Edd sees a car which needs repairing and sets about it. He doesn't bother himself about the fuel that it uses, the age of the vehicle, the complexity of the repair. No, Edd sees this as an opportunity to learn new skills and repair a perfectly good vehicle. Thanks Edd. Great work.
It comes across as cynical but you mean it I think, right? An otherwise perfectly good car totalled because of a faulty connection. Love his approach to his work too, he’s a born mechanic!
You’re right, it’s just another fix on the car. I think a lot of mechanics are scared to repair these cars even though all it takes is a bit of training. Would you total an entire engine just because a spark plug has stopped working? Same as EV with the batteries. They can be repaired it just takes a bit of learning.
He sets about repairing it, as he has access to tens - if not hundreds - of thousands of pounds of specialised diagnostic equipment...... he is LITERALLY at the Bosch HQ! You think the average mechanic on the street can afford to invest in all this equipment, or god forbid, us idiot, amateur spannermen on our driveways???
I was certainly on the edge of my seat seeing Edd stripping back the shielding and going near the HV cables with a metal pointy thing with the MSD still inserted 😮
Car was turned off, so chances that negative relais would be stuck or weldes as well and, him damaging both cables with that metal tool to make a dangerous contact at the same time basically zero 😅
Would have been interesting to see dismantle the contactor pack so we could see the actual the fault. Update: see Edd's video "1 Surprising Thing I Found Inside a Welded EV Contactor:"
@@JoFreddieRevDr What happens to the old boards? I was wondering if there's a company setup yet that would rework these type of boards? Obviously it's specialist work, but I'm sure that the majority of the components on the board are perfectly good enough to last for many years to come.
I have been working on and repairing high voltage valve gear as a hobby for years. Everything is common sense. I like the one hand behind your back because I have done that for years probing circuits up to 2Kv DC. This work can be done indoors by anyone who has brought the correct gear. This example is not difficult. Going on a level 4 course would be worthwhile as it shows the correct attitude. I suspect a lot of the training is aimed at the garage situation but no amount of 'experience' means that something new, useful and potentially life saving could not be learnt by training.
We were taught to put your left hand in your pocket so if you do get an electric shock, the current will flow past your heart not through it, into your left arm and down your left leg to ground.
@@peacebeuntoyou8934I remember being taught something similar when I used to work on CRTs. Still didn’t like it though, I always worried that I might forget the correct procedure. I learnt to code instead.
I'm happy this popped up in my feed because I haven't seen you in a while, Ed. I have always loved that you fix things like a DIY guy on a budget instead of a 'throw parts at the problem" dealership mechanic.
@eddchina I wish I'd known years back when you were operating Wheeler Dealers in Huntington Beach - I lived there back then and it would have been cool to run into you so I could buy you a beer. Cheers!
2:20 - The steel braid is just not for EMI shielding but also to detect and prevent high voltage from ever going to the car body, even if the fuses or contactors would fail. The braid is the last defence basically shorting the possibly cut cable within the high voltage system.
@johnmckinlay9538 If he was alive today, he would not think anything like that. His all work was about DC, and all he wrote is for DC. He even invented hompolar motor and generator (only rotating electrical machinery that work on DC, not much efficient but they are DC contrary to all motors and generator that are AC. Just to be clear brushless or brushed DC motors are AC motors one with electronic other with mechanical computation that turn DC in AC). Sheading on DC lines is important, changing current in them (by amplitude and not ness to change direction) will produce changing magnetic field (Ampère's law) which produce changing magnetic flux on affected conductor and in it will produce emf (Faraday's law, which make it same usdul for DC amd AC). Because changing current (and voltage) in conductor this is for all purpose of analysis AC system with DC offset. Simple changing current produce changing magnetic field, changing voltage produce changing electric field.
Outstanding. Love that you are showing that literally everything can be fixed if you: have the proper certified training, have the proper testing gear, and have a lovely flat panel lift. Well done, hopefully garages will see this an learn to not rip off customers, and not waste perfectly good batteries and cars. Just as we learned new things when the internet came around, or when the ICE car was first introduced, it's time to learn about EVs. Good on you and others in the repair business who refuse to stick their heads in the sand.
Well Edd, as a Brazilian, I would like to commend you and your production team on the selection of background music used throughout this episode 😂😂😂😂👏👏👏👏😂😂😂😂 Also, the comedic value of your production will certainly guarantee the next 1 million subscribers to flock in numbers to this channel. I again give it a 12 out of 10 stars 👏👏👏👏
I love this content. It's really fascinating seeing all the tools, training, and safety procedures for this type of work. All I've heard before is "we can't do that in-house". The complexity of the repair doesn't seem too bad compared to ICE repair, a piston swap for example.
But this isn't comparable to a piston swap. This is comparable to swapping the fuel pump in the fuel tank. A piston swap would be comparable to taking the motor apart, which is also not a simple job.
6:40 Though safety disconnect flows the full current that drives the car. So in order to measure the current, you could have a modified disconnect with a loop of wire for measuring. And not mangle the main power cable.
Problem is that breaks the safety guarantee of taking the safety disconnect out. Same reason you are not supposed to use LOTO locks for non lock out/tag out uses.
Electric motors are simple. Batteries are simple. But fixing them when they go wrong is a highly specialised skill set. If I was a young man I’d say there is a career in this field.
This is awesome content Edd! The work isn't complex but it's new so it seems very daunting. Videos like this, and a whole lot of elapsed time, will build comfort. It's amazing how simple the battery packs are inside, way less complex than an engine. My EV is still under warranty but this is work I'll be doing myself one day. Hopefully they make these parts a bit more accessible through subsequent designs. I'm starting to see some intrepid individuals offering fixes especially for Leafs. Between the contactors and the single cell failures, they often get some off super cheap. These folks are buying them for a few thousand off, fixing them for $500 and selling them back for a few thousand profit.
Not pro EV for reasons I wont go into here, I am pro everyone getting to own what they want, so I only say be careful. My only fear is people getting absolutely zapped across the rainbow bridge because of fiddling with this stuff past warranty.
no my friend, you cannot do that: "My EV is still under warranty but this is work I'll be doing myself one day. Hopefully they make these parts a bit more accessible through subsequent designs" And do you know why? Because by the time your EV comes out of warranty there would be newer model of EV... new software.. (and yours will be abolite,, they won't make parts, yeah... thise type of baterries, BMS's, relays... for long.. as for the current one's...) and you will be more inclined to buy new than repair the old one.? The EV are not far as mobile phones are, you should belive that more than anything else. (decide wisely my friend.. for yourself..) ...You if were to fix anything you would have fixed your ICE couple if time. I fix 3 (three) ICE cars. all on the road with the least problems in 7 yeara of ownership. I am horified to drop a battery ... in the front of my house and I am a qualified elctrician. I have no problem fixing an ICE
I barely understand this BS. I’ve fixed my ice cars before to including pulling engine and transmission. Dropping a pack looks different but it’s not fundamentally different than an engine. Each requires specialty tools. Like I said, this isn’t hard work and I understand it looks scary. People will learn the methods. I’m sure there were horrified looks at the first ice engines by all the buggy mechanics too.
@@Sickiey You will notice that your comment drew 6 likes, my comment 1 like. In between us 'like' comments totaled 731. I am in You Tube dog house, I hope you are not.
I learned to do brake and oil changes 40 years ago. Don’t want to crawl under cars any longer, so I’ll happily get an EV. You may also get there. My older brother though, still doesn’t his own car maintenance for some reason.
@ lol, you apparently have never bought a new car. Most depreciate 60% after 5 years. Teslas have a huge problem with retaining value. Even then it’s like buying anything from Stellantis, Ford or GM. Hard to seriously complain about depreciation on a $10,000 car, which most of the world now has access to.
Very interesting and educational video. I have done similar things with electronics and computers, but the voltage is not as deadly as an EV. Not only did this repair save money, but it also kept a decent car from ending up in the junkyard.
Thanks Ed, Enjoyed your video. Puzzled as to why all the control contactors are buried in the battery box. Surely they could be in a seperate box, may need another isolating fuse/breaker but would be a lot easier to service. Cheers Peter from downunder.
Safety wise it's best for all the high voltage stuff to be "under one roof" to minimize the number of live high voltage cables running around the car at any given time
Because normally they do not need to be serviced. Also as they are THE device connecting/disconnected the 400V dc to your car the best place for them is inside the hermetically sealed battery.
I get the argument for the contactors being in the battery, but there's no excuse for not having them in a compartment in the battery with a simple bolt-on gommet weather sealed (not glued) access plate so you can get to them and replace them without having to take the entire battery out of the car and the whole battery cover off (exposing you to risk of touching the cells or module connections). As it is, this is a repair of a £150 mechanical part that has thousands of Pounds of unnecessary labour due to the battery not being designed for maintenance. And wire probes to get to diagnostic test points and cutting insulation and armour braid to just put a current sensor on a line. Why the heck aren't these designed into the wiring loom for maintainability?? It's pure laziness and bloody minded penny pinching from the manufacturer.
Watching you work on the inside of the battery pack reminded me of working on my homemade tube/valve stereo amp, one hand behind your back to avoid shorting the current across your heart in case you accidentally touched something wrong. I've no idea if that's a useful technique but I've done it every time I had to open up the thing to check on stuff.
I know it's not happening due to the Bosch sponsorship but it'd be really nice to see Edd discover LeafSpy and attempt a repair without Bosch's special apparatuses
It didn't look special at all. Just a four channel scope with auto probes. Not for a weekend warrior, but definitely fine for a small specialist. In the same way people got to know the complexities of carburettors, today's mechanics will grow up with HV knowledge as second nature.
@@jimwoods9551 Exactly. I'm a copier tech. Apart from the "DO NOT Touch the big Orange cables!!" issue, the devices I work on are electrically FAR more complicated, but "simple" to fix, IF you know the basic system, have the correct documentation and have half a brain.
@@rogerstarkey5390 Its not about having half a brain or the correct documentation. Its about certification. Ed clearly shows this as step one. He then shows multiple special tools that a normal garage wouldn't have from reading the currents to big equipment for holding the battery. You need all the room for these tools, and room to have an electric car up on stands with an area around it roped off etc. Your local "small garage" could follow this video fine, but without certification they couldn't let you drive off in the car. So the garage has 3-4 mechanics, and 1-2 of them do small jobs, oil changes, tyre changes, spark plugs etc etc, then you have like maybe 1-2 main ones who can diagnose a whole engines worth of problems. You will need to pay for basically the whole garage to go get certified to level 4. Okay so now you're certified, you got all the gear, you got the insurance, how much will you charge in labour for this job? and how often will you have to do it? Its not about confidence or intelligence, its insurance and certification. Have no certification, do this job, and let someone drive out and they burst into flames, you're probably looking at jail time.
@@Jon-em4kcwell I'd say that you'd have a higher chance at surviving either being burned or doused in fuel versus the current that a dc pack can put out. Electricity isn't good for oh... I dunno... anything in the human body. Heart included.
