range extender

[Stoaty]

When I bought my Leaf, I knew that LiMn batteries were, in general, not nearly as trouble free or as long lived as LiFePo. But, I figured "Nissan must know what they're doing" and bought the Leaf despite my reservations about the battery chemistry. Of course I am disappointed that my Leaf battery is dying prematurely but have hopes that Nissan will make it right.

Have you lost a capacity bar? I see 83% capacity listed in your signature. If so, give use all the details so we may include you in the table of "bar losers" in the Wiki.

 

[mckemie]

Have you lost a capacity bar? I see 83% capacity listed in your signature. If so, give use all the details so we may include you in the table of "bar losers" in the Wiki.

I'll comment that the "bars" are about the most asinine way to present energy and capacity I can imagine.

I have lost one bar from the outer ring.

The "gid" measure is consistent and seems reliable. When I added the "83%" line to my sig, that was data from the gidmeter. Now, I am at about 80%. Checking my log.....
My last three 100% charges have yielded gid readings of 226, 233, and 225.
When I got my gidmeter, in April, I was running as high as 256 on 100% charges.
I did not pay attention as to when the "bar" disappeared.

I don't wish to appear too negative on my Leaf. I would love it deeply if I had no battery problem.

 

[davewill]

1. The EVSE Upgrade to work on 240/208. I do not believe the answers given were correct. Granted the Car may desire and request 17 or 22, but the units can only give 12 and 16. The car will have to settle for 12 or 16 and make do.

With J1772, the car doesn't "request" anything. The EVSE advertises itself as capable of 12a or 16a, then the car is supposed to limit itself to that. If the car with Enginer system draws 17a when told 16a, it will succeed so long as the circuit breaker doesn't trip. The modded EVSE will probably get a little warmer, but I doubt it would be significant.

 

[chenyj]

We will be having an 8KWH kit installation / demo on a Nissan Leaf during the upcoming Green Drive Expo (http://www.greendriveexpo.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false on September 15, 2012 (Craneway Pavilion, Richmond, CA). Everyone is welcomed to observe.

 

[TonyWilliams]

We will be having an 8KWH kit installation / demo on a Nissan Leaf during the upcoming Green Drive Expo (http://www.greendriveexpo.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false on September 15, 2012 (Craneway Pavilion, Richmond, CA). Everyone is welcomed to observe.

It would be awesome if you could bring that down to our San Diego National Plug In Day celebration on Sept 23.

 

[Deleted member 7875]

I am probably going to give this a try because I already have an 8 KW hr Engineer pack I have pulled out of my 2010 Prius, and I like the way the Enginer Kit can tap into the Level II charging Sysetem for the Leaf. I am getting my Level II EVSE today, and it will be capable of 30 Amps, so my understanding is that even though the Leaf charger will limit to 16 Amps, the additional amps called for by the Engineer charger will not tax the 30 Amp capacitiy of my Level II charger.

I gather I will need to purchase a different 390 V dc output Inverter, and not sure yet if I need to buy a different 230 V Enginer charger, or if the one I have already might be auto ranging to 240 V.

If anyone has more detailed instructions than the series of photos at http://enginer.us/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=Leaf+Installation+Manual, please share.

 

[theaveng]

We will be having an 8KWH kit installation / demo on a Nissan Leaf during the upcoming Green Drive Expo (http://www.greendriveexpo.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false on September 15, 2012 (Craneway Pavilion, Richmond, CA). Everyone is welcomed to observe.

So how did the demonstration go?

Prius Owners are adding packs to their Prius Plugins to extend range. I've not heard of any problems with charging the extra big battery, so it should work on the Leaf.... I guess? Certainly cheaper than buying a $60,000 Tesla to get extended range.

 

[N952JL]

The Tesla big battery also has larger chargers. If we could get the Nissan up to 50kWh battery total with the normal 30amp EVSE would take at least nine hours to charge, and still only give you 150 mile range. Not as good as the 85wHr Tesla.

 

[theaveng]

If I were buying a Tesla it would be the 60 Whr version. Or buy a Leaf for one-third as much and the 50 Whr expansion.

 

[rmay635703]

If I were buying a Tesla it would be the 60 Whr version. Or buy a Leaf for one-third as much and the 50 Whr expansion.

standard alkaline D cell batteries hold about 15 Whr, a 60 whr expansion would drive my EV 25mph for about 1 minute.

 

[theaveng]

I'll comment that the "bars" are about the most asinine way to present energy and capacity I can imagine. I have lost one bar from the outer ring. The "gid" measure is consistent and seems reliable.

