Since I had an extra battery I helped him upgrade his LEAF! It was actually pretty easy. The old battery unbolted and came out easy and the new one went in easy. Since he had an early car we had to make some modifications to the BMS wiring and install a CAN-Bridge, both of which were also straightforward and easy.

We put a 2016 24kwh battery in his car with about 85% health. Also with the CAN-Bridge he can program it to charge to a higher voltage than stock unlocking a few more miles.

This opens up so many possibilities for the early LEAF cars. Even a brand new 2021 62kwh battery will bolt in and work! Also the 2021 200hp inverter can be installed in the early LEAFs doubling their horsepower! This is certainly easier than swapping an engine or transmission in a normal car! Although a normal car tends to get more than 85,000 miles before they require overhauls like this.

His old pack, badly out of balance and really bad stats. Down to 30 Ah from 60 originally!

New battery, nicely balanced and much better stats of 50Ah and 80% State of Health (SOH)

The car came alive and it worked with no error codes! The battery was only 60% charged but still he had more miles than the car has been able to drive for the past 2 years! Also it unlocked the 4 "regen bubbles" increasing his available regenerative braking that had been limited by the old battery.

Fully charged after some spirited driving and it's showing 78 miles. Should be able to get 85-90 miles easily with normal driving!

So now after all this work his LEAF is back to the range it had new

 

[DouglasVB]

Reminds me of stories from my dad back in the 60s and 70s with old cars he drove that needed major overhauls pretty frequently. Even growing up we had a 1971 Ford pickup that needed a new head gasket every 10,000 miles like clockwork. And a water pump every 25,000 miles.

 

[60wag]

So how does the SOH % relate to the 12 segment battery health meter on the dash? It looks like the new battery is showing 12 bars. Does the software you are using to look at the battery require the CANbus? Can you re-balance a battery or is it just a function of how degraded it is?

 

[J1000]

So how does the SOH % relate to the 12 segment battery health meter on the dash? It looks like the new battery is showing 12 bars. Does the software you are using to look at the battery require the CANbus? Can you re-balance a battery or is it just a function of how degraded it is?

Yes you are correct the SOH doesn't match the 12/12 bars. The meter should recalibrate itself over the next few thousand miles and probably end up at 10/12 which is what the donor vehicle had. For whatever reason the dashboard meter takes much longer to recalibrate itself. Basically when pairing the new battery we wiped out all the stored battery data on the vehicle side so it's starting from the factory settings.

And yes it's just degraded, there's no way to get any capacity back. The 2015+ LEAFs have better chemistry that doesn't degrade as fast as the earlier cars but they still have a limited lifespan.

The CAN-bridge can be programed to charge to 4.2v per cell (stock is 4.1v) which is what the newer LEAFs charge to. That should unlock slightly more range.

 

[60wag]

My 2013 has 34,000 miles on it and shows 11/12 bars, it hasn't changed since I got it 2 years ago. It'll do 80 miles on a full charge but I rarely charge it more than 80% to extend the battery life. Interesting that the regenerative function changes with battery health. Will you have regenerative braking on the 80?

 

[J1000]

My 2013 has 34,000 miles on it and shows 11/12 bars, it hasn't changed since I got it 2 years ago. It'll do 80 miles on a full charge but I rarely charge it more than 80% to extend the battery life. Interesting that the regenerative function changes with battery health. Will you have regenerative braking on the 80?

That's pretty dang good actually to still have 11 bars on a 2013. The low miles and 80% charge definitely help. Yes the EV LC will have 3 different levels of regen to choose from.

 

[nakman]

We've noticed a nuance when charging our 2018 Leaf.. it's got the bigger battery, and at home after being plugged in all night with the level 2 cord the car says it's at 99-100% and usually 151 miles to go. Sometimes that mileage can be higher, like 160, but usually not less than 150.

the other night we loaded up the Leaf and drove it to Fairplay. Great way to experience range anxiety... as I wasn't babying it going up 285. But by the time we got to Conifer I'd already blown through half the battery, and was starting to do the math comparing miles to go with the road signs telling me how far away Fairplay was... I backed off in full ECO mode and we got there with 3 miles to spare And why there's no EV charging in Bailey is just baffling to me, we'd a gladly stopped for dinner. But that's not the the question here...

We charged at the EV station in Fairplay, using the Level3 cord- the big one. We left the car there for 2 hours, it had plenty of time to go all the way up, in fact when we walked back the charger gas pump thing said we were all done. But then in the car it said we were at 99%, but only 120 available miles. It was like we loaded up on cheap food rather than the healthy juice we get at home. I've heard that there have been issues with battery life and fast charging, although more on the smaller batteries, but has anyone experienced a capacity issue like this? It didn't really matter as it's all downhill on the way back, we had plenty of battery by the time we parked in the garage and plugged in again. But I just though it was odd to feel like we got shorted 30 miles... also we never actually get the amount of miles the car says we will, but I suspect that has to do with our liberal application of skinny pedal.