And the chances of your diesel needing an expensive repair compared to the chances of any random EV needing an expensive repair are? And well done you for continuing to spew poisonous fumes on streets where people (including children) are actually trying to breathe.
Sorry, why? £150 for a part and few hours in the workshop. He didn't even get his hands dirty. Just keepinga '10 year old Honda diesel in tip top condition' is more effort than a major repair on an electric vehicle once in a blue moon. I had a cracked crankshaft on a diesel Subaru Legacy at 43,000 miles that required about ten times as much work just to swap the engine out, nevermind the huge cost of a new engine. You've just seen how easy it is with an electric car? What was it? Undo about twenty bolts, drop the pack, shimmy round to cut the seal, undo a few more bolts, swap in the new part, reseal the battery cover, raise the pack back into place and do up all the bolts. No messing about.
@moragkerr9577 your comment seems to be shawdowbanned or deleted, but i saw it in another youtube front-end. What a hypocritical way of thinking you show. The mining needed for the production and transformation for ev battery minerals also belches out enormous amounts of polution for the kids over there, or polutes their drinking water. It's a just not in my backyard attitude but couldn't care less about other's kids.
@@Charlemagne1367 Do you honestly think that manufacturing ICE vehicles is pollution free. Diesel and Petrol/Gas uses Cobalt in the refining stage. Ice vehicles pump out vast amounts of pollution on the streets where your children live causing the inhalation of PM2.5 which infects every part of their bodies and brains. Why do you think so many children suffer more from asthma etc now than they did 50 years ago. ICE cars cause cancer and many life ending conditions, with millions dying from these diseases every year, do you prefer that to having clean EV's on your streets ?
@@Charlemagne1367 I don't know what TH-cam is up to, but I think if you post a link to anything they limit your account. What a hypocritical way of thinking you show. Mining is seldom pretty, but do you think petroleum extraction is all roses and violets? The oil spills, the ruined land, the devastated wildlife (all these seabirds dying with oil in their feathers) and the far far greater pollution than anything mineral extraction causes. My car battery is made of lithium, iron and phospate. Where is "over there" that is the source of these minerals, and whose kids are being affected? Come on, I want specifics. You clearly couldn't care less about your neighbours' kids, or your neighbours themselves, that you want to keep on running an engine that pollutes the air they breathe and causes enormous amounts of ill-health in the people unlucky enough to be exposed to your filthy vehicle.
Good to see these batteries are pretty repairable and not overly expensive to do so In most cases. One thing about this video and others by Ed is the lack (in a good way) of will it work? Will he do it in time or the ever lasting.. let’s just re cap once again what’s just happened. Having jeopardy kills TV! I stopped watching tv some years back as it really drove me mad. Well done Ed, like the no nonsense approach 👍
I find it hard to believe that a welded contactor was the only problem given that there is a pre-charge sequence. I will look for the root cause of the contactor failure before re-assembly. I also find it hard to believe that you do not check SoH when the battery is out of the car - why take the risk to pulling the battery apart again if there was a bad cell. Other than those 2 glaring items- good video on how to repair the pack.
That 100% SOH reading feels a bit dubious, even a 1 year old car would at least be down a bit from 100% and that would be normal as the SOH is only really to tell you about how many kWh the pack is able to hold compared to how much it held when new. I expect you were seeing 100% there because you did it right after a full power down and it needs to go through at least a full discharge and then charge cycle to give an accurate reading.
@@tpow5906 when you have 80% then you have normaly lost 2 Bars beside the Battery Level. Take a look on 0:34. The 2 I had was also around 30.000 km and the Battery was around 94% after 3 years. But nowerdays you can hack the BMS. The SoC is around 70% when I calculate the Left Range the Car have 17 kwh per 100 km. I see such Numbers on the German Autobahn when I drive full speed with the Leaf. When I do the math with 80 % its around 15 kwh. Its really strange…..
If I remember correctly, those cars were guaranteed to have at least 80% capacity at 10 years and 100k miles. I know, at least in the US, virtually all of them got a battery replaced under warranty. From what I understand though, Nissan was swapping a reconditioned pack into each car as the replacement It's entirely possible the previous owner of The car in the video waited until just before the warranty ran out to get it replaced but The contactor and some of the other parts in The pack could possibly be from a much higher mileage car. I specifically purchased an BMW i3 for my mom just before its warranty went out knowing it needed a battery (got a free upgrade too because the small battery was discontinued)
Good to see ya Edd after a long time! 59 now and i very much remember my favourite show i watched for years - Wheeler Dealers. God bless, Anthony U.A.E.
From the looks of it, it's no more complicated than either rear main seal, or cooling pipe on a compacted engine. The problem is thinking EVs are all scary and complicated; thanks for showing us that they're not, just need a bit more respect.
All Leafs display battery SOH on the instrument panel..2011-17 it is permenently shown( @ 30 seconds in video) rhs 0- 1, in 12 segments. This leaf is still showing all 12. In 2018 on Leafs this is shown in the power menu, selected on the steering wheel. I wish presenters would read the handbook. Your still a hero Ed!
2:30 The shielding is very likely for safety, not EMI / RF noise. If the cable is damaged, the HV lead(s) would almost certainly be shorted to that grounded shield. That short circuit would cause a huge current and trip the battery pack's internal protection circuits, rendering itself safe within a few milliseconds. The alternative could "possibly" be something energized with hundreds of volts.
Thanks, there is a whole new world of opportunities here for the repair industry and those prepared to learn and gear up for these repairs. The days of cambelts and clutches, and engine and gearbox overhauls, exhausts,oil filters,spark plugs, head gaskets etc are now declining, even brake repairs will decline due to regen.
Working with one hand. Excellent as you will never be part of a circuit. Amazing how Edd seemingly (!) effortlessly moves into the era of electric cars. Most mechanics out there that can't or won't do this will be out of a job before long.
I’m a mechanic, I won’t touch EV’s due to the £40,000 + of tools I would personally need to purchase, not including the £6,000+ in courses I would need to do. The garage I work for cannot get insurance to store the EV’s in the garage while being repaired, due to the fire risk would you believe?!😄. Believe me, I will never be out of work, but good luck finding EV mechanics, the reason Ed had to make this film proves the shortage of EV mechanics…and they charge double what I do….which is why they would never do this repair, the labour charge would exceed the resale value of the EV, linked to the freefall of the EV 2nd hand market, which, not surprisingly isn’t pointed out in this video. THAT’s what governs the repair on EV’s, and why they are written off so quickly. An 18 month Porsche Tycan (£130,000 new) now worth £25,000. Combustion engine hourly rate around £100 per hour. EV hourly charge around £165 per hour. (Most tools to work on EV’s are specially coated, same as electricians tools, only higher voltage than domestic, so more expensive). So no, I will never be out of work, but EV owner will be sitting on waiting lists to be charged astronomical feed to have their EV written off. This video does not reflect reality, sorry.
Thank you, Edd, for your tutorial on the Nissan Leaf battery pack. Definitely erases the innocence of EV vehicle customers. I was adding up the infrastructure costs associated with the dealership which you demonstrated so thoroughly. In a "real world" where there are engineers charged with ascertaining the warranty costs and predictability of life cycle longevity (I was one of these guys @ GMC) the dealership is looking at the hefty mark-up on the total replacement of the battery module @ 10,000 PS/Euros versus the shop time, parts and training costs to effect this repair. I could suggest that an extended warranty should be made available for the "salt belts" associated with winter/summer road conditions in the Midwest of the USA. The interface casting attachment already shows the corrosion cycle common to this phenomenon. If one does the appropriate durability testing of the contact(s), i.e. a thorough failure mode analysis, this should never be a cause of service. I would propose a load sensor which prevents the driver from behaviors which result in a welded contact, probably a resetible circuit breaker sensing high heat or a redesign of the contact based on the cause of the failure.
Thank you for the video delving into the battery repair vs replace debate. Clearly training is vital as is the 'Right to Repair' and repairability itself. Insurance on EVs is ludicrous at present with prices seeming to consider any repair requiring a replacement of the entire car.
Great work in showing car companies that they need to step up their game with EV repairs! I already knew the Leaf was poorly designed by Nissan (rapidgate, fast degradation because of no thermal management), but why oh why Nissan, would you make something so unserviceable! It’s as if they purposefully designed it to be replaced as a whole. You know in advance components like contactors will fail at some point. Why not put them somewhere accessible from the outside? It wouldn’t have been so hard to make a separate compartment with these components.
Fair dues for training up. Looks like user friendly design stops when you need to get the vehicle repaired. Seems a fairly straightforward step to have such faults self diagnosing. Or at least have built in CT's with easy access breakers. Terrible, these vehicles should be easier to maintain. Thanks for bringing us this!
What is much worse if the contactor fails in the opposite way, when it "closes" but does not connect properly. Usually with very interesting visual and acoustic effects. A fire extinguisher on hand is a good tip.
@@eddchina did you check the precharge resistor? Without it the high side contactor will see the inrush current from the HV caps in the inverters, causing the demise.
I feel sorry for the younger generation, where manufacturing is making repairs impossible for working class people ,and it costs a arm and leg for a number of battery cells.
So true. Sad and almost landfill economy goal based seems on some days if were not for attempts to recycle albeit not in entirety. Neat is however getting more involved to hack into these assemblies and identify easier ways to detail the repairs. I have been entrenched in the gen 2 Prius as of late; finding where dealerships give up on the HV batteries, there are simple cost effective ways to get the vehicle back in service and on the road. Sometimes corrosion is the devil in the details and can be eliminated with say a small wire brush or wheel kit, torch tip cleaning kit, some deoxit and some very careful placement of conductive contact grease. Whether the bus bars or the sense wires ring terminals or harness connections. Maybe a bit of solder and crimping in more rare situations if not complete replacement of the battery harness. Worse situation I've not seen myself, replacement of the HV battery computer module. The cleaning is a nice bonus and if that is not the situation, then the module replacement in the bad blocks along with rebalancing the modules before bolting all back together. To each is their own, though if you have the time one can keep their Prius ride on the road for minimal financial investment with the right know how and determination. The subscription, licensing and lack of ownership of purchased property situation is gravely ill in my opinion. What is that trajectory along with the; what, advertising while we are asleep all invasive unable to power off?
@@rogerstarkey5390 If your Beetle problems could reasonably be tallied by the year and not the month you often were doing quite well. But then again back in the day they were 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of most everything else. When the Beetle was first sold in the US the average price of a new car was around $2,700 while the Beetle sold for around $800. Best!
@@rogerstarkey5390 And then have a crash in one.... The ole man hated the things, after he was driving one and one of the wheels overtook him while going down a hill.
Good to see you back Edd, I watched all your episodes on Wheeler Dealers, you are a genius and very good with everything you do! I now have a Hyundai Kona EV 64kwH but still enjoy fixing old petrol cars, keep up the good work! Hope you have a merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year!!
