Nissan Leaf 24 kWh battery calibration and balancing

[@GlynHudson]

I’m still driving a 2012 Leaf daily, it’s great. Such a reliable car

[@JaakkoNissi]

Yep. 6½ years on our 2011 LEAF and the only things I've had to replace are the anti-roll bar links, one lower control bar (due to bad bearing), brake pads and the 12 V lead acid battery. I've never had a car that's this low maintenance.

[@sascharoll]

Bjorn getting excited about a 2012 Leaf interior - priceless.

[@bjornnyland]

You failed to understand that in that price range and age, the Leaf is one of the best choice.

[@mokiboki1778]

@@bjornnyland I’ve been looking at buying one. It’s the cheapest used electric car in the US, and there are thousands of people trying to get rid of them here in California. This video does make me feel a bit better about getting one!

[@dylanlong6269]

@@mokiboki1778 Just bought a used one for a first car a few weeks ago. I'm happy to answer any questions you have! It has been great so far!

[@GudieveNing]

@@mokiboki1778 Are they getting rid of them to upgrade to an Ariya (superb BTW, I went for a long test drive) or other longer range EV?

[@ItumelengS]

"no tow hook, how am I supposed to pull that joke " - MC Bjorn

[@kasmopaya2676]

1:30

[@bernardhilton3527]

😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹😹

[@sylvainsauvage8301]

shiiiiiiiit!

[@jonjoyce3188]

As a Leaf 30 owner of 4 years, I love seeing how these older cars are holding up, more please Bjorn 👍

[@Chrisb8s]

me too... and you can replace the battery, fairly inexpensively

[@SamuraiTacos1]

how long does the 40 kwh battery leaf last

[@SamuraiTacos1]

@@Chrisb8s that's good i got a 40 kwh leaf still new was wondering how much it cost lol

[@blackhousebrew3358]

Still using my 2011 Leaf, 70,000 miles 8 bar battery health. Goes about 50 miles max no heat.

[@SamuraiTacos1]

@@blackhousebrew3358 nice 👍

[@DalasEVRepair]

Bjorn, the battery charges to 392V which results in 4.08V/cell. The 2014+ charges to 396V which results in 4.12V/cell. The 2018+ charges to 404V which is 4.20V/cell This is why the SOC% doesn't go to 100% when fully charged on Leafspy. The cells are capable of going to 4.2V/cell, but to limit degradation the BMS limits it.

[@LMF5000]

Hey Dala! Is there any way to balance the cells? I have a leaf that stood unused for a year. One cell is 60mV lower than the others. It has the same capacity as the others because it always remains 60mV lower whether at full soc or empty. Is there a way to get the leaf to charge that cell to synchronise it with the others?

[@DalasEVRepair]

@@LMF5000 Open the battery an balance it manually with a lithium charger. Not sure if worth it!

[@Truthseeker71]

I bought a used 2015 Nissan Leaf a couple of months ago and I love it. It is my first EV, so I am very interested in this test. Thanks for sharing it. Looking forward to part 2!

[@keithlatty]

Glad to see you are testing cars people can afford second hand and wanting to go electric. Great information Bjorn.

[@MrTeq333]

early leafs had onboard charger in the hump, newer ones in the engine compartment

[@derekwaggoner7584]

Had a 16 leaf 30kwh for two years , no problems at all . traded it in on a 19 leaf plus with 62kwh had it a year now with no problems . good cars . probably the most reliable Nissan they make

[@kybrowns]

I’m still rocking a white 2012 Leaf. Loved the video. Just subscribe. I loved the part where you said Tesla owners would be shitting their pants with 7 miles of range, but a leaf owner happy to have those 7 miles. Original leaf owners are black belts in dealing with range anxiety.

[@paytonclyde4820]

you probably dont care at all but does anybody know of a trick to get back into an instagram account?? I was dumb forgot the account password. I would appreciate any tips you can give me.

[@franklinkyle7607]

@Payton Clyde instablaster ;)

[@paytonclyde4820]

@Franklin Kyle Thanks so much for your reply. I found the site through google and Im trying it out atm. Seems to take quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@paytonclyde4820]

@Franklin Kyle it did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. I'm so happy! Thanks so much you really help me out :D

[@franklinkyle7607]

@Payton Clyde You are welcome =)

[@lingondraken]

Really liking these videos on older EVs, it is quite interesting! - Former Leaf 2016 driver :)

[@aviovintage]

What are you driving now?

[@lingondraken]

@@aviovintage Year model 2017 Ioniq EV, second hand owner! The Leaf was on a 2 year lease.