Not just the Leaf but every electric hybrid I've ever driven presented measurements in this fashion (with bars). The original insight, the original Prius, the original Civic hybrid, the new insight, the new G2 prius, the new civic, and also the CRZ hybrid. The purpose is to mimic the way the fuel gauge appears (also bars).

 

[theaveng]

If I were buying a Tesla it would be the 60 Whr version. Or buy a Leaf for one-third as much and the 50 Whr expansion.

standard alkaline D cell batteries hold about 15 Whr, a 60 whr expansion would drive my EV 25mph for about 1 minute.

Yeah fine I left off the "k" in my sentence. I don't mind being corrected when I make mistakes, but I do mind rudeness. I'm sure you've made your share of mistakes too, and I look forward to the next one you make so I can HAMMER you the way you hammered me.

 

[fotajoye]

What you need and the world needs is a cheaper, lighter, less-expensive, more energy-dense traction battery that will power a car for at least 150 miles at 65 mph.

Argonne Labs is working on it. Google "JCESR." Otherwise, I suggest a "Volt."

 

[TomT]

Just ignore theaveng. Pretty much everyone else on here already does...

I don't mind being corrected when I make mistakes, but I do mind rudeness. I'm sure you've made your share of mistakes too, and I look forward to the next one you make so I can HAMMER you the way you hammered me.

 

[rdparks]

Is there any discussion of "range extender" that is a towable gas powered generator? If there is such a thread, please point me to it.

It seems to me a 15kW generator running flat out could extend the Leaf range easily to 300 miles.

At 75MPH the Leaf gets about 3.5 mi/kWH. So, in 1 hour, about 18kWH will be consumed. If the generator is supply a steady 15kW, then the average load on the batteries would be only 5kW per hour. The Leaf pack should last about 4-6 hours easily at that rate.

As energy demand fluctuates, any excess from the 15kW generator can be used to recharge the battery.

4 hours at 75 MPH is 300 miles. If you stop an hour for lunch or dinner, the generator could replinish the battery fully. It seems to me this would make a 500 mile full day trip reasonable.

I would imagine the generator would be a small trailer attachment. This would keep the generatir noise away from the car.

Has anyone heard of anyone pursing such a thing?

 

[TomT]

It's been talked about many times on other threads on here but nothing (other than Phil's experimental Capstone Turbine) has ever come of it...

Has anyone heard of anyone pursing such a thing?

 

[N952JL]

It's been talked about many times on other threads on here but nothing (other than Phil's experimental Capstone Turbine) has ever come of it...

Has anyone heard of anyone pursing such a thing?

You might want to follow this person's work: "http://www.evdrive.com/prototypes/2010/08/25/close-look-2/"

 

[N952JL]

It's been talked about many times on other threads on here but nothing (other than Phil's experimental Capstone Turbine) has ever come of it...

Has anyone heard of anyone pursing such a thing?

You might want to follow this person's work: "http://www.evdrive.com/prototypes/2010/08/25/close-look-2/"

Let's try that link again. "http://www.evdrive.com/prototypes/2010/08/25/close-look-2/"

 

[dm33]

Is there any discussion of "range extender" that is a towable gas powered generator? If there is such a thread, please point me to it.

It seems to me a 15kW generator running flat out could extend the Leaf range easily to 300 miles.

At 75MPH the Leaf gets about 3.5 mi/kWH. So, in 1 hour, about 18kWH will be consumed. If the generator is supply a steady 15kW, then the average load on the batteries would be only 5kW per hour. The Leaf pack should last about 4-6 hours easily at that rate.

As energy demand fluctuates, any excess from the 15kW generator can be used to recharge the battery.

4 hours at 75 MPH is 300 miles. If you stop an hour for lunch or dinner, the generator could replinish the battery fully. It seems to me this would make a 500 mile full day trip reasonable.

I would imagine the generator would be a small trailer attachment. This would keep the generatir noise away from the car.

Has anyone heard of anyone pursing such a thing?

Seems like an interesting idea. I wish someone would consider making such a device. Could use it on most BEVs.

Most of the time you don't use it or need it. But when you want to make a long trip, hitch it up and take the long trip. Its like the Volt range extender except that you don't have to lug around an engine and gas tank except in the rare occasion when you want to take a long trip.

 

[surfingslovak]

Has anyone heard of anyone pursing such a thing?

Seems like an interesting idea. I wish someone would consider making such a device. Could use it on most BEVs.
Most of the time you don't use it or need it. But when you want to make a long trip, hitch it up and take the long trip. Its like the Volt range extender except that you don't have to lug around an engine and gas tank except in the rare occasion when you want to take a long trip.

You might find this old thread to be of interest: The “range–extended” EV (BEVx) considered

Also the following GCR article: 2012 Nissan Leaf Gets Unofficial Jet-Powered Range Extender, Quick Charger