Very interesting to see trouble shooting and repair on an EV battery. ICE powered vehicles the engine is usually the most complex part. With EVs, it's the battery system. I've got a plug in hybrid, so I get the best of both worlds. Hooray. However, after 7 years and 102,000 miles, the only thing it's had to go to the shop for was safety recalls.
The best place to put a contactor is to stick it at the top of the battery pack which you can conveniently lower and easily get to , replace faulty contactor, put it all back together to see if the new one works. I applaud this practical and sensible solution.
A few years ago, several reports of a failed main contactor in some Tesla Model S (perhaps Rich Rebuilds). It is also inside the battery pack, so requires removing the HV battery and peeling back the top cover, which is quite involved. Better to locate a failure-prone part where it can be easily replaced. Great to see Edd still active after Wheeler Dealers. They greatly overplayed the phony conflicts after he left.
Edd love your content, I think pretty much everything you do is great. If you want to get to 2mill subs produce more of your Eddness more frequently mate.❤😁👍
Excellent video. My concern is that repairs are so far between that my memory fades. The older simple vehicles needed constant work and so reinforced memory. Mechanics who work on modern vehicles daily know this stuff. Fortunately, there is a long trouble-free mileage these days, and I have the registration mechanical checks included brakes, etc.
All comments reflect how reluctant traditional mechanics are towards the shift, but we need them to and better start somwhere, many thanks Ed for doing this
Then they are going to find themselves a dying breed as kids coming out of college with no bias for what fuel makes a car go pick up the ball they are dropping and run with it
I think we're seeing that with Cleevely's mobile EV servicing. All their customers live near a regular garage that would easily be capable of doing a regular service, but there must be enough reluctance to make it worthwhile sending people out to do it.
@thatguyjd372 that not the case or going to happen. Ev training costs thousands and colleges will not invest in training lecturers to teach it. Christ dealerships won't pay for technicians to go on training courses so there's absolutely no chance chadh strapped colleges are!
@@davidquinn5906there is, that's why ford cancelled all new ev product development and the construction of a factory to build ev's, dealers simply weren't willing to pay for training and buy demonstrator cars and stock, they knew what ev enquiries they were getting abd told ford we're not doing it.
My local garage has actually said they're certified for EV work, so I am pleased. So far I've gone to the dealer for warranty work, but I'd like a more local option.
9.20 'drop the battery pack'. >>> Er, how heavy is the battery pack? >>> 'Don't drop the battery pack!' 12.30 a Maintainability issue? Nah, Edd knows! Brilliant video, I shall definitely subscribe.
If this is a common failure issue, the car manufacturers should make the access to the unit more easy, like, for instance, a shutter box that is accessible from the underside of the car after you removed the protection panels, since that would save a lot of time and costs.
@@andrewmillerphotography i think he means 14 days included the bosch high voltage course he went on. but now as he have that course, the next job will be much quicker.
100% SOH in a - alt least - 7 year-old Leaf is simply unheard of even with all the TLC the Leaf batteries need to not be totally ruined before 50,000 miles.
@@eddchina Thanks from the nice video! I have hustled with EV:s now some 15 years. Must say that 100% SOH is not possible if the car is not brand new. Maybe Bosch tester reset all the readings. I can do it with some other testing devices also. Normally after some 5 to 10 charging/dischargins readings can be more realistic. Have you checked SOH a littlebit later with Leafspy for example? These are interesting things. Best regards from Finland and cheers!
@@peralind-q7c I have a brand new nissan EV and from the factory it was showing about 99.3% SOH :) And dropping about 1% every 6000km. Car never seen fastcharger and never charged above 80%, and it is a liquid cooled pack.
Moving forward it would be nice if manufacturers made the control system gubbins removable from the battery pack separately. That way it would be a lot simpler to get that off the car and work on it on a bench. It’s more complicated on most cars though as there is a battery cooling system to disconnect too (the Leaf is air cooled like an old Beetle), still, nothing a good mechanic should not be able to cope with.
Never seen an Edd video before; it's like watching Boris Johnson's long lost brother fix a car. But, in spite of all the Englishisms and EVisms, this was really easy to follow, even at 1.5X speed. Great job; thanks for posting.
Not to mention it takes hours to repair when it should take less than 1 in reality, not sure why they build EVs in such a way things like this are so hard to repalce
@@knight2425 BMW Diesel timing chain at the rear of the engine, requiring engine out to replace. All the wet belt cars with blocked oil pickups. If I was a mechanic I'd much rather do this job than either of those two.
@@st200ol Point is why make it so difficult when a simple access panel would make it a much quicker repair and don’t forget once EVs start getting into battery problems they quickly get scrapped.
@@knight2425 An access panel in the battery where high voltages are present, what could possibly go wrong. It needs to have a level of protection for the high voltage stuff. Did you watch this video? The whole point of it is for £150 plus labour its fixable, nothing like the £10K a new battery would cost. As more garages have specialists in this kind of thing every town and city will have somewhere you can take an EV for repairs like this. Whats more those level 4 trained mechanics will be able to pick and choose where they work and earn more than the grease monkeys. EV adoption is past the flat part of the bell curve now, EVs are happening now and not like it or not like it there is nothing anyone can do to stop it.
@@st200ol very true, but the 14 hours labour at a premium shop rate of 200£/hr or more adds up. And we don't yet know what the "while we are in there" items are, which can only come from experience. It's a long way from the simplicity of the old days.
So glad you're still going strong ed. I just seen a old top gear episode, not watched you since the wheeler dealer day's. You've just earned a new sub.
Holy Cow ! Edd, A person nowadays needs to be a certified electrical engineer to even attempt to do a serious repair on an electric vehicle. Its taken me a lifetime to master the 12v DC standard automotive electrical system. I think I'll stick to doing simple repairs on my 2 electric bikes and motorized bicycles. I'll leave this to the engineers and tech professionals. Thanks for another 1st class video. Cheers from California.
@beaubrummelmotorizedbicycles You just said it yourself "Its taken me a lifetime to master the 12v DC standard automotive electrical system" So how about Major engine repairs? If you don't do MAJOR repairs, it exactly the same situation, except this would be under the battery warranty (8 Years) during which time there's virtually zero service cost on the drivetrain. OK?
@@rogerstarkey5390 Oh contare, I really do exaggerate for effect, I can and have done major automotive repairs my whole life also. I have even held a Smog Inspectors License in the State of California and was trained on a Sun Automotive Oscilloscope in 1967 at the age of 17. Also having held Certifications in Automotive Air Conditioning. Also utilized my high school and local Community College for formal training in Automotive Machining. I won't even go into the 10 hp mini bike I built at 15 that did 70 mph, or the numerous hot rod small block Chevy's I built. You really should check some of those so called MFG. Warranties and see how many are actually honored at at what cost.
Glad to have you back! Actually there are about six actual episodes (and some diary entries) before this one in our current run! Enjoy them all over Christmas!
Please Mr. Ed China take it seriously. I have been watching you since the time of wheeler dealers. You are a great technician. But you don't post as frequently as you should and people want to see you do what you do the best. I know you have been through some tough times but still. We all want to see you. God bless you always
You sir, are absolutely amazing!!! Thanks for your channel, it’s all I loved about wheelers dealers without the parts that I didn’t like, loooove it!!!
Kind of skipped over the tens of thousands of pounds of test equipment and likely annual subscriptions required to actually use the test equipment...... Truth is, manufacturers simply don't want us to fix stuff, just buy new. The combination of high volts and high current in an EV battery pack certainly deserves respect, and learning the right techniques is a great idea. I used to work with EHT (>25kV) all the time and the one-hand thing is certainly familiar! I have a hybrid and would love to replace the cells in the battery as they've lost quite a bit of capacity since new. Dealer quoted almost £7k for a new battery pack, plus labour....and to top it all, they wanted payment up front with no guarantee of when or even if they could get the part. Sadly, the only time I've seen one of these packs taken apart, the guy doing it said it looked impossible to do without destroying it.
THe right kit isn't cheap but most garages will have to have it to work on any car in a few years (new legislation on its way). Modern car makers definitely need to make their stuff easier to work on and maintain otherwise people will just stop buying them in the first place.
True watched a video from a US mechanic in a small town , only works on ice cars, he’s having to limit the brands of cars he’s working on because it’s $5k per year per license for the diagnostic software.
@@eddchina Maybe one problem is that people who buy new cars typically don't do repairs or have to pay for them as they typically buy/lease a new car every 2 or 3 years. Therefore, there is little incentive for designers or producers to make cars that it is easy for the average DIY mechanic to repair? This has been a trend with ICE cars for years but seems to be even worse with EVs.
The trouble is some batteries aren't being made repairable which is beyond dumb and then a battery cell goes U/S you can't just replace the single cell module or they will refuse to sell the BMS or charge controller .. you can see this with phones too a workable phone is junked because the battery needs a replacement and the makers just make it too hard to fix
@FreiherrDinkelacker yeah but Tesla's are arranged in modules - for example the Tesla Model 3 battery pack has four modules but the model S has 16 smaller modules .. The Nissan leaf has 24 modules
@FreiherrDinkelacker That nonsense has been debunked numerous times. It always comes back to the mining argument and the reality is even today EV's require less natural resources to produce, EV's produce far fewer greenhouse gases and that would reduce even further if we moved further towards renewable energy. A study was done a couple of years ago suggesting tyres and brakes produce way way more particulate matter than ICE exhaust pipes and with regen braking EV's barely use the brakes in comparison to ordinary cars. There is the argument they are harder on tyres though. Ev's are also advancing significantly faster than regular cars ever did, bigger better batteries, preconditioning tech etc, also the infrastructure is nothing near as bad as the 10 year old scare stories would have us believe, charging points are everywhere and most EV's tell you where they are, how much they cost, if they are working and available and even pre heat the battery if you tap into the satnav you are visiting one so when you arrive they charge at full speed. The technology is advancing super quick.
@@jinx20001 2 human beings doing nothing "pollute" just as much as a regular car, than you have to add the animal kingdom, witch is by far much much bigger than humans.
@FreiherrDinkelacker smh They are NOT "AAA" A "AAA" is (In "Tesla terms) a 10.5x44.5mm or more loosely an "11450". The LARGEST Model S pack (100kWH) had 7,104 "18650" (18mm dia by 65mm long) cells (MUCH larger than "AAA") made using a completely different chemistry. . Apart from the wrong number, and the wrong size (and the wrong type) you're.... NOT close. . The VAST MAJORITY of Tesla cars (3 and Y) have between roughly 3,000 and 4,500 larger (2170) cells.
Working in EV in France. I look like a cosmonaut to do what you are doing, filling administrative papers for each part of the intervention, and interdiction to do the opening under the car ( in fact there is often too much dirt). It wil be even more expensive in france due to that. However, leaf batteries have another big issue, there is some of them which have cells inflating. pushing the steel of the assy.
Thank you, the English transcription takes a while to get right, Google does the rest of the languages based on that. What language are you reading it in?
@@eddchina Maybe Check your prices? Consensus for a Leaf replacement is about £4,000 OR 5,000 for an upgrade (A great option on the early cars) PLUS you should get about £1,000 exchange on the old pack(!)
