Double Battery Pack Transplant? Can it be done?

[TaylorSFGuy]

Hi everyone - it has been some time since I posted here. My 2011 has over 150K miles (gave it to my Mom for use in her small town for errands and driving just a few hundred miles a year). The guessometer currently shows 35 miles of range. My 2014 will reach 100K miles in late October and has lost 2 bars.

I'd like to get a new replacement pack for my 2014 and then put the current 2014 pack in the 2011. My thought process is if all of the 2011 through 2014 (2015?) can take the same battery pack as a replacement, why can't the 2014 go into the 2011?

I have asked a dealer and been told this can't be done - due to the heater connection on the 2011 but thought I'd run it by the community to see what you think. The technician said it may be possible to circumvent the issue with relays but it couldn't be done through a dealer.

Thanks -

 

[LeftieBiker]

As I understand it, you need an adapter kit to put the 2014 pack into a 2011. If there was never a battery heater in the 2011, that is a stumbling block, but if you don't need it you may not have to adapt that. Others who actually know will follow up on this for you.

 

[Stanton]

I know they had to order a "no heater" version battery pack for me, so that does suggest there is some difference between packs/parts. That doesn't mean someone (third party) could figure out how to bypass the heater connections, but I wouldn't do this outside of the dealer...and the dealer probably has no procedure for such a modification.
Long story short: I would buy a pack for either the 2011 or 2014 (or both), but trying to do a swap as you suggest is probably more trouble than it's worth.

 

[baustin]

The problem in your plan is the dealer keeps the old battery pack when they do the swap.

If you want to do it yourself, pull the battery packs on both cars and swap the internal cells. You could then take the 2014 to the dealer (with the 2011 cells in the pack) and pay for a swap, but that is now going to cost close to $8500.

My suggestion would be to find a pack from a wrecked Leaf and swap those cells into the 2011 pack. You use the BMS in the 2011 pack, so a dealer is not needed, and the lack of a heater will not be an issue. Drive the 2014 until its range won't meet your needs, and then evaluate the situation again.

The dealer is correct. The 2013+ battery packs need a mounting adapter kit and wiring harness adapter to fit into the 2011/12 chassis. There is also the difference in many of the 2011 packs, which is no heater, meaning a different wiring harness. If both Leafs were 2013+, the dealer might work with you to do what you want. As it is, it is not possible to do what you want.