Extending range of 24kWh Leaf with LeafBox

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Piro

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 19, 2017
Messages
47
Location
Kraków, Poland
Hello all, I'm Thomas, developer of Outlander PHEVBox Range Extender and also new LeafBox - and also proud Leaf 24kWh owner :)

As I have finished LeafBox project and final tests are conducted now by various Leaf owners, I have a question if anybody would like to be a beta tester. I still have about 5 prototypes to be sent.
Whole idea is described here: http://vtechtuning.eu/leafbox.html

There is no magic in it. Extra range comes from gliding option, alternative torque management (described in link) and extra regeneration added to D-mode (good for those, who don't have B mode at all).

By the way I have also written reader-flasher for Leaf ECM, so I have analyzed it's maps and did some "Leaf-ludicrous" mode while ECO off, but I think battery suffers from higher current. All in all - I love Leafs and I do a project for them. You can help me.

My Facebook for this project is : https://www.facebook.com/NissanLeafTuning/
BR
Thomas
 
I have a '13S with no B mode but I love regen, I use ECO which helps greatly but are you saying with your mod I'd have even more regen?
I also have a '12SL missing 2 bars, it also has no B mode and it's ECO mode while it does give a bit more regen is still nothing like my '13. Most of the time with my '12 I have 1 or zero bubbles of regen possible even with mid level SOC, I believe due to the degraded battery, would your device give me better regen on it? The one thing I'm worried about is if Nissan specifically limited regen on a degraded battery for a safety feature or to help with further degradation of the battery, would I be making things much worse? I'd really like to get more regen on my '12 as with it's degraded battery I really need the extra range, I'd be interested in such a device.
 
Jeff, I have no idea how it helps to degraded battery owners, as all my testers till now have SOC>=90.

Theoretically extended regen should be independent from SOC or at least increase proportionally. For healthy batts we see about 4kW more regen over standard D-mode regen.

If you want to be my tester I will send you one LeafBox free, just give me contact to priv. message.

PS: I have built also an adapter that translates 30kWh battery control into 24kWh car (proven only in 2013, as I have such one). I think this may be also useful in the future.
 
Piro said:
Jeff, I have no idea how it helps to degraded battery owners, as all my testers till now have SOC>=90.

Theoretically extended regen should be independent from SOC or at least increase proportionally. For healthy batts we see about 4kW more regen over standard D-mode regen.

If you want to be my tester I will send you one LeafBox free, just give me contact to priv. message.
Just to be clear, when you say "For healthy batts we see about 4kW more regen over standard D-mode regen" is that the same for ECO mode? I really only use ECO mode on both my Leafs(although I could do testing in non ECO if you'd like) and I'm not sure whats limiting regen so much on my '12 but it seems several things can limit regen. For example cold weather, my dash might show 3 or 4 bubbles of regen possible but when it's cold I might only see 1 or 2 bubbles lite even with moderate break pedal pushing. I've also seen more regen bubbles showing than I'm actually allowed to use in other cases but I'm not sure whats limiting it then.
I imagine others must see this as well but often times even in the summer I might see 2 or 3 bubbles available but if I tap on the break or even just brake a bit I might see that number rise to 3 or 4 bubbles, like after taking a bit of regen the battery tells the computer, I can take more....sometimes those regen bubbles and overall regen seems to have a mind of it's own, I wish I had more control over it ! again unless it means doing long term damage to my battery :)
I'll PM you my info.
 
All tests are conducted in ECO mode, as in normal mode I planned LeafBox to be off.
Influence on level of regen is beside of level permitted by the system - let's say LeafBox "promotes" more regen overall, but of course can be limited by ECM.
 
that is very cool. I always wondered if more torque can be commanded to the electric motor (ie ludicrous mode) and it looks like you may have figured that out! where did you get the data on maximum current draw for the 24 KWH battery being 83 KW? I ask because Tesla can pull 567KW from a 100 KWH battery then (ie P100D? which makes me think the Leaf (assuming the same scaling) should be able to draw in the 120-130kw range.

pardon me if that quick math is invalid. I have not started studying much on lithium ion discharge rates / EV stuff yet, but I am a car nut so that will come.

does the leaf box plug into the OBD2 port to hijack/modify these signals or how does it talk on the CAN bus? can creep mode be turned off or at least turned way down?

Marko
 
There are two different solutions - LeafBox is basically a torque controller, and flasher is OBD/CAN interface capable to reprogram Leaf's ECM.
 
How, exactly, is Leafbox installed? Is it leased-car-friendly? If I do end up with another leaf, I'd definitely like to be able to raise the torque for at least a few seconds. What about HP? Or, to put it another way, can it provide more torque at higher speeds?

EDIT: Ok, I see the 3kw increase in power.
 
I live in Portugal and I have a 11 bar (84% SOH) 2013 gen 1 LEAF with almost 60.000km.

If you think I could be a good tester I will happily test it.
 
LeftieBiker said:
How, exactly, is Leafbox installed? Is it leased-car-friendly? If I do end up with another leaf, I'd definitely like to be able to raise the torque for at least a few seconds. What about HP? Or, to put it another way, can it provide more torque at higher speeds?

EDIT: Ok, I see the 3kw increase in power.

It can do more, but I'm afraid of battery.

LeafBox is leased-car-friendly as primarily it is installed via factory plugs over acc pedal.
 
LeafBox is leased-car-friendly as primarily it is installed via factory plugs over acc pedal.

Great! I only have a few months, at most, left in my 2013 lease, but if I do lease a 30kwh Leaf...oh, wait minute. Dang! Please develop a version for the bigger pack!
 
sounds great. I'd love to see how I can help.

let me see if I understand this.

You install the leafbox on the accelerator pedal.
When you lift off the pedal you will get zero regen so you can glide in D mode?
IN ECO mode you will get more regen.. upto 24kw while off the acc pedal on slightly on the brake?

Am I correct?

and you can program the box to give you more progressive mapping of the accelerator pedal?? similar in the way the pedal behaves differently from D to ECO mode? I like the way the car drives in ECO mode to accelerate, but sometimes I would like to glide in ECO mode. in D-mode I tend to speed up too fast off the line but I'd like a more aggressive regen. ECO is a gentler increase but some times the mapping seems off as I press harder and then I have to lift off once I realize the car has caught up with where my foot position is.
 
This is super cool. Gliding in D sounds great and constant throttle also sounds interesting to play with. Now, a 30kwh battery adapter--that's next-level awesome! I would like to know more about that! Bigger battery more ludicrous mode? PM sent.

For added features; can you allow left-foot braking? Specifically, will you allow the motor to deliver power to the front tires while the brakes are applied? Both while stopped (for faster start) and while moving (for rally-style awesome driving). Keep up the good work!
 
Im interested to test your product. I have a 2013 Leaf Tekna with 120k km and 85% SOH.

Im wondering if it's possible to program leafbox to do one pedal driving on low speeds?
 
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