Leaf Range Extender Failure Fire

[@desiv1170]

I don't know if that bulging and warping is a sign of overcharging, or rather that it was in a fire.. Could be either/both..

[@showme360]

I wonder if its possible to buy a second battery and turn it into a trailer, modify the wiring to and include a switch over from one battery to the other, so as to effectively extend the range by 90%? This way when going to a charging point you can charge both on seproate stations and in the same time it takes to charge one battery?

[@mikeatyouttube]

The short answer to your question is no. The longer answer is, of course, yes. Firstly it's worth remembering that the batteries and box weight 600lbs which is not an insignificant mass to trailer around. There are, unfortunately, electronic and software considerations to consider. The battery management system (BMS) is embedded with the batteries in the battery box and the vehicle control computer (VCU) checks to see if it has been 'associated' with that particular pack. It certainly is possible to get the Nissan configuration and control computer hooked up to reprogram this VCU to BMS connection and get the charger to recognize the trailered batteries as legitimate. You really do need the BMS around to control the charging profile on the cells - failure to monitor things carefully will result in the results in this video! You could certainly get another charger for the trailer battery pack as you were suggesting doing but the Leaf charger seems very much integrated with the car. For example, the wiring is such that if any other major component is 'not present' as seen by the VCU (EG. the inverter or motor is missing) then the computer will suspend charging. So you're by yourself then, charging the trailer battery with a third-party charger. Of course none of these problems is insurmountable and your idea is good if the integration issues can be overcome.

[@showme360]

Ok how about this, a trailer that has batteries in it designed to charge an electric car in 30min. In other words a mobile super fast charger. Could be useful in those out in the country locations where there is few charging point if any at all! Can one get wholed of the design plans on these super chargers?

[@mikeatyouttube]

ken pen A mobile charger could certainly be useful and using Leaf batteries as the storage would be a possibility. The fast charger is basically a DC charger that limits current to about 200amps at a voltage higher than the pack voltage (nominally 384volts). A fully depleted pack will be sitting at a voltage of about 364volts and a completely charged pack will be at 403volts. The simplest (if unadvisable) charging approach would be to simply connect these packs in parallel. The charge from the full pack would flow to the depleted one and after a while both packs would be at roughly 50% charge or about 384volts. After that you'd be able to drive your car and use a charger of some sort to charge your trailer pack up again. I you want more than 50% charge in your car you would need a second trailer pack (fully charged) and then you'd get about 75% charge on your car along with this second trailer pack needing to be charged from 75% up to 100%. When using this direct trailer pack to car pack charging, the rate at which the depleted car battery is charged is dependent on the resistance of the batteries. I don't know that spec but I think you'd want to put a chunky resistor in series to control the flow. How you charge the trailer batteries is up to you, as it were. If you had your stack of two or more trailer packs there'd be nothing stopping you charging them at the same time because they are separate. DC charging is certainly the simplest, but something has to produce that DC usually from the AC mains supply. DC charging from (inherently DC) solar panels is possible if the series voltage is high enough (400v or so).

[@miguelgone8156]

ken pen yes it’s very possible, I’m working on mine

[@onetongwa]

Yes it is possible to add extended range, you need to add battery power at a similar voltage. Just tap into the positive and negative wires from the battery itself in parallel. Not before the precharge relay. You do not need to add any extra electronics, they are optional. This has already been proven. I can link to videos. It is also my next method. Start small because of weight, and then go up.

[@tnlwithtrixiekat478]

I wonder if older leafs (v1) are able to upgrade the cells with the newer 48kwh batteries ect..

[@lineage13]

Charging explosion was from water getting in, did it ever work before water got in? Like did it charge a run fine after the upgrade? Can I replicate the same thing and succeed if I prevent water from entering?

[@mikeatyouttube]

I believe it caught fire while charging. I don't know the details so I don't know if there was a significant range improvement with the extra batteries. There's no reason why you shouldn't try a range improvement project yourself - BUT - if I was doing such a project I would always charge my extra pack separately (with a separate charger) and, after checking the voltages carefully, reconnect the two packs in parallel before driving. Before connecting the batteries in parallel the voltages must be within about 0.25 Volts or so, otherwise there will be a very large current flow because, 1 millisecond after connection, the batteries WILL we at the same voltage having transferred as much charge from the high battery to the low to make the voltages the same. To prevent water problems, don't break the integrity of the metal battery pack - instead do what Leaf Xpack did in his video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5SqoIaFlNqFjtU

[@lineage13]

mikeatyouttube ya.. I had a relay hooked up to a 12v car switch and screwed myself doing the leaf x pack... I geuss the relay activated too quickly... took the battery apart and the resistor and fuse seem fine. Not sure what it is.. I'll have to wait for leafspy. Interesting how there will be a drain from the main to balance out wattages, maybe some one way diodes will help?

[@witengineer6377]

Please never try to mess with the battery box. Sealed from factory for good reason.

[@scotteam9687]

oh dear.....

[@ethanmanz9799]

The leaf looks better like this

[@aleszore4646]

mikeatyouttube, thx for sharing

[@Automotive.Master]

Leaf is a fucking car

[@harryprince4356]

Adding a range extender? Why? My car has a 16 gallon gas tank and I could cut it up and do other things to turn it into an extended range 18 gallon tank and I would expect it might burn up. Dumbest thing I ever saw.