Great Video! Nissan Leafs are easy to repair and cheap to buy/repair. Cell modules are easily replaceable as well. Sadly not all batteries are that easy to repair. I think all shops who wish to repair EVs purchase an old Leaf or Model S to train on
One of the UK's biggest car dismantlers strip EVe just the same as other cars. It's just a case of knowing the correct isolation procedures (as shown here). Also bear in mind that many new ice cars are mild hybrid and have a high voltage battery that needs careful handling.
Problem with wrecks is the recovery chain being nervous in case a compromised pack is working its way up to thermal runway. So they need 8x the storage area while they 'cool down'. If the frame is bent enough to have potentially damaged the cells, the entire thing gets written off as they couldn't fit a new battery anyway.
I worked for a company that had a contract as an off site insurance auction yard for wrecked vehicles. EVs they wanted a 15m parameter around it at all times. Will start to be a problem as evs become more commonplace. They had a hundred cars at some times. Some of them didn't move for years. Not enough real estate for a large number of evs
Well sorted Ed. Good to see you making a seamless crossover from dinosaur juice to magic smoke. Hey, and no greasy paws! Nicely done and well explained mate. Cheers.
Bad or lazy design, the contactors which are obviously a wear component should have a separate access door or be completely separate from the battery pack.
@eddchina I was wondering what would happen if you taught say Tom Nargy whose down the M40 and repairs his ICE & Electric Vans or Artisan Electrics who do batteries, Solar systems as well as repair houses. Or invite a bunch of local TH-cam creators whose content is about fixing electrics & fixing cars to a class run for you by Bosch. And each of you all got a series of episodes of content out of it (if each of you wanted to) and get the whole project funded by Bosch! Or failing that Nebula whose this sort of content is very up their street. Bosch could easily replicate this content in the North America & Australia/NZ. You should have all the contacts to make it happen but if you don't the Fully Charged Show would be a good replication tool as well
Good to see you using the safety system of keeping one hand behind your back when working on the HV parts there. I learned that when working on old arcade machine monitors way back. For anyone interested, using two hands could cause an electrical shock between your hands to go through your heart. With only one hand it’ll travel to Earth. Your right arm is furthest from your heart so you don’t use your left arm 😁
My first job was repairing old CRT TV's in 70's and arcade machines and monitors in the 80's so working one handed in those situations is second nature. People only used to working on low voltages can soon come unstuck on high voltage systems if not used to it 👍
When i see people saying that 'my 100,000 mile Tesla has lost 40 miles of its range' I often thought well this is pretty natural for a battery, then had another thought that an ICE probably has lost that in its overall range too - with wear and tear on the engine and its components, its just that with an EV you can see exactly how much less you get with a full charge, but who would ever bother to measure the loss of overall mileage of their diesel or petrol engine for giving less per tank for roughly the same thing!!! EV bashing yet again!!!
My ICE is 20 years old. It still gets the same 400 miles to the tank today as it did new. ICE do not lose range, they may lose power, but it doesn't affect the range.
Very smart repair technique, excellent safety protocols. Like the little vibra saw adhesive removal, quite smart. All in all, super skills demonstrated, and perfect results obtained mate.
They actually easily send a really good car to scrap yard for any fault in the battery, no authorized workshop is going to open up a battery pack and fix small things inside it, they tell you to change it all, and it costs crazy...
Really? I watched a TH-cam video posted by Cleveleys Electric Vehicles in Gloucestershire around 3 years ago. They carried out a battery pack refurbishment on a 10 year old Nissan Leaf. The work took 4 hours, and the cost was £500. What is your source of information regarding sending perfectly good cars to a scrapyard for *any* fault in a battery pack?
@@huss1205 Doubt. how many EVs are 8 years+ outside the warranty except the Roadster, S and leaf gen1? Replacement batteries are in high demand for under warranty vehicles that barely started production. Some of them are likely written off to be used as spares vehicles. Manufacturers also often want failed products in return to find the cause of failure. Have experienced two vehicles with failed battery packs, my leaf, and family member with EV6. Both were repaired in Norway.
If you have the equipment and the know how, anything can be fixed. Some traditional ICE mechanics opt for replacement rather than repair, I believe it comes down to knowledge gained thru experience and I’m sure EV mechanics will get become very proficient as more evs hit the market. Thanks for the video Ed, really enjoyed it 😊
I remember the good old days when you could repair your car on the road outside your house. No need to, somehow, gain access to a Bosch workshop with a lift and all sorts of expensive test equipment. I guess that is what they call progress these days though.
You could do this job on your driveway if you were inclined to do so, there are examples of people on TH-cam dropping EV batteries and replacing pyro-fuses for example on their driveways with basic tools.
By the way you don't have to drop the sump of the automatic gearbox.. you are making it up for the show. But battery, to fix, REPLACE cells and other partS the fail inside ... yes you HAVE TO drop it on your chest. Can I borrow you for that? Before you continue arguing with me, I am one of those that dropped, myself, twice (x2) manual gearbox to replace clutch and flywheel on BMW... so, I am NOT just a keyboard warrior as most of the people here!
Yeah. I remember the good old days when people repaired their cars in their rickety, leaking garages or on their driveways: sometimes even on the road outside. I remember too those cars breaking down all too often and some being absolute death traps. There is a channel I sometimes watch but will not name (you can explore TH-cam for content of people keeping older cars running) and some of the "fixes" are lethal imo. I spent my first 2 years of working life as an apprentice in a garage which ended when my gaffer, the owner died from cancer. He taught me well which included never bodging, never taking short cuts and never risking safety. I have carried those formative lessons through the last 30 years and never had a roadside failure in that time. Some might say that I have been lucky but by doing regular checks, keeping up the servicing and maintenance and being vigilant I believe that if there has been any luck involved it is because I have made my own luck. The state of some cars on the roads is appalling and it bothers me that here in the UK you can run a car of 40 years old or more without even a mandatory annual road worthiness check. Ridiculous.
@@michaelgoode9555 I would take a pre 1975 deathtrap over a brand new anything, but that's just grumpy old man who loves the smell of brake fluid burning off the exhaust manifold after a huge repair session.
Edd sees a car which needs repairing and sets about it. He doesn't bother himself about the fuel that it uses, the age of the vehicle, the complexity of the repair. No, Edd sees this as an opportunity to learn new skills and repair a perfectly good vehicle.
Thanks Edd. Great work.
He's fairly young, plenty of time to change😊
It comes across as cynical but you mean it I think, right? An otherwise perfectly good car totalled because of a faulty connection. Love his approach to his work too, he’s a born mechanic!
You’re right, it’s just another fix on the car. I think a lot of mechanics are scared to repair these cars even though all it takes is a bit of training.
Would you total an entire engine just because a spark plug has stopped working? Same as EV with the batteries. They can be repaired it just takes a bit of learning.
He sets about repairing it, as he has access to tens - if not hundreds - of thousands of pounds of specialised diagnostic equipment...... he is LITERALLY at the Bosch HQ! You think the average mechanic on the street can afford to invest in all this equipment, or god forbid, us idiot, amateur spannermen on our driveways???
I understand Ed is a PHD. engineer.
I’m so glad that you make youtube videos! The reason i watched Wheeler dealers was you Edd 🙂👍🏻
What happened to the fatty?
I was certainly on the edge of my seat seeing Edd stripping back the shielding and going near the HV cables with a metal pointy thing with the MSD still inserted 😮
Who doesn't enjoy a bit of jeopardy?!
@eddchina NOT the right answer Edd.🤦♂️
Car was turned off, so chances that negative relais would be stuck or weldes as well and, him damaging both cables with that metal tool to make a dangerous contact at the same time basically zero 😅
Would have been interesting to see dismantle the contactor pack so we could see the actual the fault.
Update: see Edd's video "1 Surprising Thing I Found Inside a Welded EV Contactor:"
@@JoFreddieRevDr I know
Those contactors are usually sealed, and a weld is a weld, you'd just see the two metal plates stuck together, nothing particularly interesting
Poor design, quality of components, or built-in redundancy, not enough testing of the prototype, no European involvement?
@@JoFreddieRevDr What happens to the old boards? I was wondering if there's a company setup yet that would rework these type of boards? Obviously it's specialist work, but I'm sure that the majority of the components on the board are perfectly good enough to last for many years to come.
@@bwoo6223 Just contactors doing contactor things. They all wear out eventually, much faster in DC applications.
I have been working on and repairing high voltage valve gear as a hobby for years. Everything is common sense. I like the one hand behind your back because I have done that for years probing circuits up to 2Kv DC. This work can be done indoors by anyone who has brought the correct gear. This example is not difficult. Going on a level 4 course would be worthwhile as it shows the correct attitude. I suspect a lot of the training is aimed at the garage situation but no amount of 'experience' means that something new, useful and potentially life saving could not be learnt by training.
We were taught to put your left hand in your pocket so if you do get an electric shock, the current will flow past your heart not through it, into your left arm and down your left leg to ground.
@@peacebeuntoyou8934I remember being taught something similar when I used to work on CRTs. Still didn’t like it though, I always worried that I might forget the correct procedure. I learnt to code instead.
@@peacebeuntoyou8934 I have always been told the hand in your pocket, is so you cannot inadvertently place a hand near anything live.
@@peacebeuntoyou8934 it’s less critical for batteries as there is no grounding (the danger of an arc from a dropped wrench is much more critical)
Basic stuff for electricians really.
I'm happy this popped up in my feed because I haven't seen you in a while, Ed. I have always loved that you fix things like a DIY guy on a budget instead of a 'throw parts at the problem" dealership mechanic.
Thanks, it means more money for tea & biscuits!!
@eddchina I wish I'd known years back when you were operating Wheeler Dealers in Huntington Beach - I lived there back then and it would have been cool to run into you so I could buy you a beer. Cheers!
2:20 - The steel braid is just not for EMI shielding but also to detect and prevent high voltage from ever going to the car body, even if the fuses or contactors would fail. The braid is the last defence basically shorting the possibly cut cable within the high voltage system.
Think if Michael Faraday was alive today he would mention most DC voltages wouldn't be affected by RF or magnetic induction systems.
@@johnmckinlay9538but switch mode dc circuits produce a lot of rf noise and harmonics
@johnmckinlay9538 If he was alive today, he would not think anything like that. His all work was about DC, and all he wrote is for DC. He even invented hompolar motor and generator (only rotating electrical machinery that work on DC, not much efficient but they are DC contrary to all motors and generator that are AC. Just to be clear brushless or brushed DC motors are AC motors one with electronic other with mechanical computation that turn DC in AC).
Sheading on DC lines is important, changing current in them (by amplitude and not ness to change direction) will produce changing magnetic field (Ampère's law) which produce changing magnetic flux on affected conductor and in it will produce emf (Faraday's law, which make it same usdul for DC amd AC). Because changing current (and voltage) in conductor this is for all purpose of analysis AC system with DC offset.
