Hi Sam….just bought a LEAF and found your videos. Sorry to hear about what’s going on re: personal side of things. I hope you come back to innovating and demonstrating! God bless and protect you!
Oh how I have been waiting for this video! So incredible to see that the swap was succesful 🤩! Congratulations! Oh, and a tip for the powerwall, can't see it from distance, but the cells need to be under compression. Otherwise they swell/shrink during charge/discharge and can tear the terminals from the busbars! Looking good!
Stacking the modules horizontally created a myriad of technical difficulties. Now I know why everybody on the DIY powerwalls fb group stacks them vertically. The modules are under compression, I used some of the brackets from inside the battery as 'bookends' along with spacers and washers in between each individual module. One terminal was somehow damaged during the assembly process though. I found out when I was putting the bolts through the busbars and threw some sparks, indicating a short INSIDE the module. I had to disassemble the first row, remove the module, and reassemble it. Then tweak the busbars as the spacing had shifted somewhat. After removal, I fully inserted the bolt into the shorted battery to test the limits of these modules safety. No real dangerous effects observed. The G1 modules are, . . literally unbelievably safe to use in home powerwalls. My advice to you: Use vertical module stacks. And mill oval holes into the busbars (not circles) to allow for a mm or two of shifting even when bolted down. I know you will build an incredible stationary storage set-up some day!
Someone actually contacted me and bought the entire (battery-less) car for $1500. He's using it in a conversion project. I was over the moon to not have to spend the next 2 weekends dismantling it and shipping parts, all though there are a few people mad at me on the forum. It was a great project to get me comfortable working with the Leaf battery. At some point someone will have to be the first person to attach a custom MPPT charge controller straight from roof mounted solar to the Leaf battery. I have a suspicion that person will be me, so I better start getting comfortable working with them.
@@InnovativeSustainableSolutions Hahaha awesome! And don't worry I'll test it on my battery first 😛 Last I heard the build should be done in another week...
I found this video when I was looking at ways to pair the new battery. After watching this I followed the instructions but could not work out how to get that code, so it just deleted all the DTCs. all errors disappeared and it is working as normal! THANKS!
Nice work man. Adaptability is paramount in this process. My suspicion is that the guy I got the override code from, knows somebody who works at Nissan who is probably not supposed to give those codes out ;)
@@InnovativeSustainableSolutions "Nice work man." the code came from...leaf spy!, I read the DTC's and the P-code appeared in the box. I then deleted it and car was back to normal but with a 10 bar battery.
Great video. You finally showed how the actual lowering of the battery was going to work. That making for center was just what I needed to know I'm going to use a motorcycle lift to hopefully avoid the jack slip problem. I'll lower the battery on to two furniture dollies.
When we get our Cybertruck (2022 hopefully) I ain't gonna risk voiding the warranty on that thing. It's too expensive. The Leaf is perfect for a project car, or people with a very limited budget who want to drive electric, because it's so cheap. Thanks for watching, without people like you I wouldn't get the clicks to get TH-cam's advertisers' to pay for these experiments.
hahaha everyone in the bolt forums are freaking out about the recent fires after the latest update. I too have a 2017 and im not worried YET... man it would be amazing if GM does a battery swap like Kia did with the same pack!
I would need the current risk of fire to at least double before it would enter a statistical risk area that I start to consider "dangerous". It's possible that 10 Bolts catch fire today, in which case I would retract my "endorsement" (do you even get to use that word if your channel is this small) of the car, and stop parking it indoors. But then again if 10 Bolts catch fire today, we will all be part of same insane class action lawsuit where GM buys our cars back at purchase price, so either way we win. Your right about the battery swap being ideal though. I think LG makes the Bolt pack. Hopefully they want to step in and prevent further damage to their reputation.
