Does the Leaf have a radiator?

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kmp647

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I see coolant fill caps , question is there a radiator?
Can we confirm if the motor is air or water cooled?

Some of nissans current ads advertise "no radiator"
 
kmp647 said:
I see coolant fill caps , question is there a radiator?
Can we confirm if the motor is air or water cooled?

Some of nissans current ads advertise "no radiator"

There is no radiator. The coolant is used to cool the cables during charging.
 
jcesare said:
kmp647 said:
I see coolant fill caps , question is there a radiator?
Can we confirm if the motor is air or water cooled?

Some of nissans current ads advertise "no radiator"

There is no radiator. The coolant is used to cool the cables and inverter during charging.



The inverter is not a charger it regulates power to the motor. The motor, inverter and possibly (in some evs) the charger are water cooled as it is more efficient than fans. In addition there is a separate heat exchanger radiator for the AC. The charge cables are not cooled. Not sure where you came up with that information but I would be very curious.
 
EVDRIVER said:
jcesare said:
kmp647 said:
I see coolant fill caps , question is there a radiator?
Can we confirm if the motor is air or water cooled?

Some of nissans current ads advertise "no radiator"

There is no radiator. The coolant is used to cool the cables and inverter during charging.



The inverter is not a charger it regulates power to the motor. The motor, inverter and possibly (in some evs) the charger are water cooled as it is more efficient than fans. In addition there is a separate heat exchanger radiator for the AC. The charge cables are not cooled. Not sure where you came up with that information but I would be very curious.

I was told this during the test drive event by the Nissan engineer.
 
I am sure there is an a/c condenser must have one of those

I am trying to figure what parts are water cooled still
Inverter?

Guess it's water cooled , but no radiator per se, just circulates and radiates thru the lines?
 
[

Some of nissans current ads advertise "no radiator"[/quote]

There is no radiator. The coolant is used to cool the cables and inverter during charging.[/quote]



The inverter is not a charger it regulates power to the motor. The motor, inverter and possibly (in some evs) the charger are water cooled as it is more efficient than fans. In addition there is a separate heat exchanger radiator for the AC. The charge cables are not cooled. Not sure where you came up with that information but I would be very curious.[/quote]

I was told this during the test drive event by the Nissan engineer.[/quote]

I think you may have spoken to a temp hired for the event. What I said before is accurate and if the leaf has cooled cables I'll buy you a pizza, never lost a pizza bet. The Leaf has two radiators, like a car with AC. I have seen it, followed the cooling lines and examined the system in detail. It's no different than any other water cooled EV. You don't liquid cool an motor and inverter without a radiator, that is how the heat is removed. The person you spoke to had no idea what they were talking about, do they make this up as they go along?
 
The motor and inverter are known to be water cooled. I would assume there is a radiator and coolent pump.

I would also assume all Leaf engineers are actually in Japan and not hanging around at test drives or any public event.
 
smkettner said:
The motor and inverter are known to be water cooled. I would assume there is a radiator and coolent pump.

I would also assume all Leaf engineers are actually in Japan and not hanging around at test drives or any public event.


Correct, so let's not go over the given facts again since this is fully established. If anyone doubts this they can pop the hood and look for themselves.
 
It's just funny I knew it had to have a radiator, no sense in collecting heat from stuff if you can't radiate it away to the air

Nissan needs to make sure there ad company is just a tad more accurate

Not that it's a big deal
 
kmp647 said:
It's just funny I knew it had to have a radiator, no sense in collecting heat from stuff if you can't radiate it away to the air

Nissan needs to make sure there ad company is just a tad more accurate

Not that it's a big deal


I have been involved with EVs for about seven years in almost every capacity from building, buying, and consulting for manufacturers. Other than parts manufacturers and converters, few people really understand EVs and quite a bit of inaccurate info is spread about. Other than Nissan engineers, many at Nissan don't really understand or are not able to explain the technology but this is expected since not every person understands an ICE either. There are plenty of EV resources on the web including the EVDL discussion list for those that really want to learn the technology. Hired PR people should not discuss technology, scary.
 
