2011 Nissan Leaf modifications (efficiency and utility)

[oil pan 4]

Since I put the rear reverse mud flaps and did the front brake drag clip install I have noticed that with the cruse set at 65mph I now go into regen when I go down 2 little hills before the motor power would drop down to about 2 to 3 kw, now I'm getting a little regen ever time, when there is no wind.
My 65mph level cruse with no wind is almost down to 10kw.
It's definitely working.

[oil pan 4]

The rears were a little more difficult.
Involved more cutting of the mud flaps.







Had to carve out a space for the seem and dig out a place to put in a metal roofing screw since that's all I had that was long enough to reach the plastic tire spat bushing. I did drill one hoke in the sheet metal of the car to install a screw to hold the mud flaps against the body.

[oil pan 4]

Looks like my average power had dropped by about 400 to 500 watts.
It would probably be more if I had mud flaps factory installed. Since mud flaps tend to be like little air scoops that don't allow the air to go any where. Just removing them gives you some improvement, turning them into stylish tires spats gives a little more improvement.
For example highway driving and using say 20kwh of power over the course of your drive a 500 watt reduction translates to 2 more miles of range.

[oil pan 4]

Did another mod.
I got LED high beams installed.
The leaf SL or any 2011 to 2015 leaf with LEDs low beams takes a H9 bulb for halogen high beams.
So I had to choose between standard brightness LEDS that save power or LEDS that use about the same power as a standard H9 but are more than double the brightness.
I went with the high output option.
They appear to use the same power as the halogens but it's like strapping a flood light on the front for the car.
The ones I got were $63.
Since I live out in the country and work half the year on night shift I figured I might as well get the brightest ones.
The economics of this mod are in increasing visibility and reducing the chances of hitting a 250lb mule deer with my stealth quiet leaf.

[oil pan 4]

The first phase of my home electrical upgrade is complete.
This is a major stepping stone to my electric vehicle charger, solar, welding machine, air compressor, plasma cutter and water well pump power upgrades. It cleaned up most of the electrical mess left by the last guy, mainly an inconceivable amount of wire crammed inside a 1.5 inch conduit going to the main panel.
I installed a 125 amp square d QO outdoor panel opposite of the main panel and a second 1.5 inch conduit.
Electric vehicle chargers and welder, plasma cutter and air compressor circuits will soon be added to my garage.
The new panel is a perfect place to do my backup generator tie in.
Sorting out the mess and installing the panel would have cost at least $1,000 if I had some one do it.
I still have 3 more sub panels to run and now I have some where to wore the added circuits to.

[thingstodo]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

The first phase of my home electrical upgrade is complete.
This is a major stepping stone to my electric vehicle charger, solar, welding machine, air compressor, plasma cutter and water well pump power upgrades. It cleaned up most of the electrical mess left by the last guy, mainly an inconceivable amount of wire crammed inside a 1.5 inch conduit going to the main panel.
I installed a 125 amp square d QO outdoor panel opposite of the main panel and a second 1.5 inch conduit.

I'm having trouble visualizing 'opposite of the main panel'. You didn't say it was a sub panel ... did you run a parallel set of cables from the incoming lugs on the main panel to a 'second main panel'?

Electric vehicle chargers and welder, plasma cutter and air compressor circuits will soon be added to my garage.
The new panel is a perfect place to do my backup generator tie in.

Sounds like a nice shop you will have set up when you're done!

Do you have a design for the solar tie-in? SaskPower is picky about what they will do the solar credit for. Under 25 KW of total production (wind, solar), no local battery storage, and the alternate energy won't come online if there is no grid to sync to.

Sorting out the mess and installing the panel would have cost at least $1,000 if I had some one do it.
I still have 3 more sub panels to run and now I have some where to wore the added circuits to.

3 more panels in the same shop, or are you branching out to other buildings?

[oil pan 4]

Another panel next to the main, one in the garage and one out in my remote water well house.

My electrical power coop doesn't care what I do as long as they install a co-generation meter before I connect to the grid.

The main panel is inside the house, I put this first sub panel on the outside of the house and connected them through the wall with a very short length of 2 inch rigid conduit.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

So you need A/C to cool enough to charge?.

Wow 100 degrees doesn't seem to matter to my volt pack except that I get more current and less sag

The Volt (and my Spark) have liquid cooled battery packs. If needed the BMS will turn on the A/C to chill the coolant and allow battery charging even in in extreme temperatures.

The Leaf makes do with an air-cooled pack and blowing 100F air on a pack doesn't cool it much.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

I don't understand why most electric vehicles only come with 120v only chargers.
If you can't charge at work your realistic range is only around 50 miles per work day that's if you give the car 10 hours of charge time.

They include a 120v charger because that is what most people have in their garage. If someone is going to bother to hire an electrician to wire a 220V plug the charger won't cost much more.

I only have the 120V charger that came with my Spark at home. I mounted it on the wall and ran a dedicated circuit for it. My round trip commute is 50 miles so I could get by only charging on 120V. I also have have 14 hours to charge on an average work day so that would give me about 70 miles per day charging on 120V. However, I have free charging at work so that is where it gets charged.

[redpoint5]

I don't think it costs any extra for an EVSE to be capable of 240v in addition to 120v because the amperage rating is the same, and it's essentially just a smart extension cord.

I modified my Leaf EVSE for $20 to do 240v, and I have a dinky ~3 kWh battery in the Prius. It nearly doubled charging efficiency because the various fans that run while charging don't have to run for as long. Also, when on 120v, the available power is insufficient to precondition the cabin without draining the battery. On 240v, it's able to keep up with with the HVAC demand.