Maybe a bottle jack or the scissor jack from the trunk with a wider base plate welded/bolted to it for stability might make future battery swaps a little easier? They lift and lower straight up and down, so the battery could be lowered straight down onto some casters and then rolled out from under the car. I think it would cost about the same as buying a new floor jack, but you already have a floor jack so, meh. 7:14 "Holy sh*t" - yup, that about sums up my reaction! That new LeafSpy update is amazing! Super cool video!
I'm just bought a long bolts instead original ones what holds a battery. Using them as a guide pins unil battery is all way up/down. And 2 jacks. It makes it easy. Yes, 30 and 40 are bolt on, but you need a can bridge to make it work.
@@pashko90 you don't need a bridge to make it work anymore, unless you don't want to see flipping estimation between range remaining, and range when battery is full on your instrument cluster. That's potential £650 saving here, and I would live with flipping numbers 😅
@@vladzis flipping data is not only one problem here. Ze0(11-12 cars) will not gonna even strart with a pack from 13+. Is it something what can be fixed with lefspy right now? On 13+(aze0 24 and 30 kWh) cars packs from ze1(will start only ones per batery connection with bunch of codes about communication. It is someting what leafspy can do right now? Where i can read about it? I was thinking what they just added function to fix p3102 troble code(invalid battery).
Thank you for the info on the video! I’m looking to get a 2011 LEAF and start my journey to switch to EVs and piss my wife off spending time modifying it! 😂🤣 I’m gonna get some couch time but whatever, electrify everything! Lolz. Thanks Sam!
Life situation changed. I am no longer a two car (or person) household. Since it's just me, I had to get a vehicle with more range. This was one of the funnest builds I've done in my life though. Huge success as far as proof of concept. I drove it for years before I sold it to someone else. Now I mainly do consulting work for people who reach out to me through my contact e-mail. As car prices start to come down again and we get more and more used EVs on the road, I think a lot more people will start tinkering with vehicle mounted solar
You mention in this video that your eventual plan for your 'powerwall' is to be 60V, while the next one shows you have built it as 48ish (and mention you are planning on upgrading more in the future). Is your eventual plan to put in extra modules and go past 48V, or would you add additional packs into each module in parallel?
Thats a tough one. The actual voltage range of a 14s pack is 44.8-58.8. So 60v is not out of the question for 7 modules in series. The voltage you build to really depends on how much power you are planning on pulling out of the pack. For a small house 48v would work fine. If I were going to build a battery bank for supplying off grid power to a house, a shop, a greenhouse, etc. I would want to increase the voltage so as to reduce the amperage (which tends to be the more problematic of the two to work with).
Thank you for your posts, fantastic! Do you have an update on the solar charging? I'm looking at a Leaf that has a 40 mile range, my work is 30 miles round trip, no charging stations. I work nights, so would need to carry a charge with me. solar panels and batteries sound like the setup I need. thanks again!
Im actually amazed nothing has broke for the last year since I posted this video. The inverter, batteries, roof rack, and panels, havn't missed a beat. I really like using batteries that have a built in bms. The Valence batteries I have been using have been incredible, as has the Giandel 12v inverter. You really don't need to add much range at all, so as little as 3 kwh of batteries should be plenty
@@InnovativeSustainableSolutions thank you for the response, greatly appreciated. The vehicle I'm looking at has 6 bars on the battery. I'm guessing that it would continue to degrade, amd a new or refurbished battery would be needed within a year or so.
@@jaydub5728 All my Patreon posts are open, so anyone can see all of them. Patrons support me purely altruistically and receive no hidden perks. Refurbishing a battery pack requires being able to source lightly degraded modules. This has become, to be perfectly honest, impossible, unfortunately. But there are some tricks to slow the rate of degredation of your 6 bar Leaf
We spoke briefly a year ago. I tried to buy a CAN-bridge from them but ultimately went another route. I really like the work they are doing know with retrofitting a cooling system into a Leaf battery pack. That is genius, and work worth doing. Great team
Hi, thanks to this I was able to do a battery swap! But now I can’t pair using Leafspy. I read and clear the codes but it’s still not paired. Interestingly, I don’t get the Pair Leaf with Battery screen you have in 9:06. Any tips?