[@aviovintage]

@@lingondraken Awesome, thanks for replying :D

[@MrTechfreak95]

This 2012 Nissan Leaf got me into EVs, in 2013 i think... I rented one for a Week.... And that was it... i wanted a EV so badly. :D 2015 i bought my second hand Renault ZOE 22kWh :) 2019 i got my dream Car, a Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD. :)

[@raven4k998]

congratulations dude on the telsa now you need to get a tow hitch on it just for incase

[@mathewlawrenceml]

Now do a 1000km challenge with it.

[@gorazdnovsak3705]

I did that once. It was 1400+ km chalange... It took about 26 hours... but I had one Type2 charge since two QC were broken and some 20KW QC on a way. I also had to wait 2 times since charger was not free... After 14 QC I also seen rapidgate... But then 20KW QC came and Type2 so that fixed the problem. It took 19 charging sesions...

[@mathewlawrenceml]

@@gorazdnovsak3705 wow that a journey. I have a 24 leaf as well so Iv alway been curious how it would be on very long journeys.

[@Alex-is-a-daddy]

@@mathewlawrenceml im a ev owner with 60kwh pack, im curious how is the old pack hold up after so many years

[@ElectricMikeEV]

1000k ,challenge would take a long time but would be very interesting to me as a leaf and env 200 owner

[@gorazdnovsak3705]

@@mathewlawrenceml You need time, do it as a chalange and have patience. If not get something else for the trip.

[@TorIvanBoine]

You haven't considered merch? "shiiet" "the battery is dead! D.E.D." and all the other catch phrases 🤣

[@Nathanhelmer2]

How are you verified?

[@TorIvanBoine]

@@Nathanhelmer2 yes

[@wiezyczkowata]

did you mean copyright?

[@nakfan]

Such a great idea... I actually thought about it as late as Yesterday. "Yolo it", "Like a Ninja", so many to choose from.

[@fridofridolin]

Yep, got some suggestions myself too :P Holy guacamole.. Left lane huggers.. I can't remember more, but there's a goldmine of quotes out of Bjørn's mouth :D

[@kasmopaya2676]

Very smart battery calibration, let the heater suck the last bit and charge it overnight in the garage. Masterfully executed! Like a ninja...

[@drdremd]

I’m excited! I miss my LEAF.

[@backwoodsbungalow9674]

At 16:34 it would be interesting to see the effect on range of just replacing the 3 weakest cells instead of the entire battery pack.

[@gelisob]

I have done that, it does help, but you should test it a bit differently to see what other cells are weak. Made a video about the fixing too.

[@fernandogomes6688]

No way. Bjorn really needs a Leaft expert to aid him on this one as to not mislead people. Those cells are slightly weaker than the others. Replacing those would do nothing to improve the range, it would only highlight the next weakest cells. Voltage drops quickly in Li-Ion cells when they reach near depletion, it will always appear as if cells are very unbalanced when you look at it at such a low state of charge. This car’s battery is in great shape, thanks to very cold northern weather. My 30kWh leaf shows over 900mV difference at over 15% SoC. Now THAT is an unbalanced fucked up battery

[@gelisob]

@@fernandogomes6688 it's fairly okay battery but those central ones are more heat damaged. As happens to most leaf batteries due to it's design. Replacing 4-5 middle ones will improve overall range and more accurate battery percentage reading. Central weak modules mislead the BMS and you will be left with lot of unused energy due to 2-3 modules dropping low. But thats a lot of work and yeah, it's fine for city driving. This weakness is a lot less apparent when it's warmer outside.

[@apkungen89]

First the battery needs to be calibrated. Needs to be left at a low SoC for 10 h or so I think. Then the cells will even out in voltage and the test can be done again. If the same cells still are weak, replacing them would probably help a bit

[@gelisob]

@@apkungen89 that is false. Leaf does nothing if you do not have charger plugged or car turned on. Battery gets turned off and all cells remain where they were. Also that is heat damaged cell and no amount of balancing will ever make it perform like others. It's internal resistance is higher and it will always lag behind, specially in cold.

[@anitamaxwell8846]

Very detailed video

[@MrCopcreator]

So nice u doing test with old leaf, im saving to get one, please more content with this car 👌

[@ricardocorreia4409]

My LEAF is from 2010 (ten) and everything works perfectly too. this year it's been 11 years :)

[@ajbbrito]

Hi Ricardo. I have one also from 2010 :)

[@putte112]

Thanks Björn for this video, looking forward to part II. Love my Leaf 2013 24kwh (85% SOH) 120.000km , leather seats, good sound system, backup camera, bought it 2 years ago and I have driven 40,000km in it. Longer trips are adventures :s,

[@Sanjayadon]

Weak cells appear almost at the end of the discharge.. I guess they can't hold the same intended capacity, which gives the warning.