 

[LARGEONE]

Tim...could it be due to the outside temperature your car is reading, that it automatically reduces the miles on a charge?

 

[J1000]

We've noticed a nuance when charging our 2018 Leaf.. it's got the bigger battery, and at home after being plugged in all night with the level 2 cord the car says it's at 99-100% and usually 151 miles to go. Sometimes that mileage can be higher, like 160, but usually not less than 150.

the other night we loaded up the Leaf and drove it to Fairplay. Great way to experience range anxiety... as I wasn't babying it going up 285. But by the time we got to Conifer I'd already blown through half the battery, and was starting to do the math comparing miles to go with the road signs telling me how far away Fairplay was... I backed off in full ECO mode and we got there with 3 miles to spare And why there's no EV charging in Bailey is just baffling to me, we'd a gladly stopped for dinner. But that's not the the question here...

We charged at the EV station in Fairplay, using the Level3 cord- the big one. We left the car there for 2 hours, it had plenty of time to go all the way up, in fact when we walked back the charger gas pump thing said we were all done. But then in the car it said we were at 99%, but only 120 available miles. It was like we loaded up on cheap food rather than the healthy juice we get at home. I've heard that there have been issues with battery life and fast charging, although more on the smaller batteries, but has anyone experienced a capacity issue like this? It didn't really matter as it's all downhill on the way back, we had plenty of battery by the time we parked in the garage and plugged in again. But I just though it was odd to feel like we got shorted 30 miles... also we never actually get the amount of miles the car says we will, but I suspect that has to do with our liberal application of skinny pedal.

The GoM (Guess-O-Meter) that shows your available milage is based off the driving efficiency in the past few miles. So if you are driving around town gently it will say 150 miles but then if you drive on the highway or whatever it will then show a lower estimate. The problem is that the estimate comes  after you drive so you just need the experience to know how far the car can actually go on a given day or journey.

Then add in another factor of elevation gain, if you go up 285 and gain a few thousand feet of elevation it will use much more battery than if the destination is at the same elevation. That's the reason it was only showing you 120 miles range that day. The battery capacity and real world range hasn't changed.

Then when you come home it will all be downhill and you will plug in and it will show 180 miles on the dash the next day

Edit: when I had a LEAF I put it on Turo and two girls got into trouble and almost stranded. They drove from Boulder to Estes Park and made it no problem. Then when they came back downhill the next day the GoM was showing unrealistic mileage remaining so they got on US 36 to go all the way to Denver. Problem was as soon as they hit the front range it was no longer all downhill and the GoM went from 30+ miles to nothing in only a couple miles. They luckily found a 120v socket in a parking lot.

It's a big problem I forsee is going to cause a lot of headaches and buyer's remorse as EVs start becoming more widely adopted. It's also a huge challenge for manufacturers to quote mileage figures. The range of the vehicle can change 10s of miles just by changing your driving habits or cruising on the highway 5-10 MPH faster.

 

[DaveInDenver]

There's plenty of technical razzle dazzle regarding battery chemistry, charging, use if you want to hear it.

It boils down to this general question.

Toyota said your FJ40 could carry 7 men plus gear at 85 MPH in comfort with the 3-speed. Sure, if your bellwether is a Pinzgauer then bringing 6 of your bros for a drive up to hunting camp in Montana in an FJ40 is probably relatively comfortable.

Yeah, automotive engineers and marketing never stretch the truth...

So in some seriousness, all of your cars came with an EPA rating for MPG. How accurate are those? It depends, right? Same is true for EV. The laws of physics are unbreakable. MPGe is no different. It's found by analysis or running on some generic test track that unless your drive is exactly the same it's only a relative comparison.

Colorado is a tough place for efficiency being fairly cold, hot, windy, flat and mountainous. You will have to adjust your expectations, too. Think about it as a bicyclist. How much more effort is required climbing than on a flat? That same work is required of your car but it's considerably more obvious in an EV since they run at near 100% utilization all the time, so the change is immediate. An ICE carries so much more excess energy you tend to vary less in work over different loads.

Same with the cabin heat, BTW. With an EV you only have the stored energy and how you use it makes a difference. With ICE 70% of the conversion is lost to heat anyway so diverting some that you'd need the radiator to cool otherwise to warm your feet doesn't change effective MPG at all. So you might have to consider that driving an EV in the winter (e.g. using heat and headlights) up hill is going to have a significant impact on range.

 

[mcgaskins]

There's plenty of technical razzle dazzle regarding battery chemistry, charging, use if you want to hear it.

It boils down to this general question.

Toyota said your FJ40 could carry 7 men plus gear at 85 MPH in comfort with the 3-speed. Sure, if your bellwether is a Pinzgauer then bringing 6 of your bros for a drive up to hunting camp in Montana in an FJ40 is probably relatively comfortable.

Yeah, automotive engineers and marketing never stretch the truth...

So in some seriousness, all of your cars came with an EPA rating for MPG. How accurate are those? It depends, right? Same is true for EV. The laws of physics are unbreakable. MPGe is no different. It's found by analysis or running on some generic test track that unless your drive is exactly the same it's only a relative comparison.

