Replace individual battery cells to renew/increase capacity

The research for this projects feasibility has been hindered by the high cost of 3.75v nominal lithium cells. even the consumer "d" size lithium cells are too expensive at the quantity needed, I cannot get the price lower than $250++/7.4v/100ah 2012 module. the problem is that buying at end consumer quantities it's hard to get the price down to what i am willing to pay. the inability of business to sell (beyond pre orders that are endlessly delayed) supplemental and replacement packs speaks to the difficulty of this. the next problem is that the NMC battery chemistry, and its higher cost, are becoming more dis-favored in the market place so innovation is not as high as LiFe and LiTi, which is driving the prices down on these chemistries. there was some of papers on saving higher voltage Lithium cells at SAE congress this year, one was using fluoridated electrolyte, one using dynamic charging strategies, but these 'future' battery techs do little to save 2011-2013 leafs that are getting to the end of battery life in the next few years.


for an unrelated project i'm look at 60mm diameter 280mm long cylindrical LiFePo4 cells that are priced lower than lead acid, and if they are not fake garbage (which they probably are) then maybe that is a way to go, either as a 110-series pack replacement to reclaim the traction pack space, or as a pack supplement with >100% of the new pack capacity. also the pusher trailer idea has merit, either with the LiFe batteries or a propane-fueled generator.

LiFePo4 is a good, relatively safe chemistry, but it has a lower energy density and is thus not used much in EVs. (I have LiFePo4 packs on my older electric bicycles.) If you use a pusher trailer, they may be feasible, though.

Dose anyone have rebuild the module with new cells fro allibaba...? My battery is slowly dying and I have several weak modules. Do I have to replace all modules or can I replace only the weak ones? Can I use Cells with a larger capacity, e.g. 48ah per cell? Thanks

Shamack said:

Dose anyone have rebuild the module with new cells fro allibaba...? My battery is slowly dying and I have several weak modules. Do I have to replace all modules or can I replace only the weak ones? Can I use Cells with a larger capacity, e.g. 48ah per cell? Thanks

Click to expand...

If you are referring to the Nissan Leaf battery pack, then you have to use original Nissan modules. They don't necessarily have to be the same year as the failing cells, but they have to be from the same version of the battery.

https://youtu.be/9q5v4sdx-Sc
I can understand Ukrainian, and that Man swapped all battery modules using LG chem 60ah 3.7v. So it is possible. I can buy 60ah for 18.83 $ p cell. That will give me 42kwh for 3600 $.

But how do you know what battery seller you can trust.. and that you are not getting some B or C grade stuff.
We would need 192 cells, order 200 cells and what if there's like 20 iffi ones in there..
Also who knows about the longevity of those, but it does look nice when new..
But I think we should question - where are those cells coming from, while all auto manufacturers struggle with supply - what grade of leftovers are we dealing with?
Maybe someone knows or can figure out what EV uses those cells, are they the same that chevy bolt uses?