will nissan accommodate software mod?

I was thinking for a long trip I could put 10 100AH 12V lead acid batteries in the boot and run a static inverter to power the 2.5kW charge socket, put the cable through the window. On the 4 hour journey from where I live to London this would give me an extra 10kWh. The extra weight would impact on range but I'd be hoping it might get me to the 140 mile range I'd need on a very careful 38 mph drive. I'd estimate the lead acid would last about 200 cycles, which on 1 journey per week at cost say £1000, last 2 years and work out at £10 per week. The quetion is, how easy would it be to get the car to drive while the charge port was active? Has anyone evr tried asking Nissan for this kind of special software help? Are they at all responsive?

rogerdow said:

The quetion is, how easy would it be to get the car to drive while the charge port was active? Has anyone evr tried asking Nissan for this kind of special software help? Are they at all responsive?

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Well, something similar has been done with a trailer supplying the power straight to the battery, or powering the car directly up to 30kW. The power source was not batteries, but instead a propane powered turbine powering a charger that supplies the DC power.

What you're suggesting would NEVER come from an auto manufacturer, but I'm sure there is some way to make the onboard 3.3kW charger work.

Dumping to the regenerative braking shunt is a possibility. That way you can bypass any charging port safety mechanisms that prevent the car from taking off while plugged in.

rogerdow said:

I was thinking for a long trip I could put 10 100AH 12V lead acid batteries in the boot and run a static inverter to power the 2.5kW charge socket, put the cable through the window. On the 4 hour journey from where I live to London this would give me an extra 10kWh. The extra weight would impact on range but I'd be hoping it might get me to the 140 mile range I'd need on a very careful 38 mph drive. I'd estimate the lead acid would last about 200 cycles, which on 1 journey per week at cost say £1000, last 2 years and work out at £10 per week. The quetion is, how easy would it be to get the car to drive while the charge port was active? Has anyone evr tried asking Nissan for this kind of special software help? Are they at all responsive?

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This is a bad idea for dozens of reasons. I know that this will be discussed at length but ask any person with experienced EV building skills and they will tell you this is a complete waste of time not to mention unsafe unless you intend to seriously modify your car and it will still be a backward undertaking. Setting this opinion aside, how long do you estimate attempting a relatively safe project like this would take in actual hours including planning, sourcing, designing, building, installing, testing, tweaking, and maintaing this pack? What do you estimate the total weight of this pack to weigh in? Just an estimate of total hours and also cost? Not armchair warrior numbers but realistic numbers.

You can get 140 miles out of a stock Leaf, but you have to drive it slowly and carefully.. hypermilers can peg the efficiency meter at 8miles/kWh, and that means 170 miles of range with a usable 21.5kWh battery. You cant use the brakes, either friction or regen to get that kind of efficiency.

And you have to have the patience of Jobe!!! :lol:

Herm said:

You can get 140 miles out of a stock Leaf, but you have to drive it slowly and carefully.. hypermilers can peg the efficiency meter at 8miles/kWh, and that means 170 miles of range with a usable 21.5kWh battery. You cant use the brakes, either friction or regen to get that kind of efficiency.

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Herm said:

You can get 140 miles out of a stock Leaf, but you have to drive it slowly and carefully.. hypermilers can peg the efficiency meter at 8miles/kWh, and that means 170 miles of range with a usable 21.5kWh battery. You cant use the brakes, either friction or regen to get that kind of efficiency.

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The record of reported data is 135.4 miles (217.9km) so far, so this summer will be fun when somebody attempts a run at 12mph at 8000 feet density altitude, with a warm battery.

rogerdow said:

I was thinking for a long trip I could put 10 100AH 12V lead acid batteries in the boot and run a static inverter to power the 2.5kW charge socket, put the cable through the window. On the 4 hour journey from where I live to London this would give me an extra 10kWh. The extra weight would impact on range but I'd be hoping it might get me to the 140 mile range I'd need on a very careful 38 mph drive. I'd estimate the lead acid would last about 200 cycles, which on 1 journey per week at cost say £1000, last 2 years and work out at £10 per week. The quetion is, how easy would it be to get the car to drive while the charge port was active? Has anyone evr tried asking Nissan for this kind of special software help? Are they at all responsive?

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I am the guy who built the first, (and so far only) range-extender for the Leaf. I can assure you with great certainty that Nissan will never give you this "bypass" you are asking for.

There is a way to do it however, but unfortunately it's not as easy as you make it out to be. You'd likely want to skip the double-conversion and it's requisite efficiency hit. The Leaf's system voltage is from about 300-400VDC, so if you could get a larger voltage pack, such as by using 32 30AH 12V units instead, then you need nothing other than a high-voltage contactor and some control logic. (Of course with a lot of consideration for safety)

It sounds like your knowledge of electronics is a bit limited, (no offense) so I'd caution you to consult with someone more knowledgeable before you even consider such a thing. Working with DC voltages like the Leaf has is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS! There are so many ways it can go wrong and only a few ways it will go right. There was someone in the UK a few years ago who attempted to add a battery pack to a Prius, and she used official Toyota battery packs of the same exact design already used in the Prius, just more of them. She still totalled her car with an accidental battery explosion, and risked burning her house down! Keep in mind the Prius only has a ~200v system voltage and about 1kWh of pack. Things get much crazier in a hurry when the voltage and stored energy goes up! Here's a link to the story.

If you are still motivated to consider such a thing, the price of a Lithium Pack is only a little more than the Lead, and it'll be much lighter and smaller, and you'll likely get more life out of it. (though you'll have to consider a more complex battery management scheme)

-Phil

kubel said:

Dumping to the regenerative braking shunt is a possibility. That way you can bypass any charging port safety mechanisms that prevent the car from taking off while plugged in.

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This makes no sense. There is no "Regenerative Braking Shunt"! The Leaf regenerates the same way it motors, simply by slightly retarding the timing of the synchronous drive. The current paths are no different between the different modes, and there is no additional hardware added for regeneration.

-Phil

TonyWilliams said:

Herm said:

You can get 140 miles out of a stock Leaf, but you have to drive it slowly and carefully.. hypermilers can peg the efficiency meter at 8miles/kWh, and that means 170 miles of range with a usable 21.5kWh battery. You cant use the brakes, either friction or regen to get that kind of efficiency.

Click to expand...

The record of reported data is 135.4 miles (217.9km) so far, so this summer will be fun when somebody attempts a run at 12mph at 8000 feet density altitude, with a warm battery.

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Indeed! For maximum effect, it would be good to use a new vehicle or a rental for that test.