Simple changing current produce changing magnetic field, changing voltage produce changing electric field.
Hadn't even thought of that, thanks for the info. I'd also say that the metal sleeving also protects the cable from cuts to an extent too
No, it's RF shielding. You're really not understanding EMI and EMC if you think the DC side of an inverter is pure DC.
🤣
Outstanding. Love that you are showing that literally everything can be fixed if you: have the proper certified training, have the proper testing gear, and have a lovely flat panel lift. Well done, hopefully garages will see this an learn to not rip off customers, and not waste perfectly good batteries and cars. Just as we learned new things when the internet came around, or when the ICE car was first introduced, it's time to learn about EVs. Good on you and others in the repair business who refuse to stick their heads in the sand.
Fascinating stuff. Nice to see Ed back.
As a reasonably competent ICE diyer this scares me to death. Brilliant Ed such a talent
I've just come across this channel and immediately subscribed to it. What greater compliment could I pay Mr China?
Well Edd, as a Brazilian, I would like to commend you and your production team on the selection of background music used throughout this episode 😂😂😂😂👏👏👏👏😂😂😂😂 Also, the comedic value of your production will certainly guarantee the next 1 million subscribers to flock in numbers to this channel. I again give it a 12 out of 10 stars 👏👏👏👏
I love this content. It's really fascinating seeing all the tools, training, and safety procedures for this type of work. All I've heard before is "we can't do that in-house". The complexity of the repair doesn't seem too bad compared to ICE repair, a piston swap for example.
But this isn't comparable to a piston swap. This is comparable to swapping the fuel pump in the fuel tank.
A piston swap would be comparable to taking the motor apart, which is also not a simple job.
@@DanRyan-v5y EV motores fail once in a blue moon.
6:40
Though safety disconnect flows the full current that drives the car. So in order to measure the current, you could have a modified disconnect with a loop of wire for measuring. And not mangle the main power cable.
Problem is that breaks the safety guarantee of taking the safety disconnect out.
Same reason you are not supposed to use LOTO locks for non lock out/tag out uses.
1. don't eat yellow snow
2. don't touch orange cables
training done!
Problem is health and safety at work act
The Health and Safety at Work Act '74 has saved many lives. Common sense doesn't cut it. @paulharker5052
Orange cables are fine. The shiny metallic ends of each are more of a concern. 😉
😂 so true! - engineer daily business
Next generation find petrol and wd40 a lot more worrying than orange cables!
Electric motors are simple. Batteries are simple. But fixing them when they go wrong is a highly specialised skill set. If I was a young man I’d say there is a career in this field.
This is awesome content Edd! The work isn't complex but it's new so it seems very daunting. Videos like this, and a whole lot of elapsed time, will build comfort. It's amazing how simple the battery packs are inside, way less complex than an engine.
My EV is still under warranty but this is work I'll be doing myself one day. Hopefully they make these parts a bit more accessible through subsequent designs. I'm starting to see some intrepid individuals offering fixes especially for Leafs. Between the contactors and the single cell failures, they often get some off super cheap. These folks are buying them for a few thousand off, fixing them for $500 and selling them back for a few thousand profit.
Not pro EV for reasons I wont go into here, I am pro everyone getting to own what they want, so I only say be careful.
My only fear is people getting absolutely zapped across the rainbow bridge because of fiddling with this stuff past warranty.
Not only that, by fixing it you are taking on liability. If it bursts into flames for any reason at all..... Battery based fires are horrendous.
no my friend, you cannot do that:
"My EV is still under warranty but this is work I'll be doing myself one day. Hopefully they make these parts a bit more accessible through subsequent designs"
And do you know why?
Because by the time your EV comes out of warranty there would be newer model of EV... new software.. (and yours will be abolite,, they won't make parts, yeah... thise type of baterries, BMS's, relays... for long.. as for the current one's...) and you will be more inclined to buy new than repair the old one.? The EV are not far as mobile phones are, you should belive that more than anything else. (decide wisely my friend.. for yourself..)
...You if were to fix anything you would have fixed your ICE couple if time.
I fix 3 (three) ICE cars. all on the road with the least problems in 7 yeara of ownership.
I am horified to drop a battery ... in the front of my house and I am a qualified elctrician.
I have no problem fixing an ICE
I barely understand this BS. I’ve fixed my ice cars before to including pulling engine and transmission. Dropping a pack looks different but it’s not fundamentally different than an engine. Each requires specialty tools. Like I said, this isn’t hard work and I understand it looks scary. People will learn the methods. I’m sure there were horrified looks at the first ice engines by all the buggy mechanics too.
@@jeremiahrex CORRECT
Left hand behind your back, nice to watch. I work on old valve amps, sure that's saved my life more than once.
from ED I learnt how to change my own oil ,brakes 15+ years go , I'll probably never get an EV, but love the way the man like to solve problems
@@Sickiey You will notice that your comment drew 6 likes, my comment 1 like. In between us 'like' comments totaled 731. I am in You Tube dog house, I hope you are not.
I learned to do brake and oil changes 40 years ago. Don’t want to crawl under cars any longer, so I’ll happily get an EV. You may also get there. My older brother though, still doesn’t his own car maintenance for some reason.
@@brettgracey9682 I hope you don't mind an excruciating depreciation machine. 😂
@ lol, you apparently have never bought a new car. Most depreciate 60% after 5 years. Teslas have a huge problem with retaining value. Even then it’s like buying anything from Stellantis, Ford or GM. Hard to seriously complain about depreciation on a $10,000 car, which most of the world now has access to.
Very interesting and educational video. I have done similar things with electronics and computers, but the voltage is not as deadly as an EV. Not only did this repair save money, but it also kept a decent car from ending up in the junkyard.
Thanks Ed, Enjoyed your video. Puzzled as to why all the control contactors are buried in the battery box. Surely they could be in a seperate box, may need another isolating fuse/breaker but would be a lot easier to service. Cheers Peter from downunder.
Safety wise it's best for all the high voltage stuff to be "under one roof" to minimize the number of live high voltage cables running around the car at any given time
Because normally they do not need to be serviced. Also as they are THE device connecting/disconnected the 400V dc to your car the best place for them is inside the hermetically sealed battery.
Well done Ed. Nice to be able to watch you at work again. You are still the best mechanic Wheeler Dealers ever had.
because nissan in their wisdom stopped developing the car.
I get the argument for the contactors being in the battery, but there's no excuse for not having them in a compartment in the battery with a simple bolt-on gommet weather sealed (not glued) access plate so you can get to them and replace them without having to take the entire battery out of the car and the whole battery cover off (exposing you to risk of touching the cells or module connections). As it is, this is a repair of a £150 mechanical part that has thousands of Pounds of unnecessary labour due to the battery not being designed for maintenance. And wire probes to get to diagnostic test points and cutting insulation and armour braid to just put a current sensor on a line. Why the heck aren't these designed into the wiring loom for maintainability?? It's pure laziness and bloody minded penny pinching from the manufacturer.
Watching you work on the inside of the battery pack reminded me of working on my homemade tube/valve stereo amp, one hand behind your back to avoid shorting the current across your heart in case you accidentally touched something wrong.
I've no idea if that's a useful technique but I've done it every time I had to open up the thing to check on stuff.
I know it's not happening due to the Bosch sponsorship but it'd be really nice to see Edd discover LeafSpy and attempt a repair without Bosch's special apparatuses
It didn't look special at all. Just a four channel scope with auto probes. Not for a weekend warrior, but definitely fine for a small specialist. In the same way people got to know the complexities of carburettors, today's mechanics will grow up with HV knowledge as second nature.
"Sponsored" content?
@@jimwoods9551
Exactly.
I'm a copier tech.
Apart from the "DO NOT Touch the big Orange cables!!" issue, the devices I work on are electrically FAR more complicated, but "simple" to fix, IF you know the basic system, have the correct documentation and have half a brain.
@@rogerstarkey5390"correct documentation" is the big one for the motor trade.
As a lot of the info is crap that we get
@@rogerstarkey5390 Its not about having half a brain or the correct documentation. Its about certification. Ed clearly shows this as step one. He then shows multiple special tools that a normal garage wouldn't have from reading the currents to big equipment for holding the battery. You need all the room for these tools, and room to have an electric car up on stands with an area around it roped off etc. Your local "small garage" could follow this video fine, but without certification they couldn't let you drive off in the car. So the garage has 3-4 mechanics, and 1-2 of them do small jobs, oil changes, tyre changes, spark plugs etc etc, then you have like maybe 1-2 main ones who can diagnose a whole engines worth of problems. You will need to pay for basically the whole garage to go get certified to level 4.
Okay so now you're certified, you got all the gear, you got the insurance, how much will you charge in labour for this job? and how often will you have to do it? Its not about confidence or intelligence, its insurance and certification. Have no certification, do this job, and let someone drive out and they burst into flames, you're probably looking at jail time.
thanks Edd - we have a leaf 2014 so seeing you fix the battery like that gives us great confidence if an issue like that occurrs - much appreciated
If ever there was a video that should have started with "Do Not Try This At Home" this is it.
Why? What are you scared of?
Its no worse than any amateur mechanic messing around with a petrol tank sender.
@@Jon-em4kcwell I'd say that you'd have a higher chance at surviving either being burned or doused in fuel versus the current that a dc pack can put out.
Electricity isn't good for oh... I dunno... anything in the human body. Heart included.
Just make sure to get the proper education first 😊
Ferrari .. I'm afraid it's an engine out job to replace the spark plug.
Renault .. I'm afraid it's a battery out job to replace the 3amp fuse.
its just a drained battery
Not watched one of your videos for ages but this was really quite impressive! Loved the Humour also.
Cheers Edd and this is exactly why I'll be keeping my 10 year old Honda diesel in tip top condition and running as long as possible
And the chances of your diesel needing an expensive repair compared to the chances of any random EV needing an expensive repair are? And well done you for continuing to spew poisonous fumes on streets where people (including children) are actually trying to breathe.
Sorry, why? £150 for a part and few hours in the workshop. He didn't even get his hands dirty.
Just keepinga '10 year old Honda diesel in tip top condition' is more effort than a major repair on an electric vehicle once in a blue moon.
I had a cracked crankshaft on a diesel Subaru Legacy at 43,000 miles that required about ten times as much work just to swap the engine out, nevermind the huge cost of a new engine.
You've just seen how easy it is with an electric car? What was it? Undo about twenty bolts, drop the pack, shimmy round to cut the seal, undo a few more bolts, swap in the new part, reseal the battery cover, raise the pack back into place and do up all the bolts. No messing about.
@moragkerr9577 your comment seems to be shawdowbanned or deleted, but i saw it in another youtube front-end. What a hypocritical way of thinking you show. The mining needed for the production and transformation for ev battery minerals also belches out enormous amounts of polution for the kids over there, or polutes their drinking water.
It's a just not in my backyard attitude but couldn't care less about other's kids.
