Retrofitting battery heating to a 2010 leaf

Hi,
I've got a customer install coming up soon, a Japan imported Leaf from 2010 with VIN ~200. So an extremely early generation leaf, made before the Leafs were available for purchase worldwide.

The problem, the car is getting imported to Finland, an extremely cold environment. I am 99% sure that this Leaf will not have the battery heating elements inside them. How hard would it be to retrofit the heating elements? I've got the actual elements from another pack, along with the black box that joins them all together.

Buut, how likely do you think it is that the stock wiring harness from 2010 will have the connections for adding a battery heater? Any guesses accepted

It may be easier to add external pad-type heaters. That has been done with Leafs. That would also allow a more robust battery heating system. Try searching (at Google) something like: "site:mynissanleaf.com adding battery heaters" (without the quotes)

EDIT: Here is what I remembered. Note that this is a 120 volt system, but a non-grid-tied system should be possible.

https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=15673

LeftieBiker said:

It may be easier to add external pad-type heaters. That has been done with Leafs. That would also allow a more robust battery heating system. Try searching (at Google) something like: "site:mynissanleaf.com adding battery heaters" (without the quotes)

EDIT: Here is what I remembered. Note that this is a 120 volt system, but a non-grid-tied system should be possible.

https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=15673

Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion, might actually be a viable route!

The reason I was curious was that I will need to swap in a new pack / retrofit newer cells anyhow. This car is at 5/12 capacity bars, with 34k miles on it!

Thanks!

No problem. Now off to bed with me, having helped one person out of two this morning.

Dala said:

Buut, how likely do you think it is that the stock wiring harness from 2010 will have the connections for adding a battery heater? Any guesses accepted

Click to expand...

My guess would be zero chance for harnesses, or the ECU firmware to control it. Leftie's suggestion of aftermarket heating pads sounds like the best route. The concern would be lack of automation to assure proper temperature. Bad things happen to the battery if you try to charge them when they are too cold.