Happy to have been of assistance. Reach out to me at the contact email listed in the "About" section of this TH-cam channel. I will give you the contact info of a friend of mine who can probably help you.
Please 🙏🏻 I need help with this Nissan Leaf 2013 codes p31e7 p0aa6 and c1705. I don’t have access to a dealership so I will have to do the repair myself. So what do I need as parts? . Thanks
You can't really anymore. Maybe try Nissan, but good luck. All available batteries now come from wrecks. The car I took mine out of was sold to someone who was doing an EV conversion using the donor Leafs electric drive train.
Looks like the EconomEV of the Week sold already (7-18-2021).
Hi Sam….just bought a LEAF and found your videos. Sorry to hear about what’s going on re: personal side of things. I hope you come back to innovating and demonstrating! God bless and protect you!
Oh how I have been waiting for this video! So incredible to see that the swap was succesful 🤩! Congratulations!
Oh, and a tip for the powerwall, can't see it from distance, but the cells need to be under compression. Otherwise they swell/shrink during charge/discharge and can tear the terminals from the busbars! Looking good!
Stacking the modules horizontally created a myriad of technical difficulties. Now I know why everybody on the DIY powerwalls fb group stacks them vertically. The modules are under compression, I used some of the brackets from inside the battery as 'bookends' along with spacers and washers in between each individual module. One terminal was somehow damaged during the assembly process though. I found out when I was putting the bolts through the busbars and threw some sparks, indicating a short INSIDE the module. I had to disassemble the first row, remove the module, and reassemble it. Then tweak the busbars as the spacing had shifted somewhat. After removal, I fully inserted the bolt into the shorted battery to test the limits of these modules safety. No real dangerous effects observed. The G1 modules are, . . literally unbelievably safe to use in home powerwalls. My advice to you: Use vertical module stacks. And mill oval holes into the busbars (not circles) to allow for a mm or two of shifting even when bolted down. I know you will build an incredible stationary storage set-up some day!
Great to see all your progress! And I love that you're re/upcycling all the parts from the black Leaf too, that's a cool way to do it.
Someone actually contacted me and bought the entire (battery-less) car for $1500. He's using it in a conversion project. I was over the moon to not have to spend the next 2 weekends dismantling it and shipping parts, all though there are a few people mad at me on the forum. It was a great project to get me comfortable working with the Leaf battery. At some point someone will have to be the first person to attach a custom MPPT charge controller straight from roof mounted solar to the Leaf battery. I have a suspicion that person will be me, so I better start getting comfortable working with them.
@@InnovativeSustainableSolutions Hahaha awesome! And don't worry I'll test it on my battery first 😛 Last I heard the build should be done in another week...
I found this video when I was looking at ways to pair the new battery. After watching this I followed the instructions but could not work out how to get that code, so it just deleted all the DTCs. all errors disappeared and it is working as normal! THANKS!
Nice work man. Adaptability is paramount in this process. My suspicion is that the guy I got the override code from, knows somebody who works at Nissan who is probably not supposed to give those codes out ;)
@@InnovativeSustainableSolutions "Nice work man." the code came from...leaf spy!, I read the DTC's and the P-code appeared in the box. I then deleted it and car was back to normal but with a 10 bar battery.
Great video. You finally showed how the actual lowering of the battery was going to work. That making for center was just what I needed to know I'm going to use a motorcycle lift to hopefully avoid the jack slip problem. I'll lower the battery on to two furniture dollies.
That should work well. Recruit an adventurous buddy to help you out too. There's not too much too it, but an extra pair of hands would be helpful
You can install came pack on your car and you don't need can bridge. You need a can bridge in cases as 24 to 30, 40, 62 kWh upgrades.