@@Charlemagne1367 Do you honestly think that manufacturing ICE vehicles is pollution free. Diesel and Petrol/Gas uses Cobalt in the refining stage. Ice vehicles pump out vast amounts of pollution on the streets where your children live causing the inhalation of PM2.5 which infects every part of their bodies and brains. Why do you think so many children suffer more from asthma etc now than they did 50 years ago. ICE cars cause cancer and many life ending conditions, with millions dying from these diseases every year, do you prefer that to having clean EV's on your streets ?
@@Charlemagne1367 I don't know what TH-cam is up to, but I think if you post a link to anything they limit your account. What a hypocritical way of thinking you show.
Mining is seldom pretty, but do you think petroleum extraction is all roses and violets? The oil spills, the ruined land, the devastated wildlife (all these seabirds dying with oil in their feathers) and the far far greater pollution than anything mineral extraction causes. My car battery is made of lithium, iron and phospate. Where is "over there" that is the source of these minerals, and whose kids are being affected? Come on, I want specifics.
You clearly couldn't care less about your neighbours' kids, or your neighbours themselves, that you want to keep on running an engine that pollutes the air they breathe and causes enormous amounts of ill-health in the people unlucky enough to be exposed to your filthy vehicle.
Good to see these batteries are pretty repairable and not overly expensive to do so In most cases.
One thing about this video and others by Ed is the lack (in a good way) of will it work? Will he do it in time or the ever lasting.. let’s just re cap once again what’s just happened. Having jeopardy kills TV!
I stopped watching tv some years back as it really drove me mad.
Well done Ed, like the no nonsense approach 👍
I find it hard to believe that a welded contactor was the only problem given that there is a pre-charge sequence. I will look for the root cause of the contactor failure before re-assembly. I also find it hard to believe that you do not check SoH when the battery is out of the car - why take the risk to pulling the battery apart again if there was a bad cell. Other than those 2 glaring items- good video on how to repair the pack.
China gone to China, loved his ICE vids but EV will never get one, they are WEF promoted rubbish.
I’ve done a battery swap on a Prius, that was pretty straight forward.
Haven’t had to do anything major on the MG4 yet, but will eventually.
That 100% SOH reading feels a bit dubious, even a 1 year old car would at least be down a bit from 100% and that would be normal as the SOH is only really to tell you about how many kWh the pack is able to hold compared to how much it held when new. I expect you were seeing 100% there because you did it right after a full power down and it needs to go through at least a full discharge and then charge cycle to give an accurate reading.
and its a Leaf. I had 2 of them. Its impossible.
Agreed, I would expect 80-90% SOH
Better of using leaf spy.
@@tpow5906 when you have 80% then you have normaly lost 2 Bars beside the Battery Level. Take a look on 0:34. The 2 I had was also around 30.000 km and the Battery was around 94% after 3 years. But nowerdays you can hack the BMS. The SoC is around 70% when I calculate the Left Range the Car have 17 kwh per 100 km. I see such Numbers on the German Autobahn when I drive full speed with the Leaf. When I do the math with 80 % its around 15 kwh. Its really strange…..
If I remember correctly, those cars were guaranteed to have at least 80% capacity at 10 years and 100k miles. I know, at least in the US, virtually all of them got a battery replaced under warranty.
From what I understand though, Nissan was swapping a reconditioned pack into each car as the replacement It's entirely possible the previous owner of The car in the video waited until just before the warranty ran out to get it replaced but The contactor and some of the other parts in The pack could possibly be from a much higher mileage
car. I specifically purchased an BMW i3 for my mom just before its warranty went out knowing it needed a battery (got a free upgrade too because the small battery was discontinued)
I dare say, in the customer experience they would try to shonk out into a new battery and not fix it.
Good to see ya Edd after a long time! 59 now and i very much remember my favourite show i watched for years - Wheeler Dealers. God bless, Anthony U.A.E.
From the looks of it, it's no more complicated than either rear main seal, or cooling pipe on a compacted engine. The problem is thinking EVs are all scary and complicated; thanks for showing us that they're not, just need a bit more respect.
Your rear main seal doesn't electrocute you, so there is that.
@@Baerchenization Yeah I know, but petrol can explode or cause a serious fire.
@@Baerchenization,, And if the end cap of a loaded strut comes off, it can put a hole in your brain.
then why are insurance companies cancelling policies.
@@peter-pg5yc Too many unknowns.
All Leafs display battery SOH on the instrument panel..2011-17 it is permenently shown( @ 30 seconds in video) rhs 0- 1, in 12 segments. This leaf is still showing all 12.
In 2018 on Leafs this is shown in the power menu, selected on the steering wheel.
I wish presenters would read the handbook.
Your still a hero Ed!
2:30 The shielding is very likely for safety, not EMI / RF noise. If the cable is damaged, the HV lead(s) would almost certainly be shorted to that grounded shield. That short circuit would cause a huge current and trip the battery pack's internal protection circuits, rendering itself safe within a few milliseconds. The alternative could "possibly" be something energized with hundreds of volts.
My idea, exactly 👍
That’s exactly what it’s for.
I saw where the new safety devices being fitted will disconnect the battery in less than 5 seconds, is that to give protection to the occupants?
Thanks, there is a whole new world of opportunities here for the repair industry and those prepared to learn and gear up for these repairs.
The days of cambelts and clutches, and engine and gearbox overhauls, exhausts,oil filters,spark plugs, head gaskets etc are now declining, even brake repairs will decline due to regen.
Working with one hand. Excellent as you will never be part of a circuit. Amazing how Edd seemingly (!) effortlessly moves into the era of electric cars. Most mechanics out there that can't or won't do this will be out of a job before long.
I’m a mechanic, I won’t touch EV’s due to the £40,000 + of tools I would personally need to purchase, not including the £6,000+ in courses I would need to do. The garage I work for cannot get insurance to store the EV’s in the garage while being repaired, due to the fire risk would you believe?!😄. Believe me, I will never be out of work, but good luck finding EV mechanics, the reason Ed had to make this film proves the shortage of EV mechanics…and they charge double what I do….which is why they would never do this repair, the labour charge would exceed the resale value of the EV, linked to the freefall of the EV 2nd hand market, which, not surprisingly isn’t pointed out in this video. THAT’s what governs the repair on EV’s, and why they are written off so quickly. An 18 month Porsche Tycan (£130,000 new) now worth £25,000. Combustion engine hourly rate around £100 per hour. EV hourly charge around £165 per hour. (Most tools to work on EV’s are specially coated, same as electricians tools, only higher voltage than domestic, so more expensive).
So no, I will never be out of work, but EV owner will be sitting on waiting lists to be charged astronomical feed to have their EV written off. This video does not reflect reality, sorry.
And yet apart from the battery and motor which are insanely reliable. Everything else is just like any other car, specialist my arse
Thank you, Edd, for your tutorial on the Nissan Leaf battery pack. Definitely erases the innocence of EV vehicle customers. I was adding up the infrastructure costs
associated with the dealership which you demonstrated so thoroughly. In a "real world" where there are engineers charged with ascertaining the warranty costs and predictability of life cycle longevity (I was one of these guys @ GMC) the dealership is looking at the hefty mark-up on the total replacement of the battery module
@ 10,000 PS/Euros versus the shop time, parts and training costs to effect this repair. I could suggest that an extended warranty should be made available for the
"salt belts" associated with winter/summer road conditions in the Midwest of the USA. The interface casting attachment already shows the corrosion cycle common to this phenomenon. If one does the appropriate durability testing of the contact(s), i.e. a thorough failure mode analysis, this should never be a cause of service. I would propose a load sensor which prevents the driver from behaviors which result in a welded contact, probably a resetible circuit breaker sensing high heat or a redesign of the contact based on the cause of the failure.
YAAASSSS!!! Actual good advice and step by step car fixes again!! Thank you, sir.
Thanks Edd inspiring us to do so. As an Electrical Engineer, I admire your set of skills. Well done. You're my idol
@15:16 good to see you are using your training! One-handed whenever possible.
Noticed that too. 😁
Thank you for the video delving into the battery repair vs replace debate. Clearly training is vital as is the 'Right to Repair' and repairability itself.
Insurance on EVs is ludicrous at present with prices seeming to consider any repair requiring a replacement of the entire car.
Great work in showing car companies that they need to step up their game with EV repairs!
I already knew the Leaf was poorly designed by Nissan (rapidgate, fast degradation because of no thermal management), but why oh why Nissan, would you make something so unserviceable! It’s as if they purposefully designed it to be replaced as a whole. You know in advance components like contactors will fail at some point. Why not put them somewhere accessible from the outside? It wouldn’t have been so hard to make a separate compartment with these components.
It is Nissan there is no new news . It is not reliable
Fair dues for training up.
Looks like user friendly design stops when you need to get the vehicle repaired. Seems a fairly straightforward step to have such faults self diagnosing. Or at least have built in CT's with easy access breakers. Terrible, these vehicles should be easier to maintain. Thanks for bringing us this!
Good one
What caused the contactor to fail in the first place
It’s usually the bounce as they close and the repeated rush of current that eventually welds them shut
What is much worse if the contactor fails in the opposite way, when it "closes" but does not connect properly. Usually with very interesting visual and acoustic effects. A fire extinguisher on hand is a good tip.
@@eddchina did you check the precharge resistor? Without it the high side contactor will see the inrush current from the HV caps in the inverters, causing the demise.
You're still the legend you always were and love to see you explain as well as carry out the work, you make it easy to follow. Top Man.
I feel sorry for the younger generation, where manufacturing is making repairs impossible for working class people ,and it costs a arm and leg for a number of battery cells.
Totally agree, back in my day a Beetle was so easy to tinker with with just a hammer and a few spanners!
@@eddchina
But the Beetle went wrong how many times in a year?
So true. Sad and almost landfill economy goal based seems on some days if were not for attempts to recycle albeit not in entirety. Neat is however getting more involved to hack into these assemblies and identify easier ways to detail the repairs. I have been entrenched in the gen 2 Prius as of late; finding where dealerships give up on the HV batteries, there are simple cost effective ways to get the vehicle back in service and on the road. Sometimes corrosion is the devil in the details and can be eliminated with say a small wire brush or wheel kit, torch tip cleaning kit, some deoxit and some very careful placement of conductive contact grease. Whether the bus bars or the sense wires ring terminals or harness connections. Maybe a bit of solder and crimping in more rare situations if not complete replacement of the battery harness. Worse situation I've not seen myself, replacement of the HV battery computer module. The cleaning is a nice bonus and if that is not the situation, then the module replacement in the bad blocks along with rebalancing the modules before bolting all back together. To each is their own, though if you have the time one can keep their Prius ride on the road for minimal financial investment with the right know how and determination. The subscription, licensing and lack of ownership of purchased property situation is gravely ill in my opinion. What is that trajectory along with the; what, advertising while we are asleep all invasive unable to power off?
@@rogerstarkey5390 If your Beetle problems could reasonably be tallied by the year and not the month you often were doing quite well. But then again back in the day they were 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of most everything else. When the Beetle was first sold in the US the average price of a new car was around $2,700 while the Beetle sold for around $800.
