2018 LEAF, Capacity, Range and efficiency

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

edatoakrun

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 11, 2010
Messages
5,222
Location
Shasta County, North California
Pushevs has published the first detailed report on actual capacity of the "40 kWh" pack:

2018 Nissan Leaf battery real specs

The specs of the battery cell used in the 2018 Nissan Leaf are pretty impressive.

The 2018 Nissan Leaf battery – like all previous versions – uses a 96s2p cell configuration, this means that in total there are 192 cells in the battery pack. However, the battery cells now have a much higher energy density.

In the Nissan Leaf, each battery pack has 24 modules and each module has 8 cells. Originally, the Nissan Leaf was launched with double the modules. The 24 kWh battery in the 2011 Nissan Leaf had 48 modules, each module with 4 cells. However, when Nissan released the 30 kWh battery, the number of modules was reduced to half – to further increase the energy density of the battery pack. If you look at the new battery module below you’ll see that it seems 2 old modules stuck together…

Now we can calculate the new battery real capacity:

192 x 3,65 V x 56,3 Ah = 39,46 kWh

And compare it to the original battery pack in the 2011 Nissan Leaf.

192 x 3,75 V x 32,5 Ah = 23,4 kWh...
https://pushevs.com/2018/01/29/2018-nissan-leaf-battery-real-specs/

Note that AVTA testing showed that by 2013 (unlike earlier years) the LEAF's "24 kWh" pack actually had over 24 kWh total capacity when new, so it is virtually certain there will be some variation from actual in that 39.46 kWh calculation.
 
edatoakrun said:
2018 pack dimensions and connections reported to be identical to 2011-17 LEAF packs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOi8234tOQ4&t=1s
Thanks! Very cool!

He also showed that Nissan used electronic (electrical?) calipers on the rear wheels for the third iteration of the parking brake.

I had expected to see some room left behind the 40-kWh battery to allow for a larger pack when they start delivering the 60-kWh version. Unfortunately, it looks like there is a bit of space, but there are currently several things in there. I guess we'll have to wait to see what the 60-kWh version looks like.
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
Prelim LEAF Spy stats do not agree
Prelim LEAF Spy stats do not agree with what? (Note that LEAF Spy does not report physical dimensions, which is what we have been discussing.)
 
Why does the original article use 3.65 volts for one model and 3.75 volts for the other ?
 
RegGuheert said:
Nissan used electronic (electrical?) calipers on the rear wheels for the third iteration of the parking brake

The electric calipers have more to do than just the parking brake. They also are instrumental in torque vectoring for enhanced handling. This is the same sort of thing that Porsche and other marques use to improve how the car drives.
 
the article has a video attached where a Nissan guy at the end says "it has at least 40 kWh."
Is he talking about nominal, usable, or something else ?

And regarding Ahr per cell, I'm still unsure if the increase is from a bigger (heavier) cell or a chemistry change (or both.)
 
RegGuheert said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
Prelim LEAF Spy stats do not agree
Prelim LEAF Spy stats do not agree with what? (Note that LEAF Spy does not report physical dimensions, which is what we have been discussing.)

I would have to look it up but iirc the ahr rating was 113
 
OrientExpress said:
The electric calipers have more to do than just the parking brake. They also are instrumental in torque vectoring for enhanced handling. This is the same sort of thing that Porsche and other marques use to improve how the car drives.
Interesting! Are they also involved with the one-pedal driving system? I'm guessing they do. Do they exist on the front calipers, as well?

If they are similar to the electrical calipers used on the Boeing 787 in that they eliminate hydraulic fluid, then I must say that's a great improvement! Hopefully they don't cost an absolute fortune like those on the 787.
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
RegGuheert said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
Prelim LEAF Spy stats do not agree
Prelim LEAF Spy stats do not agree with what? (Note that LEAF Spy does not report physical dimensions, which is what we have been discussing.)

I would have to look it up but iirc the ahr rating was 113
O.K., so perhaps the electrical interface has changed, but the video only claimed that the dimensions and the connectors were the same.
 
edatoakrun said:
2018 pack dimensions and connections reported to be identical to 2011-17 LEAF packs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOi8234tOQ4&t=1s

Cool. Hopefully they will eventually standardize on this pack for LEAF 2011-2018 replacements rather than maintaining multiple battry production lines and materials inventories. One can hope... :)
 
The 2018 batteries without liquid thermal management will suffer the same as all of those before them. The only thing we can hope for is that 2019 Leaf will be engineered with a TMS system. My prediction is that the 2018 will get about 107-113 miles at normal freeway speeds.
 
Evoforce said:
The 2018 batteries without liquid thermal management will suffer the same as all of those before them..
We can hope, but the higher energy density in a passively cooled pack sounds worse than earlier packs, not better.
 
We can only hope Nissan changed the default charge level to 90% and were so excited over Pro Pilot, they simply forgot to mention it...
 
Evoforce said:
The 2018 batteries without liquid thermal management will suffer the same as all of those before them. ...

Given that various model year LEAFs have already demonstrated different rates of capacity loss, there is no "same". It may be better, or worse than all LEAFs before it, or it may fall somewhere on the existing spectrum. Since there may be a different chemistry at play, no factual statement can yet be made outside of someone in a laboratory. Numerous DIY EVs have used LiFePO4 cells, for example, without pack cooling and have not suffered the rates battery degradation we have witnessed in previous LEAFs.
 
Or, to put it another way, if they use a chemistry with the same thermal properties as the 30kwh pack, this one will be worse. Otherwise we'll have to wait and see.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Or, to put it another way, if they use a chemistry with the same thermal properties as the 30kwh pack, this one will be worse. Otherwise we'll have to wait and see.

That’s putting it the same way. :)
 
Back
Top