[@Chrisb8s]

My first test drive of an electric car was the Nissan Leaf, i think it was a 2014, and I was about to buy one, but I live in Arizona and learned about the degradation and the one thing I needed was for it to make it to the airport and back.. that was a 50 mile trip. So, I bought a Chevy Volt and 2 years later a Tesla. But I remember how comfortable that leaf was for driving around town, nice solid little car. Today, there are companies that will put a 40kwh battery in that thing for not too much money.

[@GudieveNing]

Here in England, I just bought for not much money (under £5K), a 2011 Japanese import 'Nismo' branded 24kWh with 112,000 on the clock, OZ rims, in lovely black all over, full service history, superb condition. Battery is shot, max range at 30mph ave is 35-40 miles on a warm day after a good charge, enough for my local errands. We have a 2nd car for long journeys, so no problem. Just bought an ODB dongle and installed LeafSpy Pro, so will watch this video with interest. Superb car, and as others have said, great at the lights! So nippy, agile, spacious, futuristic dash - love the semi heads up display - just where your eyes expect it. Tesla? Take note! Nissan really should re-release it with a 60kW+, less bulbous front lights and up to date infotainment with CarPlay and Android Auto. IE, an electric Micra! Mine, that I call Nizz, is effectively a hot hatch! Love her to bits! Pity KZbin doesn't allow links, else could share a photo.

[@commenterperson4481]

I remember a Nissan engineer (friend of an ex) telling about this car before it was released. I thought, back then, it would be a game changer. In some ways it was; however, Ghosn/Nissan did other stupid stuff to damage their brand/trend.

[@cutehumor]

Tell that Nissan engineer, wtf no water cooling for the leaf battery???

[@harsimranbansal5355]

@@cutehumor actually Nissan engineers knew about this. But the people higher up didn’t want that cuz it would make the cars”too good” and so they were forced to not improve. Partly why it had such a small range even in 2017. These MBA’s suck!

[@cutehumor]

@General Smedley Butler Those early leafs with failed batteries came with fast chademo charging ports. If what your saying is true, the leaf wasn't designed for fast charging and came with chademo charging. The batteries failed because nissan lied then.

[@brunohill3229]

@General Smedley Butler Also the LEAF batteries did not need cooling to stop them catching fire or exploding from thermal runaway.

[@TheKenb425]

I own a 2015 Leaf and love it for many of the reasons Bjorn highlighted. It's a really nice car for the money if the limited range fits into your life okay.

[@fernandogomes6688]

I drove my 2011 leaf down to 4 bars left. New owner uses it, now with 3 bars left. This one has 10!!! Amazing how the cold weather extends the LEAF life.

[@zale76]

@ 17:08 - Those weak cells are limiting the capacity of the battery. If they would be replaced, SOH of the pack will be much better.

[@matneu27]

As an "old" leaf owner I ask myself what would be better? Changing weak cells (if there is a possibility to purchase them) or replace the whole unit wich is offered by Nissan for rounded 6000 €. If I replace single cells (the pack has IMHO 94 pcs) other cells will degrade later and had to be replaced. I think on the end single cell replacement is more expensive at least.

[@lesjohn2]

Leading Enviromentally friendly Affordable Family car. Yes now that's what I'm talking about....a proper and great electric car anyone can afford to buy ...used. I've had mine 6 years and intend to keep it for ever!

[@bjornnyland]

LEFAFC

[@DerpEye]

Family car? Yeah, if you live in Monaco or San Marino, not in any other proper country with, you know, roads where you can drive for more than 30 mins in one direction.

[@lesjohn2]

@@DerpEye Your wrong. My car does 80-85miles on a charge that means on a long run I charge after about 1 hour at 50-60mph. True I had to charge 5 times on run from Manchester to Sevenoaks in Kent but I don't generally use it for long distance.

[@lesjohn2]

@@bjornnyland Leading Environmentally Affordable Friendly-car

[@petrihietanen1102]

Super interesting! More of these please!

[@petrahoggarth1437]

I've owned a 2011 Leaf for the last three years. It's 76% SOH. It's our sole family car. Can get around 100km around town driving at 100% charge. Will be upgrading to a Tesla this year.

[@JaakkoNissi]

I've had a 2011 (built in May 2011) for the last 6½ years for a commute car and still continue with it. Even at 70%* capacity left it's perfect for my shortish 60 km per day commute. During that time we've had another car for the longer trips and for wife's commute. Started with a -05 Peugeot 407, switched to a -05 Prius and then we had a -12 Opel Ampera for three years. Now we are 100% electric with my Nissan LEAF 2011 and wife's brand new VW ID.3. The -11 LEAF is such a nice car that unless someone crashes it to an insurance case I'll probably just buy a new, maybe even bigger, battery at some point. * This is Finland. Our climate is cold enough to be pretty gentle on the LEAF batteries. 70% capacity left on the original battery.