Best!
@@rogerstarkey5390 And then have a crash in one.... The ole man hated the things, after he was driving one and one of the wheels overtook him while going down a hill.
Good to see you back Edd, I watched all your episodes on Wheeler Dealers, you are a genius and very good with everything you do!
I now have a Hyundai Kona EV 64kwH but still enjoy fixing old petrol cars, keep up the good work!
Hope you have a merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year!!
Very interesting to see trouble shooting and repair on an EV battery. ICE powered vehicles the engine is usually the most complex part. With EVs, it's the battery system. I've got a plug in hybrid, so I get the best of both worlds. Hooray. However, after 7 years and 102,000 miles, the only thing it's had to go to the shop for was safety recalls.
The best place to put a contactor is to stick it at the top of the battery pack which you can conveniently lower and easily get to , replace faulty contactor, put it all back together to see if the new one works. I applaud this practical and sensible solution.
I can’t believe it took me this long to find Edd’s TH-cam channel
A few years ago, several reports of a failed main contactor in some Tesla Model S (perhaps Rich Rebuilds). It is also inside the battery pack, so requires removing the HV battery and peeling back the top cover, which is quite involved. Better to locate a failure-prone part where it can be easily replaced. Great to see Edd still active after Wheeler Dealers. They greatly overplayed the phony conflicts after he left.
Edd love your content, I think pretty much everything you do is great. If you want to get to 2mill subs produce more of your Eddness more frequently mate.❤😁👍
Thank you. Working on that! Now trying to do both weekly diary videos and full episodes when they are ready! Hope you like both!!
Fantastic to see you back Ed. Putting your skills to educating the motorist on serious issues. 👍
Great mechanic Edd China great work well done ❤
Thank you. Glad you like it!
Excellent video.
My concern is that repairs are so far between that my memory fades.
The older simple vehicles needed constant work and so reinforced memory.
Mechanics who work on modern vehicles daily know this stuff.
Fortunately, there is a long trouble-free mileage these days, and I have the registration mechanical checks included brakes, etc.
All comments reflect how reluctant traditional mechanics are towards the shift, but we need them to and better start somwhere, many thanks Ed for doing this
Then they are going to find themselves a dying breed as kids coming out of college with no bias for what fuel makes a car go pick up the ball they are dropping and run with it
I think we're seeing that with Cleevely's mobile EV servicing. All their customers live near a regular garage that would easily be capable of doing a regular service, but there must be enough reluctance to make it worthwhile sending people out to do it.
@thatguyjd372 that not the case or going to happen. Ev training costs thousands and colleges will not invest in training lecturers to teach it. Christ dealerships won't pay for technicians to go on training courses so there's absolutely no chance chadh strapped colleges are!
@@davidquinn5906there is, that's why ford cancelled all new ev product development and the construction of a factory to build ev's, dealers simply weren't willing to pay for training and buy demonstrator cars and stock, they knew what ev enquiries they were getting abd told ford we're not doing it.
My local garage has actually said they're certified for EV work, so I am pleased. So far I've gone to the dealer for warranty work, but I'd like a more local option.
9.20 'drop the battery pack'. >>> Er, how heavy is the battery pack? >>> 'Don't drop the battery pack!'
12.30 a Maintainability issue? Nah, Edd knows!
Brilliant video, I shall definitely subscribe.
Yes, it's time dealers stopped changing expensive modules and started dealing with the problem itself. If garages like Cleevelys can do so can they.
If this is a common failure issue, the car manufacturers should make the access to the unit more easy, like, for instance, a shutter box that is accessible from the underside of the car after you removed the protection panels, since that would save a lot of time and costs.
Agree...but Ed goes on to say that it was 14 days of labour for this. That's 112 hrs or work (?) and that's where the real costs come in.
@@andrewmillerphotography i think he means 14 days included the bosch high voltage course he went on. but now as he have that course, the next job will be much quicker.
This video is such an excelent example of proper professional work.
100% SOH in a - alt least - 7 year-old Leaf is simply unheard of even with all the TLC the Leaf batteries need to not be totally ruined before 50,000 miles.
It has been in the Bosch workshop for many years so perhaps it gets much better treatment than out on the road?
@@eddchina Thanks from the nice video! I have hustled with EV:s now some 15 years. Must say that 100% SOH is not possible if the car is not brand new. Maybe Bosch tester reset all the readings. I can do it with some other testing devices also. Normally after some 5 to 10 charging/dischargins readings can be more realistic. Have you checked SOH a littlebit later with Leafspy for example?
These are interesting things. Best regards from Finland and cheers!
Yeah when it read 100% I was ‘yeah right’ - but Ed’s answer makes sense
I'm suspecting a new battery here with 'faulty' contactor added for 'training purposes'.
@@peralind-q7c I have a brand new nissan EV and from the factory it was showing about 99.3% SOH :) And dropping about 1% every 6000km. Car never seen fastcharger and never charged above 80%, and it is a liquid cooled pack.
This is a breath of fresh air Edd! I've never seen an EV repair YT Video, so this was incredibly interesting.
Leccy cars demystified, nice one Edd. It's a shame the failed part wasn't easier to access.
Yeah but it wasn't sooo bad!
Moving forward it would be nice if manufacturers made the control system gubbins removable from the battery pack separately. That way it would be a lot simpler to get that off the car and work on it on a bench.
It’s more complicated on most cars though as there is a battery cooling system to disconnect too (the Leaf is air cooled like an old Beetle), still, nothing a good mechanic should not be able to cope with.
@ We all need an Edd China in our garage!
Well yes ... and replacing a cylinder head gasket was never a great challenge in the past ... but there's a lot of work to get at it!
Never seen an Edd video before; it's like watching Boris Johnson's long lost brother fix a car. But, in spite of all the Englishisms and EVisms, this was really easy to follow, even at 1.5X speed. Great job; thanks for posting.
Piece of cake if you have a Bosch workshop at your disposal.
Not to mention it takes hours to repair when it should take less than 1 in reality, not sure why they build EVs in such a way things like this are so hard to repalce
@@knight2425 BMW Diesel timing chain at the rear of the engine, requiring engine out to replace. All the wet belt cars with blocked oil pickups. If I was a mechanic I'd much rather do this job than either of those two.
@@st200ol Point is why make it so difficult when a simple access panel would make it a much quicker repair and don’t forget once EVs start getting into battery problems they quickly get scrapped.
@@knight2425 An access panel in the battery where high voltages are present, what could possibly go wrong. It needs to have a level of protection for the high voltage stuff. Did you watch this video? The whole point of it is for £150 plus labour its fixable, nothing like the £10K a new battery would cost. As more garages have specialists in this kind of thing every town and city will have somewhere you can take an EV for repairs like this. Whats more those level 4 trained mechanics will be able to pick and choose where they work and earn more than the grease monkeys. EV adoption is past the flat part of the bell curve now, EVs are happening now and not like it or not like it there is nothing anyone can do to stop it.
@@st200ol very true, but the 14 hours labour at a premium shop rate of 200£/hr or more adds up. And we don't yet know what the "while we are in there" items are, which can only come from experience. It's a long way from the simplicity of the old days.
So glad you're still going strong ed. I just seen a old top gear episode, not watched you since the wheeler dealer day's. You've just earned a new sub.
Holy Cow ! Edd, A person nowadays needs to be a certified electrical engineer to even attempt to do a serious repair on an electric vehicle. Its taken me a lifetime to master the 12v DC standard automotive electrical system. I think I'll stick to doing simple repairs on my 2 electric bikes and motorized bicycles. I'll leave this to the engineers and tech professionals. Thanks for another 1st class video. Cheers from California.
@beaubrummelmotorizedbicycles
You just said it yourself
"Its taken me a lifetime to master the 12v DC standard automotive electrical system"
So how about Major engine repairs?
If you don't do MAJOR repairs, it exactly the same situation, except this would be under the battery warranty (8 Years) during which time there's virtually zero service cost on the drivetrain.
OK?
@@rogerstarkey5390 Oh contare, I really do exaggerate for effect, I can and have done major automotive repairs my whole life also. I have even held a Smog Inspectors License in the State of California and was trained on a Sun Automotive Oscilloscope in 1967 at the age of 17. Also having held Certifications in Automotive Air Conditioning. Also utilized my high school and local Community College for formal training in Automotive Machining. I won't even go into the 10 hp mini bike I built at 15 that did 70 mph, or the numerous hot rod small block Chevy's I built. You really should check some of those so called MFG. Warranties and see how many are actually honored at at what cost.
I AM an electrical engineer. That's why I drive a 50 and 60 year old car.
@@andrewallen9993 I'm a lift engineer and think the same
I'm glad to see you back 🎉 I hope this is the first video in an endless series because we need something fresh,👏👍🍻🎉
Glad to have you back! Actually there are about six actual episodes (and some diary entries) before this one in our current run! Enjoy them all over Christmas!
Please Mr. Ed China take it seriously. I have been watching you since the time of wheeler dealers. You are a great technician. But you don't post as frequently as you should and people want to see you do what you do the best. I know you have been through some tough times but still. We all want to see you. God bless you always
You sir, are absolutely amazing!!! Thanks for your channel, it’s all I loved about wheelers dealers without the parts that I didn’t like, loooove it!!!
Ed says we can see what happens when we turn on the ignition, I don't believe EVs have an ignition. There is no fuel to ignite.😂😂
great to see someone working on a LEAF. They are such awesome cars.
I am happy to see you back. I always enjoyed seeing you on your previous program.
I learned a lot from you
Kind of skipped over the tens of thousands of pounds of test equipment and likely annual subscriptions required to actually use the test equipment......
Truth is, manufacturers simply don't want us to fix stuff, just buy new.
The combination of high volts and high current in an EV battery pack certainly deserves respect, and learning the right techniques is a great idea. I used to work with EHT (>25kV) all the time and the one-hand thing is certainly familiar!
I have a hybrid and would love to replace the cells in the battery as they've lost quite a bit of capacity since new. Dealer quoted almost £7k for a new battery pack, plus labour....and to top it all, they wanted payment up front with no guarantee of when or even if they could get the part. Sadly, the only time I've seen one of these packs taken apart, the guy doing it said it looked impossible to do without destroying it.
THe right kit isn't cheap but most garages will have to have it to work on any car in a few years (new legislation on its way). Modern car makers definitely need to make their stuff easier to work on and maintain otherwise people will just stop buying them in the first place.
@@eddchina Don't bet your ass on it, it's not going to well with the German brands and part suppliers like Bosch, people don't want these cars.
True watched a video from a US mechanic in a small town , only works on ice cars, he’s having to limit the brands of cars he’s working on because it’s $5k per year per license for the diagnostic software.
@@eddchina
Maybe one problem is that people who buy new cars typically don't do repairs or have to pay for them as they typically buy/lease a new car every 2 or 3 years. Therefore, there is little incentive for designers or producers to make cars that it is easy for the average DIY mechanic to repair? This has been a trend with ICE cars for years but seems to be even worse with EVs.
The music is great and you make it look super easy! Very edutaining! It's got a Gran Turismo vibe to it! Still the GOAT
The trouble is some batteries aren't being made repairable which is beyond dumb and then a battery cell goes U/S you can't just replace the single cell module or they will refuse to sell the BMS or charge controller .. you can see this with phones too a workable phone is junked because the battery needs a replacement and the makers just make it too hard to fix
@FreiherrDinkelacker yeah but Tesla's are arranged in modules - for example the Tesla Model 3 battery pack has four modules but the model S has 16 smaller modules .. The Nissan leaf has 24 modules
@@joedarkness808 makes no difference if they won't sell you those either
@FreiherrDinkelacker That nonsense has been debunked numerous times. It always comes back to the mining argument and the reality is even today EV's require less natural resources to produce, EV's produce far fewer greenhouse gases and that would reduce even further if we moved further towards renewable energy. A study was done a couple of years ago suggesting tyres and brakes produce way way more particulate matter than ICE exhaust pipes and with regen braking EV's barely use the brakes in comparison to ordinary cars. There is the argument they are harder on tyres though.
Ev's are also advancing significantly faster than regular cars ever did, bigger better batteries, preconditioning tech etc, also the infrastructure is nothing near as bad as the 10 year old scare stories would have us believe, charging points are everywhere and most EV's tell you where they are, how much they cost, if they are working and available and even pre heat the battery if you tap into the satnav you are visiting one so when you arrive they charge at full speed. The technology is advancing super quick.
@@jinx20001 2 human beings doing nothing "pollute" just as much as a regular car, than you have to add the animal kingdom, witch is by far much much bigger than humans.
@FreiherrDinkelacker
smh
They are NOT "AAA"
A "AAA" is (In "Tesla terms) a 10.5x44.5mm or more loosely an "11450".
The LARGEST Model S pack (100kWH) had 7,104 "18650" (18mm dia by 65mm long) cells (MUCH larger than "AAA") made using a completely different chemistry.
.
Apart from the wrong number, and the wrong size (and the wrong type) you're.... NOT close.
.
The VAST MAJORITY of Tesla cars (3 and Y) have between roughly 3,000 and 4,500 larger (2170) cells.
Very usefull video!! Thank you Edd!!❤ i,am mechanic for 30 years. I,am working on level 4!
Actually, the failed part is worth pennies, if this fails more often, rebuilding contactor blocks should be the norm.
Working in EV in France. I look like a cosmonaut to do what you are doing, filling administrative papers for each part of the intervention, and interdiction to do the opening under the car ( in fact there is often too much dirt). It wil be even more expensive in france due to that. However, leaf batteries have another big issue, there is some of them which have cells inflating. pushing the steel of the assy.
hahaha note on the last soh thing, i can tell you right now from experience that battery is not at 100% SOH
So he's lying us. What else he os lying about?
Bexause ADVERTISING BOSCH OS 100% truth.
Thanks Edd and crew for providing accurate subtitles
Thank you, the English transcription takes a while to get right, Google does the rest of the languages based on that. What language are you reading it in?
Top tip: If you drive an EV, don't keep a full can of gas in the trunk, keep a couple of AA batteries in the glove compartment.
Amazing how Ed has moved with the times using his incredible skills!|
Could have just diagnosed it with a BT obd2 plug and leafspy
Absolutely but I wanted to see the contactors dance!
@@eddchina
Maybe Check your prices?
Consensus for a Leaf replacement is about £4,000 OR 5,000 for an upgrade (A great option on the early cars) PLUS you should get about £1,000 exchange on the old pack(!)
Great Video!
Nissan Leafs are easy to repair and cheap to buy/repair. Cell modules are easily replaceable as well. Sadly not all batteries are that easy to repair. I think all shops who wish to repair EVs purchase an old Leaf or Model S to train on
it will be interesting how the salvage industry evolves regarding EVs especially with wrecked EVs.
One of the UK's biggest car dismantlers strip EVe just the same as other cars. It's just a case of knowing the correct isolation procedures (as shown here). Also bear in mind that many new ice cars are mild hybrid and have a high voltage battery that needs careful handling.
Problem with wrecks is the recovery chain being nervous in case a compromised pack is working its way up to thermal runway. So they need 8x the storage area while they 'cool down'. If the frame is bent enough to have potentially damaged the cells, the entire thing gets written off as they couldn't fit a new battery anyway.
I worked for a company that had a contract as an off site insurance auction yard for wrecked vehicles. EVs they wanted a 15m parameter around it at all times. Will start to be a problem as evs become more commonplace. They had a hundred cars at some times. Some of them didn't move for years. Not enough real estate for a large number of evs
Well sorted Ed. Good to see you making a seamless crossover from dinosaur juice to magic smoke. Hey, and no greasy paws! Nicely done and well explained mate. Cheers.
You'd think they would be smart enough to put a contactor where an access panel can allow it to be replaced
An IP rated hatch near it? They don't want US repairing our OWN cars do they.
They don't want you killing yourself either!
Brilliant to see Edd being a genius again on screen... 👍👍👍👍👍👍
Bad or lazy design, the contactors which are obviously a wear component should have a separate access door or be completely separate from the battery pack.
It is a pain but I guess it is all about safety!
@eddchina plus they can sell you a new car at the dealer when they tell you it needs a battery
Great stuff Ed, I was told that EV battery components never fail , thanks for the insight .
Lots of moaners on here. I’m enjoying the varied content. It’s an Edd China chocolate box
And we try very hard to make sure you never know what you’re gonna get!! Thanks for watching!
@eddchina I was wondering what would happen if you taught say Tom Nargy whose down the M40 and repairs his ICE & Electric Vans or Artisan Electrics who do batteries, Solar systems as well as repair houses. Or invite a bunch of local TH-cam creators whose content is about fixing electrics & fixing cars to a class run for you by Bosch. And each of you all got a series of episodes of content out of it (if each of you wanted to) and get the whole project funded by Bosch! Or failing that Nebula whose this sort of content is very up their street. Bosch could easily replicate this content in the North America & Australia/NZ. You should have all the contacts to make it happen but if you don't the Fully Charged Show would be a good replication tool as well
@@eddchina I will just stick with my 2010 Toyota Yaris it's simple like me
bla, bla, bla,bla bla bla-bla-bla-bla-bla
bla
Good to see you using the safety system of keeping one hand behind your back when working on the HV parts there. I learned that when working on old arcade machine monitors way back. For anyone interested, using two hands could cause an electrical shock between your hands to go through your heart. With only one hand it’ll travel to Earth. Your right arm is furthest from your heart so you don’t use your left arm 😁
My first job was repairing old CRT TV's in 70's and arcade machines and monitors in the 80's so working one handed in those situations is second nature. People only used to working on low voltages can soon come unstuck on high voltage systems if not used to it 👍
When i see people saying that 'my 100,000 mile Tesla has lost 40 miles of its range' I often thought well this is pretty natural for a battery, then had another thought that an ICE probably has lost that in its overall range too - with wear and tear on the engine and its components, its just that with an EV you can see exactly how much less you get with a full charge, but who would ever bother to measure the loss of overall mileage of their diesel or petrol engine for giving less per tank for roughly the same thing!!! EV bashing yet again!!!
My ICE is 20 years old. It still gets the same 400 miles to the tank today as it did new. ICE do not lose range, they may lose power, but it doesn't affect the range.
Ice cars do not lose range
Very smart repair technique, excellent safety protocols. Like the little vibra saw adhesive removal, quite smart. All in all, super skills demonstrated, and perfect results obtained mate.
They actually easily send a really good car to scrap yard for any fault in the battery, no authorized workshop is going to open up a battery pack and fix small things inside it, they tell you to change it all, and it costs crazy...
Really? I watched a TH-cam video posted by Cleveleys Electric Vehicles in Gloucestershire around 3 years ago. They carried out a battery pack refurbishment on a 10 year old Nissan Leaf. The work took 4 hours, and the cost was £500. What is your source of information regarding sending perfectly good cars to a scrapyard for *any* fault in a battery pack?
@Brian-om2hh they do that here in Sweden.
@@huss1205 Doubt. how many EVs are 8 years+ outside the warranty except the Roadster, S and leaf gen1?
Replacement batteries are in high demand for under warranty vehicles that barely started production. Some of them are likely written off to be used as spares vehicles.
Manufacturers also often want failed products in return to find the cause of failure.
Have experienced two vehicles with failed battery packs, my leaf, and family member with EV6. Both were repaired in Norway.
If you have the equipment and the know how, anything can be fixed. Some traditional ICE mechanics opt for replacement rather than repair, I believe it comes down to knowledge gained thru experience and I’m sure EV mechanics will get become very proficient as more evs hit the market. Thanks for the video Ed, really enjoyed it 😊
Ev's are just essentially big RC cars. Battery,speed controller, motor!
Who loves an Ed fix ? Yes of course , we all do . Keep em coming Ed.
I remember the good old days when you could repair your car on the road outside your house. No need to, somehow, gain access to a Bosch workshop with a lift and all sorts of expensive test equipment. I guess that is what they call progress these days though.
You could do this job on your driveway if you were inclined to do so, there are examples of people on TH-cam dropping EV batteries and replacing pyro-fuses for example on their driveways with basic tools.
What are you on about? This is less complicated than swapping out the combined oil sump and filter on an automatic gearbox.
By the way you don't have to drop the sump of the automatic gearbox.. you are making it up for the show.
But battery, to fix, REPLACE cells and other partS the fail inside ... yes you HAVE TO drop it on your chest.
Can I borrow you for that?
Before you continue arguing with me, I am one of those that dropped, myself, twice (x2) manual gearbox to replace clutch and flywheel on BMW...
so, I am NOT just a keyboard warrior as most of the people here!
Yeah. I remember the good old days when people repaired their cars in their rickety, leaking garages or on their driveways: sometimes even on the road outside.
I remember too those cars breaking down all too often and some being absolute death traps.
There is a channel I sometimes watch but will not name (you can explore TH-cam for content of people keeping older cars running) and some of the "fixes" are lethal imo.
I spent my first 2 years of working life as an apprentice in a garage which ended when my gaffer, the owner died from cancer. He taught me well which included never bodging, never taking short cuts and never risking safety.
I have carried those formative lessons through the last 30 years and never had a roadside failure in that time. Some might say that I have been lucky but by doing regular checks, keeping up the servicing and maintenance and being vigilant I believe that if there has been any luck involved it is because I have made my own luck.
The state of some cars on the roads is appalling and it bothers me that here in the UK you can run a car of 40 years old or more without even a mandatory annual road worthiness check. Ridiculous.
@@michaelgoode9555 I would take a pre 1975 deathtrap over a brand new anything, but that's just grumpy old man who loves the smell of brake fluid burning off the exhaust manifold after a huge repair session.
Was a Nissan master tech for 4 years. Never got a chance to get this involved. Great bit of info