:shock: First I knew that Leaf had a radiator (or cooling system for the inverter, or whatever it is), and I'm disappointed. The function is understandably needed, but the practice brings along all the same old stuff as related to checking the coolant, putting in more --- all that stuff I was hoping would not be needed in a BEV.
 
xRB said:
:shock: First I knew that Leaf had a radiator (or cooling system for the inverter, or whatever it is), and I'm disappointed. The function is understandably needed, but the practice brings along all the same old stuff as related to checking the coolant, putting in more --- all that stuff I was hoping would not be needed in a BEV.
The difference in the Leaf is that the coolant isn't under pressure like a traditional engine radiator system, thus it is very unlikely to develop a leak. Sure, you'll have to glance it, but it shouldn't need anything more than annual maintenance.
 
DarkStar said:
xRB said:
:shock: First I knew that Leaf had a radiator (or cooling system for the inverter, or whatever it is), and I'm disappointed. The function is understandably needed, but the practice brings along all the same old stuff as related to checking the coolant, putting in more --- all that stuff I was hoping would not be needed in a BEV.
The difference in the Leaf is that the coolant isn't under pressure like a traditional engine radiator system, thus it is very unlikely to develop a leak. Sure, you'll have to glance it, but it shouldn't need anything more than annual maintenance.


That's not actually correct, the coolant is under pressure but not at the same high levels, there is a pump that does supply reasonable pressure since the coolant has quite a distance to travel and does pass through some small tubes. The temps of the coolant are quite low comparably so there are fewer temp related issues and the coolant should last a very long time as it does in most EVs. I found the drive radiator(not AC) in the Leaf to almost seem overbuilt like some of the other systems, this may have been done to be conservative for hot climates. You could probable touch a Leaf radiator at times without issue but not a ICE. My EV cooled all drive components plus the pack and the fan never came on except on and the hoses were just warm at best.
 
DarkStar said:
The difference in the Leaf is that the coolant isn't under pressure like a traditional engine radiator system, thus it is very unlikely to develop a leak. Sure, you'll have to glance it, but it shouldn't need anything more than annual maintenance.
You probably don't need to do more than check the fluid levels more than a couple times a year.

Coolant these days typically lasts at least 3-years 36k miles before a change - and usually a lot longer. For example, on the Prius, you only need to change the engine and inverter coolant after 10 years / 100,000 miles and every 5 years / 50,000 miles after the first one.
 
drees said:
DarkStar said:
The difference in the Leaf is that the coolant isn't under pressure like a traditional engine radiator system, thus it is very unlikely to develop a leak. Sure, you'll have to glance it, but it shouldn't need anything more than annual maintenance.
You probably don't need to do more than check the fluid levels more than a couple times a year.

Coolant these days typically lasts at least 3-years 36k miles before a change - and usually a lot longer. For example, on the Prius, you only need to change the engine and inverter coolant after 10 years / 100,000 miles and every 5 years / 50,000 miles after the first one.


Yes and it will likely not change at all the heat is just not there.
 
Cooling the wires!? Holy cow, if you have to cool the wires, you're Doing It All Wrong! That's not where we want our energy consumed.

And in answer to your question, the answer is YES, the Nissan "reps" at the Tour event do make it up as they go along. They seem inclined to answer any question, whether they know the answer or not.
 
GroundLoop said:
Cooling the wires!? Holy cow, if you have to cool the wires, you're Doing It All Wrong! That's not where we want our energy consumed.

And in answer to your question, the answer is YES, the Nissan "reps" at the Tour event do make it up as they go along. They seem inclined to answer any question, whether they know the answer or not.


There is no reason to cool any wire in the Leaf, Some VERY high L3 chargers have cooled wires because the pump extreme current.
 
GroundLoop said:
And in answer to your question, the answer is YES, the Nissan "reps" at the Tour event do make it up as they go along. They seem inclined to answer any question, whether they know the answer or not.

My experience as well. I tried to tell Nissan that in my report, and hopefully they know about it by now. Some of the answers were blatantly wrong and at times very humorous. I could have stood alongside eavesdropping and laughed all day long.
 
I do need to clarify to avoid confusion about one wire, the wires to the usb port are likely cooled, a computer expert told me that is typical on high-speed connections. I'm sure the CAN bus is as well for speed, surely a loop to the inverter cooler.
 
EVDRIVER said:
I do need to clarify to avoid confusion about one wire, the wires to the usb port are likely cooled, a computer expert told me that is typical on high-speed connections. I'm sure the CAN bus is as well for speed, surely a loop to the inverter cooler.

I think he was talking about this wire cooling (rack) that comes with the accessory NA721 which is the solar cooking option.
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