[@eamonstack4139]

Great appreciation for this amazing machine. I drive one. And I added an 18kw battery extension to stretch range towards 200km.

[@GlossaME]

How can you do that?

[@eamonstack4139]

@@GlossaME Muxsan have designed a kit to extend the range of Leafs. The extender battery pack sits in the boot and is connected in paralell with the main pack. A CAN-bridge microcontroller interrupts the CAN signals and tells the Leaf it has a bigger pack. Nice light touch piece of engineering.

[@GlossaME]

@@eamonstack4139 For how much? Thanks

[@eamonstack4139]

@@GlossaME a whole Range of options. Service in Muxsan The Netherlands, UK - Cleevely EV, Ireland - Range Therapy. My pack costs €7000

[@GlossaME]

@@eamonstack4139 Much apreciated

[@KovertGringe]

I've been recalibrating my Nissan Leaf periodically over the last 4 months, and my SOH has gone from 85,65% to 90,06%. Thanks! 😀

[@CriticalPath]

We just got a 2013 leaf with only one battery capacity bar missing. But the range drops very quickly. We would drive 5 km and the range would degcrease by 15km. This is with AC off.

[@haaibaai]

I own one. Its great. Actuallly I use it with an extender battery.

[@DashDrones]

Wow, it's only done 100,000 kms. I've put 160,000kms on my 2015 leaf and haven't really driven it for the last 12 months! I have 11 bars and 105km range which really isn't too much difference since brand new 6 years ago. The interior is very similar to your 2012 apart from the leather :) The best car I ever owned and will never sell it, it does everything I need incredibly well and is still fun at traffic lights 😂👍

[@Screwed53]

Hello Bjørn! Nice videos you do about electrical cars! I'm goin to try to explain how a Li-Ion battery pack works. You gain no cell balancing by discharging the battery completely. The BMS does the cell balancing while charging. But i guess what you tried to do was to calibrate the SOC percentage value. When the battery is fully charged wich in this case was 4,10V/cell (newer cells can be charged to 4,20V/cell), it is also fully balanced. Then when you discharge the whole battery pack the weakest cells will of course empty first. The cut off voltage is usually 3,0V/cell. That means that when the weakest cell goes down to 3,0V/cell the car will shut down. There are BMS systems available that can balance also during discharging, but I don't think electic cars has that kind of BMS systems. So when you start charging after low voltage shutdown the weakest cells are going to recharge quicker than the others because their actual capacity is smaller. So in theory if the battery was fully balanced when fully charged, you could discharge and have big voltage differences because there are different capacity cells. Then when recharging only minimal balancing is done because those cells that got empty first will also get full first without any actual balancing because of the smaller capacity. The need for balancing from different cells having different temperature. Each cell's temperature can be different because of several reason. A cell in the middle off the pack will be hotter than the cells on the edge off the pack. Temperature affects the cells internal resitance. A hotter cell has a smaller IR than a colder cell. And a cell with lower IR will discharge at a higher voltage so the the discharged energy will be bigger than from the colder cells. Charging and discarhing of course also will increase battery temperature and a cell with higher IR will increase temperature more due to charging or discharging than a cell with a lower IR. So the IR and tempearature differences will cause the need to balance more than the capacity difference between cells because you only can only usde the capacity the weakest cell has if there is no balancing during discharge.

[@3dmotormaker]

I would add that the Nissan Leaf BMS does not charge balance at all - it does neither top end or bottom end balancing. It's entire purpose is to stop discharging when ever any cell reaches the minimum voltage and stop charging when ever any cell reaches its maximum voltage. The only balance that ever is done is to bleed current from cells in an attempt to reach equilibrium - which it never will under normal conditions, even if you left it for months and months and it did balance the pack, all would be lost at the first drive and recharge. The BMS or LBC as Nissan call it - is a safety system and not a longevity system.

