Installing diesel parking heater in Leaf's trunk

[Goran]

I looked at the trink area of my 2012 leaf and noticed there is a hole, plugged by a rubber plug. It should perfectly fit an exhaust pipe, from a diesel heater, that I am planning on securing in the trunk. I was going to sell my leaf with the thought of upcoming winter, and dreading being cold. Temp in St louis ,mo frequent single digits F, which make for a miserable, almost impossible commute. I have used two Marne deep cycle batteries, a 800watt inverter, with 2 200w personal space heaters, which work great when the temp are 20-30, degrees but it does not help with condensation on windows. I believe the diesel heater would dry out the air minimizing condensation. I plan to have it mounted in th trunk, withexhaust going out th e already mentioned hole, and securing it to the tow hook on the pass side of the rear, kinda like real exhaust. It will be portable for removal in the spring. Any thoughts from those who have attempted this feat or are family with the heater. Thanks.

[jlv]

If this is what you are thinking of doing, then the 2012 LEAF is not appropriate for you. You really should go back to considering selling it.

[alozzy]

I think a product like this one would be much safer:

http://a.co/4HBp6ms

[specialgreen]

The biggest "bang for the buck" with heating comes from preheating while plugged-in at home and at work. (if work doesn't have any outlets for you, you can ask... even a 120v outlet helps). Second is probably parking the car in an attached garage at home. Those are sufficient for most people (even the Canadians in Winnipeg or Thunder Bay).

If you need more than that:
- upgrade to a newer SL/SV Leaf with heat-pump, heated steering wheel and four heated seats
- use a heated 12v lap blanket (I use a "Car Cozy 2"... when I can wrestle it away from the family)
- wear a DeWalt/Milwaukee heated vest (Milwaukee has a 12v version that can plug into the cigarette lighter).
- there was a thread somewhere on MNL for putting "heated seat" filament panels under the floor mats

[LeftieBiker]

If you need more than that:
- upgrade to a newer SL/SV Leaf with heat-pump, heated steering wheel and four heated seats

In the temp range quoted, the heat pump would only help a lot at the upper end of the range.

[RonDawg]

The notion of a diesel-powered anything in the back of an electrically-powered hatchback reminds me of that Top Gear episode where Clarkson/May/Hammond decide to build a hybrid using a diesel-powered generator, with predictably disastrous results.

[EVDRIVER]

Most people here have very little EV experience so if you want practical advice then do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdCfZQsZEHQ

[OakLeaf]

With winter upcoming, I've been thinking the same thoughts of possibly installing a fuel heater as well.

Although it's for an iMiEV, this video series I thought was very helpful in understanding the issues involved with integrating one of these types of heaters into an EV:

https://youtu.be/3RHiDYGPZlY

I'll add that the earlier suggestions of pre-heating, an electric blanket/jacket or other device to bring the heat to you instead of heating the air in general is a good idea if you haven't already tried them.

Our Leaf has the cold weather option - the heated steering wheel and seats really are nice. From a comfort perspective, I find that I don't have to run the cabin heater until the outdoor temps are down into the low 20's (F). However, from a safety perspective, there are also plenty of days where the combination of cold air and humidity make heating the air a requirement just to maintain clear windows inside the cabin too.

If you haven't already seen these, another idea to improve range in cold weather might be to look at the various heater mods that allow you to run the blower (helping keep the windows clear) without the heater draining the battery:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=11412

If you do take on this project, it would be great to see some pictures!

Good Luck!

[VancleVector]

Using a diesel-powered generatoris not that bad. For Top Gear, I just remember that It is hard to imagine how a passat can be associated with motion

[specialgreen]

I was considering using my Leaf for Lyft/Uber in Minnesota (with my NoCharge2Charge card!). I was thinking that it would be hard to get good customer ratings without installing an Eberspacher heater, or else running the car heater full-blast and tanking my range. That would be a problem, since there is no way to tell a passenger to only "pick me" for rides less than X miles.

Similarly, there are now electric buses running in Duluth and Minneapolis MN, and they all have auxiliary kerosene heaters. Buses, which have frequent extended door openings, require massive amounts of heat in below-zero temps, and you'd need an extra $500k in batteries to use electric heat. Burning fuel is inefficient for locomotion, because most of the energy is lost as heat, but if you just need heat, then it's not so bad. If desired, biofuel could be used (though it's hard to buy aqueous E90 or B100 diesel).