TomT
Well-known member
And wait, and wait, and wait...
camasleaf said:Or just wait for the 60 kw battery.
camasleaf said:Or just wait for the 60 kw battery.
Wow :shock: :!:collink said:I've done it successfully. I added 12kwh worth of batteries in the "trunk" area of a 2012 Leaf. ...
TimLee said:Wow :shock: :!:collink said:I've done it successfully. I added 12kwh worth of batteries in the "trunk" area of a 2012 Leaf. ...
Separate charger for the 12 kWh add on pack?
This is really cool - do you have any pics or documentation of your setup?collink said:I've done it successfully. I added 12kwh worth of batteries in the "trunk" area of a 2012 Leaf.
I somehow thought charging might cause issues.collink said:... No, I integrated the add-on pack such that the car ends up using it both for charge and discharge without knowing the extra pack is there... most of the time. ...
drees said:This is really cool - do you have any pics or documentation of your setup?collink said:I've done it successfully. I added 12kwh worth of batteries in the "trunk" area of a 2012 Leaf.
collink said:I've done it successfully. I added 12kwh worth of batteries in the "trunk" area of a 2012 Leaf. It has been driven around for months thereafter. I can't say that there are never any problems but they're rare and clear with a power cycle. The car used to get perhaps 55 miles per charge but now I can just barely squeeze out 85 miles if I really run it dead. However, my integration was a bit more involved than the average hobbyist project. The Leaf BMS is smart enough to do many checks before it'll enable anything and that makes it tough.
1. I'm connected in line with the big power wires coming out of the main pack.
2. I have my own contactor to trigger my pack in
3. I've tapped the power wires going to the main pack's contactors so I know when they're closed
4. I'm reading CANbus from both the Leaf BMS and a BMS on the add-on 12kw pack
5. You have to close your contactor only once the main system has precharged and closed for driving.
6. You must open your contactor immediately if the main pack opens
7. You can't close until the voltages measured on both sides are almost the same. Sometimes this delays linking the packs until driving for a while or charging for a while.
Basically, it is computer controlled and uses a contactor. If you don't cooperate that way then the BMS will scream at you and you go nowhere. I wouldn't say that such a project is super easy but I can vouch for it being possible. You absolutely cannot have voltage from your pack getting to the motor controller or other HV components until the Leaf is ready. Otherwise, the car will slap you and it'll be hard to clear the errors. My system is fully automatic now but it took a lot of work and experimentation to get there.
collink said:I've done it successfully. I added 12kwh worth of batteries in the "trunk" area of a 2012 Leaf. It has been driven around for months thereafter. I can't say that there are never any problems but they're rare and clear with a power cycle. The car used to get perhaps 55 miles per charge but now I can just barely squeeze out 85 miles if I really run it dead. However, my integration was a bit more involved than the average hobbyist project. The Leaf BMS is smart enough to do many checks before it'll enable anything and that makes it tough.
1. I'm connected in line with the big power wires coming out of the main pack.
2. I have my own contactor to trigger my pack in
3. I've tapped the power wires going to the main pack's contactors so I know when they're closed
4. I'm reading CANbus from both the Leaf BMS and a BMS on the add-on 12kw pack
5. You have to close your contactor only once the main system has precharged and closed for driving.
6. You must open your contactor immediately if the main pack opens
7. You can't close until the voltages measured on both sides are almost the same. Sometimes this delays linking the packs until driving for a while or charging for a while.
Basically, it is computer controlled and uses a contactor. If you don't cooperate that way then the BMS will scream at you and you go nowhere. I wouldn't say that such a project is super easy but I can vouch for it being possible. You absolutely cannot have voltage from your pack getting to the motor controller or other HV components until the Leaf is ready. Otherwise, the car will slap you and it'll be hard to clear the errors. My system is fully automatic now but it took a lot of work and experimentation to get there.
Atkam said:Finally I finish with full integration my additional battery parallel with main battery. I expect additional 100-150 km. Testing is in progress. Please find below some sample picture.
thank you: turbo3, gerygid, leaf xpack, jehugarcia, Njah kavin, HBPowerwall, Damien Maguire, Wolf Tronix, mikeatyouttube and many others which gave me useful information for this hobby project.
Atkam said:Finally I finish with full integration my additional battery parallel with main battery. I expect additional 100-150 km. Testing is in progress. Please find below some sample picture.
thank you: turbo3, gerygid, leaf xpack, jehugarcia, Njah kavin, HBPowerwall, Damien Maguire, Wolf Tronix, mikeatyouttube and many others which gave me useful information for this hobby project.
Marktm said:Atkam said:Finally I finish with full integration my additional battery parallel with main battery. I expect additional 100-150 km. Testing is in progress. Please find below some sample picture.
thank you: turbo3, gerygid, leaf xpack, jehugarcia, Njah kavin, HBPowerwall, Damien Maguire, Wolf Tronix, mikeatyouttube and many others which gave me useful information for this hobby project.
Atkam;
Based on your work, do you have any ideas/suggestions on this hobby project:
- Goal is to use the Leaf's HV battery to power a ~400 VDC 8kw UPS for emergency power (240 VAC single phase).
- The UPS will supply split phase power to a sub-panel using a center tapped iso transformer.
- HV power wiring to be connected at the PTC heater (gutted) and routed to a protected quick connect/disconnect (Andersons) for convenience of connecting to the UPS. This circuit (2012 Leaf), is fused at 30 amps/400 VDC - should be OK from a protection aspect?
- The Leaf will have to be left in "start" mode, but I'd like to remove (defuse) as many "parasitic" loads possible.
- Charging to be conventional AC Level II (240 VAC) for now (I have an arduino/solar system set up to do this).
- I do want to be able to drive the Leaf out of "solar" area and use it with very little effort (basically disconnect the Andersons).
My worry is "bricking" the Leaf (at a rather rural area) as a result of connecting/disconnecting/operating in this "emergency" power supply mode. Do you have any comments/suggestions?
Great project work - such learning experiences are amazing!
Atkam said:Interesting plan. My question how to get a DC/AC for 400V DC to 240VAC converter. I already looking and not find it. I thing is very interssting project because cover emergency power for home.. I have a similar plan to V2H. Free of charge car, drive to home and power supply home,...
Enter your email address to join: