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LeftieBiker said:
high drain low capacity LiFePO4, etc
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I think you may have misread an acronym. The highest output lithium batteries, as far as I know, are the Lithium Polymer batteries, often called "LiPo." LifePo4 chemistry is the safest by far, but also has the lowest energy density in the class. They are used when safety and durability are the primary concerns.
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I see your point but I am fairly well versed in batteries. I have a bunch of li-ion packs between 12v and 52v for ebikes and things. I've built electric trikes and other vehicles for burning man. I also recently converted a KTM Pitbike over to 8kW electric using a 76.8v LiFePO4 pack that I built. This pack can output 200a without breaking a sweat and it's tiny.

Everything you mentioned is correct except that you left out that lithium iron phosphate is second inline for highest output of commonly available chemistries. I will take #2 in output and #1 in safety for a race vehicle any day. LiPo would be faster but only until it catches fire.

The safety factor is huge for me.
 
I agree that safety should be paramount. My point about LiFePo4 batteries was that with the lowest energy density, they tend to be much heavier for a given capacity. This really shouldn't be a deal breaker for most racing applications, but I'm afraid it often is anyway.
 
DustEV said:
This work has inspired me to buy a second leaf haha!

I now have a new daily (2012 fast charge SL) and my old leaf (2011 base).

To avoid going further off topic I will get to the relevant point: for such a build would you all recommend a 160kw inverter discussed here or some other aftermarket system?
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Like mentioned in the wiki https://github.com/dalathegreat/Nissan-LEAF-Inverter-Upgrade

Q: Why doesn't this work on my 2011-2012 LEAF? A: The early leaf has EM61 motors. These aren't compatible with the EM57 inverter style.

Try to trade in the 2012 for a 2013 so you can actually mount bigger inverters.
 
I see. I did read that earlier but I misunderstood the generation names. That is too bad. These first gen leafs are crazy cheap so they would be an otherwise ideal candidate for modifying.

Well I am going to look into options for the first gen before I move on. These cars with relatively low miles and in good mechanical condition can be had for $2000 where as the 2013+ seem to demand triple the price or more.

Thanks for the valuable feedback! I will keep an eye on all of your exciting progress and hopefully have some of my own to share!
 
LeftieBiker said:
My point about LiFePo4 batteries was that with the lowest energy density,
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My understanding is that the ingredients can be tweaked for high power (e.g. A123) or for high energy (typical house battery), while still being essentially LFP in chemistry. For racing, you'd choose (and pay for) the high power formulation.

they tend to be much heavier for a given capacity.
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Hence the "low capacity", i.e. not a whole lot of them, so not a whole lot of weight. In the limit, assuming fast charging capability, you only need a few quarter miles of range.
 
coulomb said:
LeftieBiker said:
My point about LiFePo4 batteries was that with the lowest energy density,
Click to expand...
My understanding is that the ingredients can be tweaked for high power (e.g. A123) or for high energy (typical house battery), while still being essentially LFP in chemistry. For racing, you'd choose (and pay for) the high power formulation.

they tend to be much heavier for a given capacity.
Click to expand...
Hence the "low capacity", i.e. not a whole lot of them, so not a whole lot of weight. In the limit, assuming fast charging capability, you only need a few quarter miles of range.
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Exactly. I have a lot of A123 cells that I use already. You can charge at up to 4C and discharge at 48C for less than 10 seconds. Plenty of time to go 1/8 mile!
 
Just wanting to add to the above discussion relating to energy density versus safety.

My understanding is that LTO chemistry is even safer than LFP. Not that LFP isn't "safe enough" for most applications. And yes, LTO is only about half as energy-dense as LFP.

Where LTO shines is in C Rating. 10C continuous is typical, i.e. six minutes to completely charge or discharge. So for some application that might need high power but not necessarily lots of total energy (drag racing for example), and LiPo is deemed not safe enough, LTO could be the answer.
 
Chipping in here...
40kWh 110kW 2019 leaf owner...
Super impresed at the changes you've made Dala, and loving the youtube videos..

I'm also wondering if anyone has simply swapped out a 110kW inverter for the 160kW one??
I think the leap from 150 to 215 BHP would be REALLY fun..

I wonder if it's as involving as what has gone on here at all?

Cheers

DrP
 
Dala said:
📣 Performance community, we need e+ CAN-logs! 📣 Currently all 160kW inverter swaps are limited to 400A, which means around 145kW max to the wheels. The e+ LEAF actually can do 180kW, but we haven't figured out what messages is needs to do so. If you have access to an e+ >2019 LEAF, and have the hardware to do a CAN-log of the EV-CAN bus (possible warranty void!), let me know. We need a full throttle run with Leafspy showing that 500A (180kW) was pulled from the battery, while CAN-logging.

Please don't PM me and say that you have an e+ and OBD2 dongle, this is unfortunately a bit more complex than that. We need someone willing to splice into the wiring harness to access the hidden EV-CAN on the e+. You will also need some dedicated CAN hardware to read it (Kvaser, PCAN, etc.) Recently I got a hold of the ZE1 workshop manuals, so here is the place where the ZE1 LEAF has the EV-CAN:

CAN-Layout, EV-CAN marked in red
Js2YCtc.png


One place to splice in would be directly at the VCM, connector E61:
7GfqJ9r.png

Sgc0Brd.png


The person that supplies the CAN-logs will have the most impact on the performance upgrade community by far! Can we make this a community effort? :D
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@Dala In case you still need help with CAN messaging collection for 180kw release - can do.
 

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