[@hsuonsivu1]

I upgraded my 2012 to a used 30 kWh pack in 2020, it only increased the range only 2 kWh as the used pack was already down to 84%, but upgrade did not cost too much. You need a can bus translator and pairing tool to replace the pack and some cable adapters as 2013 onwards connectors changed. I had the work done by Dala's EV Repair in Vaasa. My original 2012 battery pack was down to 67%, so it had become impossible to drive to our cabin during winter. As far as I know, 2012 model can be upgraded up to 62 kWh pack, though it can be hard to find one used. Nissan does not do upgrades for 2012 as far as I know, other than in the USA they apparently do 30 kWh warranty replacements with 40 kWh packs. Usability of 2012 cars improves a lot with larger battery, as the car otherwise is reasonably good. Weak cells mean cells with substantially lower capacity than others. This is normal, even when my previous battery was new, there was one cell which dropped lower than others, and generally, when pack is empty, there is a quite large difference in cell voltages. It was a bit risky to drive when battery was close to empty, as flooring the power pedal sunk the lowest cells and the car turtled immediately. Leaf pack balancing current is quite small and cannot really compensate driving, and not even balance cells in slow charging. People have rebalanced their cars successfully by leaving the car on for long times. Balancing only happens when the car is on or it is charging. It can take long time, weeks or even months. Many 30 kWh cars had badly unbalanced cells when they were new, often just one cell, and this balancing brought pack to good capacity. My first trip from Espoo to Lapland (1000+ km) failed as the car had one out-of-balance cell and it dropped the range to less than 100 km. I did the trip successfully with a car with properly balanced pack, with 170km range at 80km/h and 140km at 100 km/h (approximate). The cars which I have seen with a balancing problem, have bad cells clearly under voltage when the car is fully charged. Which also means that if pack shows only small cell differences when full, rebalancing will not help, as the bad cells really have lost the capacity. When quick charging often, lower number cells (below 48) wear quicker, I assume those cells are at back of the pack, and heat does not dissipate as well.

[@Royalty46]

How does one know when the balancing is finished? We have a 2011 24 kWh Leaf, with 100k and 10 bars left, with a winter range (in Norway) of about 70km. I don't think the battery has ever been balanced.

[@hsuonsivu1]

@@Royalty46 You need OBD dongle and leafspy app (the one Bjorn uses in the video) to see if the cells are balanced when fully charged. 100k, 70km and 10 bars sounds about right for car of that age, so it is unlikely the battery is out of balance.

[@FreedomFinanceFun]

At least a Hypermiling test won't take long

[@raven4k998]

oh yes it will didn't you see how off the speedo is lol

[@apkungen89]

As you saw the voltage difference between the cells increased with lower SoC. The reason is that just a small difference in energy has a huge difference in voltage at those low voltages. If you discharge the batteries just a little bit more the voltage will decrease to almost zero in no time. So what I think that you need to do is to keep the battery at a low SoC over night before charging. Like 10 %. Then the car will balance the battery very accurately.

[@adrianpike4649]

Very interesting video! It is relevant because many people (myself included) are not in the market to buy a flashy expensive new EV. Instead I am keeping an eye on the used market.

[@matroosoft4589]

Bring it to Muxsan to mount a battery extender or replacment!

[@tucsonor]

In the big lump there is the charger. I've changed that on mine as it failed, 2012 Leaf. Also I've put in a 40kWh pack, so car is "as new".

[@MattLesak]

If you don’t mind sharing, what was the cost of replacement? I’ve questioned the economics of it, but don’t know the cost. In the US, limited options of a swap.

[@tucsonor]

@@MattLesak Approx 45kNOK ($5000 for battery) for the used battery (From salvaged 2018), and $1100 for the hardware needed. Bought from Canada, google Electric vehicles Simon André. I did the swap my self, took me 3 hours. (I got access to hoist and proper tools)- Minus, I sold the old battey for 15kNOK, (Approx $1800) to guy building a solar bank out of it (It service now as a energy storage for solar collection o a hut in the Norwegian montains) So a sustainable project for reuse of batteries.

[@rab6121]

I`ve owned a 2012 Leaf almost three years ago now. bought it at 96 000km/ 11 bars. Now it`s at 156 000km/ 8 bars. When I bought it everyone laughed at me buying an EV. But it was either that or spend tons of money on fuel. I paid 80k NOK (8k usd). And after two years I saved about 80k NOK just in fuel and tolls alone. So now it`s basically giving me money. The range in winter is 60-70km on the motorway. summer 80-90km. But I do a lot of longer trips with it every year. It`s super reliable, cheap to own in every way. And quite fun to drive. And spacious!

[@thorarnerugsveen5794]

I still miss the Citroën C-Zero, digital instruments, and the best of all, no screen :-). According to Wiki the I-Miev was produced from 2009, ahead of Leaf. You can still buy this car here in Norway.

[@richardwallinger1683]

I am still driving my 2011 Nissan LEAF it has 110km range remaining . 131 km when new .the same colour as this LEAF. 100% reliable . new 12volt and new 3 volt key fob battery .

[@pacosancho3266]

I own a 2014 acenta model with 105.000 km and i live in Valencia (spain hot climate ) and now the leaf has 75 % SOH. I’m very very happy to know there are some companies what replaced the old battery and put them 40 or 62 kwh. Someday i’ll do that because i love this car

[@just_chris1630]

I have the same car in silver, mine has more km but basically the same. Mine has lost 4 bars and it’s completely shagged.

