12 Volt Battery Lead/Acid Replacement

[fotajoye]

I drove a 2011 Leaf for 10 years before trading it for a 2019 Leaf S. During that time I had to replace the 12 Volt battery twice, the second one was a sealed AGM type...that's three 12 volt Lead Acid batteries that let me down and wouldn't start the car.
Two weeks ago The 2019 car let me down for the same reason and I had to call emergency services for a jump start--yes, you got it, a weak Lead acid battery; this time I decided enough of this planned obsolescence by the battery makers and Nissan. I replaced the battery with a LIfePO4 battery from Ohmmu.
So far so good!
I checked the voltage on the battery for about a week and found that the drain on the battery runs about .02 volts per day to power the shutoff/power up electronics. After driving the car about 20 miles, I arrived back home with a fully charged 12 Volt battery.
My advice is to not let your Leaf sit for too long without driving it, especially if you still use a 12 volt lead/acid battery because it will sulfate and slowly lose the ability to store a strong charge. And when the lead/acid battery goes bad, and it will in time, consider replacing it with a good quality LFP.

 

[Learjet]

yep, and a cheap jump pack can help in a pinch.

 

[fotajoye]

Yes, Along with carrying a phone in the car, I also bought one of those and added that, a voltmeter, jumper cables and a portable tire pump to an emergency bag I now carry in the booth. I don't like waiting for road service if I can help it.

 

[fotajoye]

Just a little update to say the car starts fine and the battery is still working great at the one year time post.

 

[Chad E. Mo]

Any updates for 2024?

NVM, Just saw your post from the summer in another topic.

 

[flydiver]

Just a little update to say the car starts fine and the battery is still working great at the one year time post.

Put an Ohmmu in my Prius. It's been sitting for >2 weeks and is a steady 13.2v. It's been outstanding.
Wish I had known enough, and the Ohmmu had been $100 cheaper and I would have put one of those in the Leaf too.
As it is the Leaf gets a trickle charge at LEAST once a month no matter what the voltage reads. Doing that got 7 years out of the original Pb battery.

 

[Stanton]

For every "good" experience with lead-acid 12v you can find 10 instances where they fail early (and always at the wrong time); I suspect your good fortune is due to the mild climate you live in. Eventually, everyone will learn to "get the lead out" and replace their 12v lead-acid with Lithium; I'm over 10 years now with the same LiFePO4 12v battery (in harsh climates).

 

[fotajoye]

Put an Ohmmu in my Prius. It's been sitting for >2 weeks and is a steady 13.2v. It's been outstanding.
Wish I had known enough, and the Ohmmu had been $100 cheaper and I would have put one of those in the Leaf too.
As it is the Leaf gets a trickle charge at LEAST once a month no matter what the voltage reads. Doing that got 7 years out of the original Pb battery.

I've replaced the lead/acid battery with an Ohmmu in January, 2023, in my 2019 S; and, have never charged it; sometimes it sits for three weeks without driving the car...starts every time:
See the old thread at: https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/12v-battery-replacement-recommendations.33422/page-2#post-629492
BTW, I have nothing to do with the company that sells the product; I bought mine through Summit Racing for more at the time than I wanted to pay. And to answer another question: the car is always garaged here is Northern California so I don't know how it will do in extreme cold temps.
I would suggest a solution to this problem would be for Nissan to design a small current holding lithium battery, maybe about 10 Amps, for the start up circuits, and to keep it charged with the dc to dc converter. Also, include a method for heating the battery for the cold areas of the country.

 

[Learjet]

another happy Leaf with an Ohmmu battery for last 5 months. Basic battery $200 and heated + bluetooth $300

 

[LeavesThatAreGreen]

another happy Leaf with an Ohmmu battery for last 5 months. Basic battery $200 and heated + bluetooth $300

Glad to hear that you (and presumably fotayoye) are still happy with the Ohmmu; I just took the plunge and placed an order with them myself. (After literally spending over 5 hours reading through several of the 12V-replacement discussion threads!) Hearing about specific people who are satisfied over time helps quite a bit.

(This is to replace my 2018 leaf's oem battery, which was down to 5V last night.)

By-the-by, anyone thinking of buying may be interested to know that Ohmmu currently is having 20%-off "Black Friday" sale. I don't know how long their sale lasts, but it was still good ten minutes ago. With the sale, their heated (+BT) option was $239.20 + $19 for 2-5 day shipping. (I'll also need to pay someplace local to dispose of the current battery.)

https://www.ohmmu.com/product-page/12v-lithium-battery-for-nissan-leaf

(Don't be confused by their presentation; the product page makes it look like $299 is the sale price, but once it was in my cart there was another 20% off, taking it to $239.20.)

By-the-by, in the various threads here I didn't see a lot of reference to Antigravity's 51R LiFePO4 battery:

https://antigravitybatteries.com/products/starter-batteries/automotive/ag-51r-rs/

It may seem gimmicky, but I personally would absolutely have paid extra money for their "re-start" feature. Just...not _that_ much extra money.

 

[Radek Uchytil]

I put in a small cheap 20AH lithium a month ago. It is still 100% charged.

 

[lamimartin]

What size if battery did you install? I suppose you are talking if a LiPo4 battery?

 

[flydiver]

What size if battery did you install? I suppose you are talking if a LiPo4 battery?

As he said, 20AH. Google 20AH LiPo4 battery, you'll see.
But those would be common as hell and cover a LOT of sizes and configurations. Probably any would need some kind of adaptation(s) to fit.
A picture would be nice.
The BIG question is whether the BMS and cells are of sufficient quality to handle the charging modalities of the Leaf (any car really), and it will last.....and not suddenly fail in some way.

 

[aqn]

I put in a small cheap 20AH lithium a month ago. It is still 100% charged.

What make and model battery did you get? A few years ago, I tried replacing my 2011 SV's lead acid with 12V Li-Ion battery. Went through two of them, at huge expenses, and the car threw fits with both of them. The car was quite picky about what 12V source is in place. I don't know if Li batteries are still as varied as they were back then.

 

[Radek Uchytil]

It is this battery. The BMS shows that the charging takes place with a current of 20A. I don't know yet how it will behave in the cold.

 

[Agkirk]

I am using this:
12V 50Ah LiFePO4 Battery
640W Load Power
4000+ Deep Cycle
Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery
Built-in 50A BMS
Cost $136 delivered quickly from US warehouse
From djlbermpw
[email protected]

1 pair set battery pole adapter M8 standard pole screw pole battery pole adapter
Ebay 387059126379 $7

Battery has been in use for a year with no problems
My 2015 Leaf shows 14.4V 20A charge occasionally. BMS has never disconnected due to over voltage protection.
I live in SoCal so no temp concerns.
Made a slightly wider hold down bracket on my 3D printer
3D File available on request

 

[Radek Uchytil]

This is how the battery looks like in the car... There is also room left for the cable..