Love following your journey, never gonna be brave enough to try these things on my tesla but living vicariously through you
When we get our Cybertruck (2022 hopefully) I ain't gonna risk voiding the warranty on that thing. It's too expensive. The Leaf is perfect for a project car, or people with a very limited budget who want to drive electric, because it's so cheap. Thanks for watching, without people like you I wouldn't get the clicks to get TH-cam's advertisers' to pay for these experiments.
This kid is good
hahaha everyone in the bolt forums are freaking out about the recent fires after the latest update. I too have a 2017 and im not worried YET... man it would be amazing if GM does a battery swap like Kia did with the same pack!
I don't understand the panic either. We all parked ICE cars in our garages for years. Everyone of which has a comparable combustion risk
I would need the current risk of fire to at least double before it would enter a statistical risk area that I start to consider "dangerous". It's possible that 10 Bolts catch fire today, in which case I would retract my "endorsement" (do you even get to use that word if your channel is this small) of the car, and stop parking it indoors. But then again if 10 Bolts catch fire today, we will all be part of same insane class action lawsuit where GM buys our cars back at purchase price, so either way we win. Your right about the battery swap being ideal though. I think LG makes the Bolt pack. Hopefully they want to step in and prevent further damage to their reputation.
TH-cam recommends your channel to watch on. It's interesting 😊
Keep it going, I am happy to see your progress.
Maybe a bottle jack or the scissor jack from the trunk with a wider base plate welded/bolted to it for stability might make future battery swaps a little easier? They lift and lower straight up and down, so the battery could be lowered straight down onto some casters and then rolled out from under the car. I think it would cost about the same as buying a new floor jack, but you already have a floor jack so, meh.
7:14 "Holy sh*t" - yup, that about sums up my reaction! That new LeafSpy update is amazing! Super cool video!
30 and 40kWh is plug and play. 62kWh needs extra brackets.
I'm just bought a long bolts instead original ones what holds a battery. Using them as a guide pins unil battery is all way up/down. And 2 jacks. It makes it easy.
Yes, 30 and 40 are bolt on, but you need a can bridge to make it work.
@@pashko90 you don't need a bridge to make it work anymore, unless you don't want to see flipping estimation between range remaining, and range when battery is full on your instrument cluster. That's potential £650 saving here, and I would live with flipping numbers 😅
@@vladzis flipping data is not only one problem here. Ze0(11-12 cars) will not gonna even strart with a pack from 13+. Is it something what can be fixed with lefspy right now? On 13+(aze0 24 and 30 kWh) cars packs from ze1(will start only ones per batery connection with bunch of codes about communication. It is someting what leafspy can do right now? Where i can read about it? I was thinking what they just added function to fix p3102 troble code(invalid battery).
@@pashko90 it's beta version, but yes, you can do this now.
A little bit of plywood on some scissor jacks?
Hi, I have a 2014 Nissan Leaf with 240.000km and a SOH of 70%. Still able to do my 80km comute every day without having to charge mid day.
Thank you for the info on the video! I’m looking to get a 2011 LEAF and start my journey to switch to EVs and piss my wife off spending time modifying it! 😂🤣 I’m gonna get some couch time but whatever, electrify everything! Lolz. Thanks Sam!
He should have sold the car so that someone could drive it instead of it getting destroyed.
Hey where'd you go man? Are you still around or did the car makers get you?
Life situation changed. I am no longer a two car (or person) household. Since it's just me, I had to get a vehicle with more range. This was one of the funnest builds I've done in my life though. Huge success as far as proof of concept. I drove it for years before I sold it to someone else. Now I mainly do consulting work for people who reach out to me through my contact e-mail. As car prices start to come down again and we get more and more used EVs on the road, I think a lot more people will start tinkering with vehicle mounted solar
You mention in this video that your eventual plan for your 'powerwall' is to be 60V, while the next one shows you have built it as 48ish (and mention you are planning on upgrading more in the future). Is your eventual plan to put in extra modules and go past 48V, or would you add additional packs into each module in parallel?