[@evbobdemon6994]

I got a zeo 24kwh leaf an original jappan made for uk 2010 first registration 2011 and still going strong 50 miles summer 40 in winter. 35000 miles on the clock.

[@ME-cb1vw]

I saw videos from UK where people upgraded their leaf batteries. So this is possible.

[@VolvoMetal]

I was wondered about that, it would be interesting if you could change out a battery pack after like 10 years with one with double the capacity at the same size. But new packs don't fit old cars they where not designed for i guess.

[@ME-cb1vw]

@@VolvoMetal AFAIR the changed the cells with cells from 30kWh leaf

[@haaibaai]

The 62 kWh pack will fit in a 2011 Leaf just fine.

[@haaibaai]

@@Koda14 almost sure as Muxsan offers it on their site. 40 kWh is more common so it easier to get that one.

[@gregandkaruna6674]

Here in NZ they can do up to 40kwh into an old 24kwh Leaf, however they are still working on 62kwh. However why would you want to? The new Leaf and Leaf + are so much better looking along with higher safety systems including Pro-Pilot and much improved performance

[@Sanjayadon]

Excellent video Bjorn.. Unfortunately LEAF lost the leading status by yards today.. mainly thanks to non existent active cooling. I ride the same car in Sri Lanka still!

[@kasmopaya2676]

Hold on, Tesla is coming to India!

[@slowmastervie324]

Yeah, it should rather be called EAF now. However, excellent car though, I own a 2018 model with no issues at all.

[@iKaGe01]

That battery doesn't look bad at all given the age. Leafspy will never read 100% even when at 100%. My 30kWh reads 97% (updated) on a full charge with 12 bars (89%) so it looks right to me

[@mfherreradi]

Mine, 9 bars, get at most 92~94%SOC, and that is during summer.

[@TheNewcastlePilot]

I saw a BMW blocking a busy city junction today (4 way). When I drove past I saw why - she had a household plug extension trailing from an office all the way to her car to recharge it. Blocking half the city because of a dead battery.

[@xmtxx]

Very cool video! Seeing the 96 cell voltage is very impressive, compared to my bicycle battery, which is only 10s. Also "this battery shuts down at 0.5kWh" well thats also pretty much my bicycle battery total capacity (still has 35km autonomy though). :) About the cell imbalance, it's pretty bad for those weak ones. You won't be able to do anything about it (because it's nissan BMS decision), but there are 2 schools, either you bottom balance them, or you top balance them. Bottom balance means that cells will be balanced when the battery is discharged, but there will be imbalance when at charged at 100%. Top balance means the reverse (that's most common way, and what the leaf seems to be configured at). Balance is operated for 100% charge, and you will see imbalance at 0% charge. When bottom balancing, you preserve the cells when going to 0% (as the lower voltage they are, the more they wear), but, you'll have imbalance at full charging, damaging the weakest cells (as they will near max voltage sooner). Top balancing, is also complete inverse. As I'm pretty sure you are more often a 100% than 0%, it seems to be better for the pack to be top balanced. But you are really going to hurt the weak cells when going to 0%. What I do with my bike battery (which, you obviously can't on a car), is that I just ad a cell to my weak cells (it's 5p). Then, the weak cell become the strong one and wear slower. Very interesting video (especially for showing all the battery details). Keep up the good work!

[@edmundhayes1840]

The patina on the seats is very good

[@inge-olavleirtr3673]

I think the tow hitch is in the small compartment to left in the trunk, together with an air pump etc.

[@PragmaticTornado]

Have a 2021 Model 3 LR AWD myself, but videos featuring older EV's are far more interesting than the ones with new cars. Still see lots of these around in Norway. I wouldn't want to own one myself due to the extremely limited range, but it's fun to see what they can do.

[@thelondonbroiler]

I hope and look forward to this LEAF, your Model S, and some other older EVs, getting put through the standardized tests you've created over the years.

[@matthewlibanio8227]

The heated steering wheel is so powerful on older Leafs too, and the backup camera on the 2012 is so crisp, puts newer cars to shame.

[@halflife2000]

Nissan has reverse camera and adaptive cruise control since 2001 on Nissan Primera

[@reijerkok6136]

I've driven a 2013 24 kWh for 25.000 km back in 2016/2017. It also had heated stearing wheel and heated seets! Indeed, phone app control

[@andreashelmersson6295]

i just bought one Blue Nissan Leaf 2012 imported from Norway and its has problems with battery calibration i think.. ill look at this and follow updates

[@KjetilBalstad]

The box in the trunk covers the onboard charger. I know, a new one costs about 25000 - 30000 NOK. On the newer models the charger was moved to the front.

