Nissan leaf oil change
 

I know the leaf has about 1/4 of an automatic transmission, pretty much a single reduction gear, parking brake and differential. No shifting gears, no reverse gear, no torque converter, no clutch packs, lockup, hydraulic solenoids, valve bodies, pumps, coolers, filters and so on.
So I looked up what takes to do it.
Looks like nissan does not recommended an oil change for the early leaf, but by 2015 they are saying to change it at something like 110,000 miles. Maybe nissan didn't think they would last 100k miles.
Only needs about 1.5 quarts of oil.
Some people have changed 2011 through 2013 leaf cars with 40k to 60k miles and the oil looked pretty done. One guy I found who posted pictures changed his at 80k miles and it looked like used motor oil.

I was considering using Mobil1 synthetic ATF.
Unless there's something better?

Can't speak to what to use, but usually oil change necessity is based on viscosity, and not on color. My truck takes 2.5 gallons of oil, and will make it look black inside of a month.

I wonder if a lab could tell you if the oil needs changing or not?

That said, I wonder what would cause an EV to discolor the fluid? Perhaps in an EV, dark fluid is an indication of needing to change it?

With the leaf it's just going to be metal powder and maybe a little bit of oxidized metal.
Since its less than 2 quarts it's not really worth a lab analysis. A truck that takes 2 or 3 gallons may be worth it.

Better not be any metal powder.

You're a hot rodder, you should know whats going on just by looking and smelling it.

It's just a gear box.

I think the recommended mileage to change the gearbox oil on the Chevy Bolt EV, is 150K.

There are no acids or other solvents, because it is just gears, and the parking pawl. I would do it at 100K.

Back in the day, we used to put transmission oil in our scooter transmissions.
It's like 80W120 or something.
It's mainly for transmissions, not for engines or high moving parts!

Transmission oil on automatics often are required to be changed at 50k mile intervals in hot climates.
Some mechanics rub their hairs, when they see cars with 100k-120k miles, and never done a transmission oil change.
They know the oil will come out black, if it comes out at all. And automotive companies want you to do just that, since the transmission on most cars has a 100k miles (or less), warranty.

That means you'll either fund their service department when something breaks, fund their parts department, when it totally broke, or buy a new car.

The main reason for oil change is to get the dirty, particle ridden oil out. Most of it will be carbon. This carbon is wearing the transmission even more.

50k miles for a transmission (with synthetic), 7k miles for engine oil (synthetic), or 3-5k miles for regular oil.
Even if the manufacturer says 10k miles for engine oil change interval... same principle... They just want you to wear out your car.
The reason many people have cars running at 200+k miles, without rebuild, is because they do oil and filter changes at the appropriate intervals.

Their could be some carbon too. I read a paper on gear friction saying the contact points on high speed gears under load can get over 1,000F.
This is what triggers ZDDP to coat metal parts with Zn.

Yeah one guy on my nissan leaf dot com changed his gear oil at 80k miles and it looked pretty black.

it's 1.5 qts; change it as often as you feel like. Peace of mind. 60k is a nice number. 50k is easy to remember. Just be sure to get the right fluid for the job.