The fact that the Leaf loses a lot of capacity quickly at hot climates is only a symptom of the instability of LMO. Its only advantage is the relatively cheap price and lack of Cobalt. The LMO battery is hurt by high temperature, age, and fast charging/discharging, and its energy density is not the best of the bunch, which makes it pretty bad on all points that matter for a car. “Mn leaches out of LMO during cycling (…) Mn concentration in the electrolyte and anode SEI has been observed to increase with aging for Mn containing cathodes (…) the anode impedance is seen to increase with Mn dissolution (…) The insufficient long-term cyclability is believed to originate from irreversible side reactions with electrolyte, oxygen loss from the delithiated LiMn2O4, Mn dissolution, and formation of tetragonal Li2Mn2O4 at the surface especially at the fast c-rates” For the rest we are going to have to stay with petrol, or have an electric for around town and petrol for out of town.įor the stability of the LMnO2 chemistry: Which then leaves the larger issue of electric cars being city only – but given a lot of people only do city driving that’s not too bad. Lets hope manufactures support it by making it straight forward to do…. However, it’s these types of articles that hold out hope – if a home user can wack in a new battery without to much work, and swap it over for 2.5K (USD) it does get a lot more doable. I’ve also got a 2002 car that is now up to 250K kms, and apart from things like brake pads, tires,etc the only semi major thing was changing the timing belt (twice.) and that wasn’t hard, just fiddly. I drive a 2010 car that I’ve pretty much done nothing but put petrol and oil in it, and change the tires. His car was only a 2012 one, and it already needed replacing. That’s one of the big problems with electrical cars, they just have that large cost built into them (battery replacement). Posted in car hacks Tagged battery pack, electric car, electric car battery, nissan, Nissan Leaf Post navigation
They’ll have their work cut out for them, as the technology is only going to get more advanced with time. The battery pack is truly the heart and soul of an electric car, so its no surprise that mechanics and hackers alike are eager to learn as much about them as possible.
With all the electrical bits simplified, all you’ve got to worry about is drilling the new battery mounting holes in the frame.
has produced a kit that has all the adapters required to perform your own battery upgrade, including a module that translates the diagnostic signals from the newer battery into something the older vehicle can understand. His car now has a greater range than it did the day it rolled off the assembly line, though as you might expect, the installation was more complex than it would have been with a contemporary battery. The car was originally sold with a 24 kWh battery, but has replaced it with a 30 kWh pack intended for the 2017 LEAF. While that wouldn’t be a bad deal even for a simple swap, the operation was actually an upgrade. The old battery wasn’t completely shot, so he was even able to recoup some of his costs by selling it bringing the total price of the operation to approximately €2,122 ($2,500 USD). While it’s not exactly an easy job, he manages to swap the pack in his 2012 Nissan LEAF from the comfort of his own garage using common tools and with the vehicle up on jack stands. Depending on the age of the vehicle at that point, you might find yourself in the market for a new ride.īut in his latest video, demonstrates that you can replace the battery in a modern electric vehicle without breaking the bank. Then you might be on the hook for a repair bill comparable to swapping out the engine on your old gas-burner. That is, until the vehicle’s battery pack starts to show its age. It’s often said that one of the advantages of owning an electric vehicle is reduced maintenance costs, and for the most part, that’s true.