[@philippegillet649]

Yes I am proud of my leaf ,my brother in-law drives a big ass Mercedes but often asks me to transport furniture and ladders because my little car got a big ass boot .

[@yevhenshchur1196]

Wow Bjorn! If I'd only give this content hundred likes I'd do it))) Thank you for the best electric car ever review!

[@Mtatc1]

Very nice an detailed video. I want more of this stuff, maybe with other older cars like Zoe and e-Golf?

[@anzonix]

I’m eager to see the results. How about adding a little bit more air to the tyres too? I bet 2.8bar should be fine.

[@WTFaq]

great vid. can you make more vids on how to boost your old leaf battery and where can you get a replacment battery and cost.

[@colinphillipson4830]

With the Japanese built LEAF that solid area in the boot (trunk) is the onboard AC charger electronics. The UK built improved version had a single whole motor assembly under the bonnet (hood). The tyre repair kit and towing eye etc are in the boot (trunk) left compartment. Replacing the defective batteries would be a good video series. In the UK Cleevely EV via James and Kate YT channel have repaired, upgraded and changed the LEAF battery packs.

[@HoofInDenver]

About to buy my first EV/Leaf. Looking forward to part two!

[@dominiquejeschke7527]

Maybe one day you can test the old Peugeot electric cars from the 1998 range. Would be interesting to see

[@tahustvedt]

I'm in Troms and I want an old Leaf but they don't come up for sale around here any more. I saw one last year at 35 000 kr. I can do my own battery repair and replacement so it would be perfect as a daily local driver for me even with reduced range.

[@slavric]

I just bought 2016 Leaf 30kWh with rather poor battery, only 60% SOH and 250000 km on odometer. But it drives fine when it's not too cold. I'm planning to install some kind of battery warmer and it will be great for my wife commuting to work. It is an interesting car, very well equipped and it drives nice so I think we'll just keep it.

[@kkal1183]

I had one of these. when I first went to the dealer to inquire about the electric Nissan car, he looked at me like I was from another plant.

[@MattLesak]

I was asked “Are you aware of all the limitations? You really want this car?”

[@AgentSmith911]

@General Smedley Butler a lot of cars will be bought and sold online with minimum human interactions in the future. So the current businessmodel is outdated.

[@kkal1183]

@General Smedley Butler There are still plenty of service requirements. Visit any Tesla Service Center, they are packed.

[@kasmopaya2676]

Ultra snappy infotainment system, many today cars don't have that. Seconds of lag you get sometimes...

[@gelisob]

it's moderate. The map is terribly outdated and the touch is resistive, not capacitive.

[@t35laevreviews40]

I recently drove a leaf 24 kWh from 100% to 15% by driving it exactly 99 km on the motorway ( with no heat on) . Priceless

[@GavinScrimgeour]

What speed were you doing?

[@josefsoltes8572]

It does make sense. Someone reseted BMS in battery.

[@charllectric4842]

Waiting for the you too get better soon you can show the world how good is the battery recalibration for the leaf. Be safe Bjorn!

[@AnthonyTeasdale]

I have a 2012 Leaf. Leafspy shows health at 75% also. Interesting to see more videos on this car.

[@Royalty46]

Show us more!!!! We have a 2011 Leaf with licence place EL15xxx, nearly 100k on the odometer and 10 bars left. Bought it 6 months ago from the original owner. Our winter range this winter when it was -15 degrees C was about 60-70 km. It is a nice car for the money. I'm curious to know about the effects of the rebalancing.

[@nakfan]

Robert Llewellyn from Fully Charged love his 24 kWh LEAF and plans to update the battery...

[@vladpalas]

Probably the week cells need to be replaced in order to restore some battery health. Car will cut off probably as soon as the first cell goes under 3v

[@siraff4461]

I just remembered the very optimistic gom. It always used to tell me I had a lot more range than I did.

[@showme360]

This great Bjorn to see you turn back in history at the older EV cars, because for me at least it is importent to keep these cars alive for as long as possible, so as the poor people have a chance of purchasing these cars, and learn how to look after and modify them to even change the battery pack to a higher after market Kwh pack. We have two Nissan Leaf one 2011 and the other 2015. So I for one am looking forward to your next vid!! I think the original Leaf dash display offers a great teaching aid for new comers to EV world, and would recommend people to get their kids to buy these cars first to learn how to use EV's. Love the Tree growing aid lol. Notice how the Display folds down to access the CD player, for me this is great because I hate have all this extra light coming from these displays, I find it very distracting. Folding it away removes the distraction. I fear the new cars with even bigger displays will put me off purchasing them for this reason allown. Why cannot be turn off or set to a night mode!!!!! That box at the back between the rear wheel arches, is the 230v power converter changing AC to DC to charge the main drive battery at 3.6Kw. On the later models it moved to the top of the motor assembly under the bonnet and offered the choice to purchase of either a 3.3kw or 6.6Kw onboard charger. I think the 6.6 are a must especially durring winter months as the 3.3kw takes nearly all of the avaible ac for charging the battery, shiiiiit cold chargering stops Bjorn!!! Tip on cleaning that door trim, wet wipes!!

