2016 LEAF in Cyprus: NissanConnect not working

[MasterOne]

I have just bought a used Nissan LEAF that was manufactured in 2016 in the Sunderland facility and exported to Cyprus by the previous owner.

Unfortunately NissanConnect is not working as the LEAF can not establish a mobile connection, which I assume is because Nissan does not have a roaming agreement with the mobile phone carriers in Cyprus.

Is there anything that can be done about it? Can the SIM card of the LEAF be swapped?

After all, Cyprus is part of the EU and should be covered by this, especially since there is quite a number of Nissan LEAFs around here (new and old models).

According to the local Nissan dealer this is a known problem and affects all LEAFs manufactured before 2019, but maybe someone knows more about it.

It really would be a pity if there is no solution for this issue, because being able to remote operate the air condition would be especially useful here in the usually hot weather.

 

[mux]

It's not just an issue with there not being a roaming agreement - the issue is that (most) Leafs from before the facelift only have a 3G radios, and most of the services on 3G worldwide have stopped.

There is no known way to upgrade the TCU to a 4G+ capable radio.

 

[MasterOne]

It's not just an issue with there not being a roaming agreement - the issue is that (most) Leafs from before the facelift only have a 3G radios, and most of the services on 3G worldwide have stopped. There is no known way to upgrade the TCU to a 4G+ capable radio.

That's not the issue. NissanConnect for LEAFs starting from 2016 works just fine on mainland Europe, just not in Cyprus, only for LEAFs before 2016 support officially has ended. 4G/5G networks should be backwards compatible with 2G/3G (as seen on my phone many times in areas with bad reception).

 

[Stanton]

4G/5G networks should be backwards compatible with 2G/3G (as seen on my phone many times in areas with bad reception).

Umm...no. Different modem, different network.
Like @mux said: there are no Gen1 Leafs left in the world that have a compatible TCU. However, you can install OVMS on a Gen1 Leaf for (nearly) identical functionality with the bonus that you can upgrade mobile technologies (and even use WiFi) to your heart's content. There is an OVMS thread on this forum (search for my name).

 

[MasterOne]

Umm...no. Different modem, different network.
Like @mux said: there are no Gen1 Leafs left in the world that have a compatible TCU. However, you can install OVMS on a Gen1 Leaf for (nearly) identical functionality with the bonus that you can upgrade mobile technologies (and even use WiFi) to your heart's content. There is an OVMS thread on this forum (search for my name).

Damned, though I'm pretty sure I have seen my mobile phone switch to 2G/2G in areas of bad reception, so 2G/3G is indeed still present in Cyrpus but the LEAF nevertheless always only shows that it has no reception.

I have looked at OVMS and this obviously will be the way to go, though I'm not entirely sure which LEAF model I've got as I haven't received my OBD2 dongle yet (I can only assume it's a AZE0-0/1 as it was manufactured at the beginning of 2016 and should have a 24kW battery).

Is there a way to find out which LEAF model it is and which battery it has without OBD2 dongle?

 

[Stanton]

Is there a way to find out which LEAF model it is and which battery it has without OBD2 dongle?

The only way to know for sure is to get a LeafSpy reading. However, based on your comments, I suspect you have a Gen1 Leaf with a 24 kWh battery. The OVMS kit will include the interface cable for a Gen1 Leaf; the modem is compatible with International radio specs, but you will have to figure out what kind of SIM card you need (I use Hologram in the US).

 

[MasterOne]

The only way to know for sure is to get a LeafSpy reading. However, based on your comments, I suspect you have a Gen1 Leaf with a 24 kWh battery. The OVMS kit will include the interface cable for a Gen1 Leaf; the modem is compatible with International radio specs, but you will have to figure out what kind of SIM card you need (I use Hologram in the US).

I've just ordered a OVMS WiFi/4G kit with Nissan OBD2 Cable which comes with a Hologram IO global SIM card pre-installed. Not sure yet if I'm going to use a local SIM card instead.

The OVMS kit and ODB2 dongle will arrive at the same time at the end of the month, so I can't be sure which LEAF model it is beforehand, but I guess that doesn't matter anyway.