Installing quick charge port

[cwerdna]

Bump...Any info anyone can give would be really helpful...

To top it off, IIRC, you have a '12, which looks totally different under the hood than a '13+.

On '11 and '12, the OBC is under the hump in the back: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=69224.

On the '13+ it got moved to the the front:
http://articles.sae.org/11993/
http://sfbayleafs.org/commentary/2013/0 ... s-changed/
http://sfbayleafs.org/news/2013/01/2013 ... ighlights/

Can you update your location info via your user name in the upper right > User Control Panel > Profile tab? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

Do you even have significant CHAdeMO DC FCs in your area (wherever that is) per Plugshare? And, are they at prices you'd want to pay? For me, it was NOT worth the premium (to me) to buy a used Leaf with CHAdeMO inlet. My leased Leaf had it but I returned it at end of lease.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.p ... 00#p431600
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.p ... th#p430552
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.p ... 99#p424999 (for some FREE L3 charging isn't worth it to folks, and to some degree, I can agree)

[TomT]

Yeah, I got my QC port free as part of the free Blink deal, but in retrospect, if I had to pay for it today, I likely would pass... QC is just too rare and expensive to be something that I use that often... The vast majority of my QC usage, what there has been of it, has been Playa Del Rey at Nissan's ad agency where it is free...

Do you even have significant CHAdeMO DC FCs in your area (wherever that is) per Plugshare? And, are they at prices you'd want to pay? For me, it was NOT worth the premium (to me) to buy a used Leaf with CHAdeMO inlet.

[mwalsh]

^ I've only used QC 12 times in 5 years, but nearly all the times I have used it (except for a couple of early ones, just to try it out) it's been completely invaluable.

[AlanSqB]

MNL veterans, please correct me if I'm wrong but what probably needs to be said here is that nobody has had the CHAdeMO port added as a retrofit to the Nissan LEAF that anyone here is aware of. Therefore, if you choose to pursue this option, it will be on you to figure out how it can be done and what it will take. There is no trail blazed in this territory.

It's established that this would end up costing several thousand dollars to do correctly and would almost certainly require working directly with Nissan to deal with firmware issues. The return on that investment would be very difficult to justify. There appears to be no significant market or desire for this upgrade, otherwise it would probably already be out there like Tony Williams' RAV4 CHAdeMO add on.

This seems to be very similar to the Tesla Roadster Supercharger Upgrade discussion. People may want it, but nobody wants to pay what it will cost.

If you do the math on a lease for a brand new '15 with QC, you would probably find that your cost for this project in parts alone would equate to a significant (more than half) portion of the cost of that lease. Not to mention time and effort, tools and diagnostic devices that would need to be rented/bought, etc.

[EV4Taos]

Thanks for all the input everyone. Yes it would make a major difference for me. I go to Santa Fe often which has 2 CHadeMO staions (one is free). I have had to wait around in Santa Fe 5 hours several times to get back home. Not fun! It would also allow me to get to ABQ (4 CHadeMO stations) in a reasonable amount of time too. 75 mph speed limits with big hills requires a lot of charging.

I know the recommendation is too buy a different car, but at the very least I would like to explore this subject with as much technical information as possible, as a thought exercise.

I should have waited 3-6 months to buy my car, but this was the first cheap Leaf that came on the market ($8995 in March 15'). What I should have predicted was this was to be the first of many, but I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted a Leaf so badly!

I'll start this exploration by posing a couple question:

Has it been confirmed that firmware changes are needed?

If so can the modules containing the firmware just be replace with a module containing CHadeMo firmware from a salvaged car?

Is there different wiring running under that battery pack to the back of the car?

I hope others will find this discussion as interesting as I do.

[TomT]

Tony Williams likely knows more about aftermarket QC than anyone else and perhaps you might like to contact him to see what he offers or can recommend.

[EV4Taos]

I have done some investigating and put some more of the pieces of the puzzle together. I wanted document what I have found for non-quick charge leafs encase someone want to go further with it.

Here is a pic of the connectors to the charger in the back:



We have all seen this before, but notice that one of the plugs is empty. This for CHAdeMo communication with the on-board charger, which my car does not have.



Here is some pic under the inverter (top) that you see when you open the hood (notice the quick charge port to the right is missing from the DC/DC converter and covered up:




So without going into firmware ecu/vcm issues, physically the follow would have to be done:
1) Remove HV disconnect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And 12v neg battery terminal. Easy
----Your will not shock yourself, but KILL yourself if you don't do this!!
2) Replace wire harness going to charger in the back with quick charge compatible plug. Easy
----Runs through drivers side of the cabin under the carpet.
3) Remove inverter. Hard
----Multiply coolant lines would need to be drains and disconnect.
4) Remove DC/DC converter to either add CHademo plug (big maybe) or replace DC/DC with CHademo compatible DC/DC. Hard
----Again more coolant lines to deal with.
5) Add CHAdemo plugs and harness and plug it into the DC/DC. Easy
----Not much to do here
6) Connect coolant lines and reinstall DC/DC and inverter. Hard.
----Mainly coolant lines are a pain here.
7) Add coolant and bleed every coolant line.
---Again dealing with coolant.