Colorado is a tough place for efficiency being fairly cold, hot, windy, flat and mountainous. You will have to adjust your expectations, too. Think about it as a bicyclist. How much more effort is required climbing than on a flat? That same work is required of your car but it's considerably more obvious in an EV since they run at near 100% utilization all the time, so the change is immediate. An ICE carries so much more excess energy you tend to vary less in work over different loads.

Same with the cabin heat, BTW. With an EV you only have the stored energy and how you use it makes a difference. With ICE 70% of the conversion is lost to heat anyway so diverting some that you'd need the radiator to cool otherwise to warm your feet doesn't change effective MPG at all. So you might have to consider that driving an EV in the winter (e.g. using heat and headlights) up hill is going to have a significant impact on range.

View attachment 109131

Well said!

 

[AlpineAccess]

I really wonder if manufacturers will start to put some kind of "reserve" in a vehicle whereby you have to get out and flip a switch in the trunk to pull an extra 10 miles of range; or something like that.

 

[nakman]

I really wonder if manufacturers will start to put some kind of "reserve" in a vehicle whereby you have to get out and flip a switch in the trunk to pull an extra 10 miles of range; or something like that.

that's a great idea, and we discussed that in a roundabout way in the thread about swappable batteries. If someone were to develop an aftermarket battery for a Leaf that took the place of one of those cubbies in the back that we're not really using, I'd probably jump on one. But there would need to be an easy way to charge it, keep it charged, etc., so it's not so practical in the aftermarket.

@J1000 I think you nailed it man, great stuff. yes not only is Fairplay almost double in elevation than most of the Front Range, but you gotta go up more than a few pretty decent hills to get there. But that explains why the car only thought it could go so far the next time, and if we were headed to Vail or something it would be correct. I always love the great mileage I get coming back from Fairplay.

 

[rover67]

Have you used “a better route planner” to see what it says when planning trips? When we we’re getting used to our cars range we used it and the on board Navigation a lot. Now I can mostly guess much like any of our gas vehicles. As far as our car goes the on board navigation in the Tesla also does a decent job of figuring it all out for you. You can basically put in where you plan to go and it tells you when/where to charge. It’s actually pretty similar to ABRP in how accurately it predicts range and finds charge spots. Punch in your car and the trip and see what it says and how it correlates I’d be curious. Maybe it’s way off for you.

I will say that the bike rack on our car saps range as well as aggressive driving and being heavily loaded.. If I’m headed to breck as my final destination and the battery is charged a decent amount sure I’ll hammer HARD. If I know I’m heading to Beaver creek though and will be say spending the night in Breck will be de icing in the AM and don’t want to charge I’ll drive a little slower to match traffic and it ups the range a ton. Mileage seems to be affected much more by how you drive than a gas car. I think it’s because they are so fast. Any gas car that could do repeated sprints to 130 heading up vail pass would be getting like 6mpg.

 

[nakman]

Never tried a different route planner, is there an app for that, or are you taking within the car's nav? Going to Fairplay is the only time we'd ever drive the Leaf 100 miles, we've done it twice now, but usually we just take one of the gassers up there. It's so simple you fill the tank at home, when you get there you have just over 1/2 a tank, and when you get home you have 1/4 tank. works on any vehicle.

I don't even think we've tried the nav that's in the car even once... it has apple car play so you just map with your phone and plug it in, and then the display shows your map, plays your music, etc. Our first car with this, pretty slick... I am guessing I'm a mere Tesla screen away from having this in the 200.

 

[rover67]

There's an app for it yes, try it out, see what it would have said your trip was going to end up like, supposedly it takes wind into account also:

ABRP

abetterrouteplanner.com

 

[DouglasVB]

This reminds me a bit of my Uncle talking about his first car trip across the country in the 1950s. He went from northern New Jersey to Diamond Lake, Oregon. He had some maps but they weren't very accurate. Lots of gravel and dirt roads. Few and far between places in the western US to get gas and oil. Not really sure if he can make the next town with the things his car needs to keep going. At one point a rock went through his oil pan so he had to coast downhill for miles until he could find someone who could weld and enough oil to get the engine going again.

At least now there are apps to help plan!

 

[Johnny Utah]

This reminds me a bit of my Uncle talking about his first car trip across the country in the 1950s. He went from northern New Jersey to Diamond Lake, Oregon. He had some maps but they weren't very accurate. Lots of gravel and dirt roads. Few and far between places in the western US to get gas and oil. Not really sure if he can make the next town with the things his car needs to keep going. At one point a rock went through his oil pan so he had to coast downhill for miles until he could find someone who could weld and enough oil to get the engine going again.

At least now there are apps to help plan!

Ah, the good old days.

 

[rover67]

It's so simple you fill the tank at home, when you get there you have just over 1/2 a tank, and when you get home you have 1/4 tank. works on any vehicle.

yes the range of your leaf does not match that of the gassers you own.