[@chrishyde1216]

About 2 years ago we bought a 2012 Leaf which had covered 9000 miles (14500 km). Whilst that is unusually low, they usually have low mileages due to the limitations imposed by the battery range.

[@GoldenCroc]

There are a few early ones out there with more than 100k miles, so it can be done it seems.

[@TL-xw6fh]

A few taxi companies in Cornwall and Leicester use the 24kWh Leaf as taxis, and many of them have over 100,000 miles on them and still going on original batteries.

[@Solkre82]

I almost bought a Bolt that had 250mv delta fully charged! Chevy is now having to fix those :p Glad to see that old leaf is still pretty useable. I'm considering one for my teenage son.

[@callmebigpapa]

Great Video! As always!

[@peterwright837]

Nostalgia day! I was on the waitlist for the original Leaf in the US and received it in April 2011. It was a very nice car, a lot more comfortable and way better performance than my used Toyota Yaris. I upgraded to the 2014 Leaf when my first lease ran out, which was pretty similar, but had over a 100 miles of range!

[@jarthurs]

I have a 2014 24kWh Leaf and it does just fine, mine has the heat pump which gives a bit of extra range when the weather is cold. They're a great EV as long as you understand their limitations, my battery is in better condition (89% SoH) and I've been getting 110km range all Winter. The weather is warming up and it's sitting outside with 141km on the GOM and I have 120km to drive tomorrow, which is fine until my Wife gets in the car and turns the heater up!

[@wedrive-derblogfurelektrom2899]

GIDs are important for SOH SOH itself in Leaf Spy Pro is more like „available capacity“ - if you drive it down to almost zero, maybe the BMS will open more buffer (and therefore more usable kWh...)

[@siraff4461]

One of my first ev's. I used to love how comfy it was. Soft seats and squidgy suspension. But I once ran one out to pushing at 55 miles...

[@EngineersFear]

I put a 2015 24 kWh in my VW Touran conversion with Nissans BMS. Once a cell hits 3.4V there is not much in it until it reaches the absolute minimum of 2.5V. So V/% ratio rather high down there, I don't think there is much imbalance in that pack. More annoyingly sometimes I get power limit at 15% SoC but that could be my mistake.

[@ohmslaw4961]

I have to grin, when you say random german Wörter. 😄

[@blomegoog]

e got 2 leaf and 2 imev and now 13y old. daily drivers. hoping another 5y.

[@CookeCraft]

Great video Bjorn, very interesting.

[@fridofridolin]

Come up with part 2 already Bjørn. Vi kan ikke vente så længe!! ;) Hej hej fra Danmark :D

[@lifeisastruggle5517]

Nissan should have kept this design because it had a unique character and looked cool.

[@louislarouche1335]

Nice, just sold my 2013 Leaf SL a few weeks ago, it had 120000 K and still had 11 bars ~80% SOH, "upgraded" to a 2016 Kia Soul EV with 60000 K.... better car, more interior space, more efficient, etc.BUT no UVO app support for that model year here in Canada (Nissan Connect still worked for the Leaf) and the total absence on a LeafSpy equivalent.... Soul EV spy, EVnotify, Car Scanner, Torque pro are not as good as Leaf Spy.... sadly... All I need is a KW remaining in BP and actual SOC%....

[@robadobdob]

I'm jealous of these really old Leafs with better battery condition than my 2013 Leaf S. We lose about a bar per year - down to 8 at the moment.

[@ramblerandy2397]

Really interesting video. Old Leafs will and do have a major used life among drivers who wish to own their vehicles, but can't afford new, and drive only short distances. The original Leaf was a pretty amazing EV, tbf. The project totally driven by Ghosn, but Nissan have since completely lost their early advantage. More fool them.

[@gelisob]

17:00 These bars show typical faith of all Leaf batteries. You can find video about fixing the battery on my channel. This happens due to the poor design of leaf batteries. The 1-48 cells are in the rear stack and you can see on your screen - the most heat damaged are in the middle of it. Because they are the most jammed together and have no place to expel their heat buildup. This car has been driven very casually, only 100k, bought mine on 338k.