WARNING: If can instantly kill yourself if you don't know what you are doing!!! Not shock yourself, but KILL yourself!!! Please pull the HV disconnect!!

If I didn't have to remove the inverter to get to the DC/DC converter I might be into doing this project, but that is just to much hassle. I hate bleeding coolant lines!

It wasn't enough to know that this project would be hard. I need to know what exactly makes it hard and now I do.

Hope this is helpful or interesting to the community.

[miscrms]

Good sleuthing, and thanks for providing pics! But there are probably even more issues. If you really want to keep chasing it, search online and you can find copies of the service manual. Wiring diagrams in the VC and EVC sections will give you an idea of what connections are QC specific. PG section has info on all the wiring harnesses and connectors.

The three connectors pictured to the OBC are (left to right) B26, B25 and B27. All three carry QC related signals, which is part of why your B25 has so few wires on it. The QC Com signals on B27 have to pass through body harness connector B9 to Engine Room Harness connector E109 and then E70 to the charge port. There are QC specific signals between the OBC and DCJB that also pass through B9/E109, but then to E60 to Motor Control Harness F2 , then F11 and F12. Motor control harness connector F3 is the QC HV Interlock connector. You'd have to see if the E and F harnesses also have these connectors and wires present.

In addition to the QC HV port, the DCJB is almost certainly not populated with the QC relays and voltage sensor.

Power/GND wires, connectors and control relays would also have to be looked at in the PCS section to see if everything is there.

[minispeed]

I'll assume by that price that you have an 11 with a 3.3kW on board charger. If so you can also look into adding more capacity to the L2 charger. The Brusa 3.3kW units can be added, up to 3 additional for a total of 13.2kW. Most places you'll find to charge won't put out much more than 30amp service though so you're best bang for the buck is to add one 3.3kW unit and cut your L2 charge time in half.

Since it's already been done there's nothing you'll have to figure out or crack, it still isn't an easy task though.

http://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f ... sa+charger

http://www.upgrademyleaf.com/examples-o ... r-upgrade/

[colemab]

I have done some investigating and put some more of the pieces of the puzzle together. I wanted document what I have found for non-quick charge leafs encase someone want to go further with it.

Here is a pic of the connectors to the charger in the back:



We have all seen this before, but notice that one of the plugs is empty. This for CHAdeMo communication with the on-board charger, which my car does not have.



Here is some pic under the inverter (top) that you see when you open the hood (notice the quick charge port to the right is missing from the DC/DC converter and covered up:




So without going into firmware ecu/vcm issues, physically the follow would have to be done:
1) Remove HV disconnect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And 12v neg battery terminal. Easy
----Your will not shock yourself, but KILL yourself if you don't do this!!
2) Replace wire harness going to charger in the back with quick charge compatible plug. Easy
----Runs through drivers side of the cabin under the carpet.
3) Remove inverter. Hard
----Multiply coolant lines would need to be drains and disconnect.
4) Remove DC/DC converter to either add CHademo plug (big maybe) or replace DC/DC with CHademo compatible DC/DC. Hard
----Again more coolant lines to deal with.
5) Add CHAdemo plugs and harness and plug it into the DC/DC. Easy
----Not much to do here
6) Connect coolant lines and reinstall DC/DC and inverter. Hard.
----Mainly coolant lines are a pain here.
7) Add coolant and bleed every coolant line.
---Again dealing with coolant.

WARNING: If can instantly kill yourself if you don't know what you are doing!!! Not shock yourself, but KILL yourself!!! Please pull the HV disconnect!!

If I didn't have to remove the inverter to get to the DC/DC converter I might be into doing this project, but that is just to much hassle. I hate bleeding coolant lines!

It wasn't enough to know that this project would be hard. I need to know what exactly makes it hard and now I do.

Hope this is helpful or interesting to the community.

What year model(s) is this write up based on? I ask because the 2015 Leaf has a PDU unit that contains the inverter and the DC/DC converter. Also it appears (please verify) that the wiring harness in the 2015 (going from the PDU to the battery) was the same across all models because of the 6.6 became standard on the SV's.

Based on these changes, the swap *appears* to be easier on the 2015 model. Any thoughts on this?