Thats a tough one. The actual voltage range of a 14s pack is 44.8-58.8. So 60v is not out of the question for 7 modules in series. The voltage you build to really depends on how much power you are planning on pulling out of the pack. For a small house 48v would work fine. If I were going to build a battery bank for supplying off grid power to a house, a shop, a greenhouse, etc. I would want to increase the voltage so as to reduce the amperage (which tends to be the more problematic of the two to work with).
Thank you for your posts, fantastic! Do you have an update on the solar charging? I'm looking at a Leaf that has a 40 mile range, my work is 30 miles round trip, no charging stations. I work nights, so would need to carry a charge with me. solar panels and batteries sound like the setup I need. thanks again!
Im actually amazed nothing has broke for the last year since I posted this video. The inverter, batteries, roof rack, and panels, havn't missed a beat. I really like using batteries that have a built in bms. The Valence batteries I have been using have been incredible, as has the Giandel 12v inverter. You really don't need to add much range at all, so as little as 3 kwh of batteries should be plenty
@@InnovativeSustainableSolutions thank you for the response, greatly appreciated. The vehicle I'm looking at has 6 bars on the battery. I'm guessing that it would continue to degrade, amd a new or refurbished battery would be needed within a year or so.
Do you have detailed build instructions on yiur patreon?
@@jaydub5728 All my Patreon posts are open, so anyone can see all of them. Patrons support me purely altruistically and receive no hidden perks. Refurbishing a battery pack requires being able to source lightly degraded modules. This has become, to be perfectly honest, impossible, unfortunately. But there are some tricks to slow the rate of degredation of your 6 bar Leaf
what about getting a bigger battery pack for longer range?
Are you in touch with EV’s Enhanced in New Zealand?
We spoke briefly a year ago. I tried to buy a CAN-bridge from them but ultimately went another route. I really like the work they are doing know with retrofitting a cooling system into a Leaf battery pack. That is genius, and work worth doing. Great team
Awesome vlog
Hi, thanks to this I was able to do a battery swap! But now I can’t pair using Leafspy. I read and clear the codes but it’s still not paired. Interestingly, I don’t get the Pair Leaf with Battery screen you have in 9:06. Any tips?
Happy to have been of assistance. Reach out to me at the contact email listed in the "About" section of this TH-cam channel. I will give you the contact info of a friend of mine who can probably help you.
Keep it going!
....Yep ....EZ ....let me get Right on this!!
Please 🙏🏻 I need help with this Nissan Leaf 2013 codes p31e7 p0aa6 and c1705. I don’t have access to a dealership so I will have to do the repair myself. So what do I need as parts? . Thanks
hi can you please share the override code for leaf spy pro? installing a 62kwh into 2015 leaf, thanks!
My understanding is that it only works for swapping to another 24 kwh.
Driver fender and headlight is still good?
where you buy a new battery?
You can't really anymore. Maybe try Nissan, but good luck. All available batteries now come from wrecks. The car I took mine out of was sold to someone who was doing an EV conversion using the donor Leafs electric drive train.
There are companies that sell new packs for LEAFs. Search for this video:
"Nissan Leaf battery replacement and upgrade project"
What year is your Leaf? 2011 and 2022 is very different to 2013 and up.
My Leaf is a 2011. The donor battery was from a 2014 warranty replacement I believe
@@InnovativeSustainableSolutions So, everything working just fine? Can it charge at 6.6 wkh at level 2 charging station? Or only charge at 3.3 wkh
The rattlesnakes must be huge there 😳
We have to lift those with a jack too 😆
What’s the latest updates?
We need more outfits doing this upgrade. So badly want to upgrade my Leaf but I'm no mechanic. Or electrician. Or technician.
Where is your facebook group? I can't find it :(
So what's the new range now?
Replacement was 11 bar battery. Range at 55 mph on flat ground with no headwind is about 65 miles
no way would I do this like that