White Lightning (Nissan Leaf) Build Thread

[oil pan 4]

Remember the leaf can't be uncoupled from it's motor and is always spinning the motor about 8x for every 1 wheel rotation.

[Flakbadger]

The diffuser above the windshield wipers looks absolutely terrible. It's difficult to photograph, but it appears someone tried to clean it with some sort of cleaner that was not compatible with the very cheap plastic. It left awful discoloration. So I decided to pull the piece off and spray paint it.

The piece is attached with 10mm nuts recessed in between two pieces of hood metal, so if you drop a nut it's probably gone forever. I dropped a socket into the "engine bay" area and had to open up the undertray with a string of profanity to retrieve it. There are also some pressure-fit clips that you have to pop loose, while wondering if this cheesy plastic is going to shatter in your hands.

Anyway, this piece turned out to be two parts, and when I pulled them off it looked like this underneath.

Tells me that air flows back underneath the diffuser and into the depression in the hood, at least a little bit---and that likely in carwashes some water makes its way in there too. Might be a good thing to fill in the back side of with some expanding foam if I feel sufficiently motivated sometime.
Today I did not.

The previous owner also left behind some leaves for me. Ironic because this is a NISSAN LEAF. Get it? Sorry.

Reinforces my belief (be-LEAF) that air can and does go back up under the piece.

I did take the opportunity to clean it up, however.

After that it was off to the back yard for some high-tech pigment application.

And reinstalled on the car. Looks SO much better, holy hell. There is a dent in the plastic where someone dropped something, or a rock hit it or whatnot. I tried to heat it a bit with a lighter and bend it, but I feared I'd end up cracking it or deforming it worse, so I ended up giving up and leaving it.


A quick thing to fix and certainly not an aeromod, so I won't link it in the first post, but it still felt great to get done. Gotta say, the whole time I was working, this little punk was mocking me.

[NeilBlanchard]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Remember the leaf can't be uncoupled from it's motor and is always spinning the motor about 8x for every 1 wheel rotation.

Yes, but it doesn't need to, for coasting.

[Flakbadger]

Used a DC fast charger last night for the first time. What a neat experience. My wife and I thought it was hilarious that we both got SUPER EXCITED about how fast the electric car charged, yet when we spend less time to fill up with gas we get upset about the wasted time. Lol.

Probably not something we'll do all that often but it's neat to have the option.

Also, I averaged 4.5 mi/kWh for the first time ever, and it was all highway. Pretty proud of that.

[oil pan 4]

I'm at 3.3 miles per kwh. That's about as bad as it gets. Been using the preheat more.

[Flakbadger]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

I'm at 3.3 miles per kwh. That's about as bad as it gets. Been using the preheat more.

Oof. I'm lucky to live in a pretty mild climate so I don't have that problem... but big oof.

[oil pan 4]

I pull a trailer too.
Just today I drove 20 miles into the wind and got about 2 miles per kwh. I'm sure it was higher before that.

[Flakbadger]

Couldn't disconnect the XM/FM/AM antenna without cutting the wires---the connector was way down on the C-pillar and the wire for it ran through airbag equipment brackets. The only way to kill it would be to cut it, and I want all my mods to be reversible in case I want to sell the car in the future.

So then I started eyeing a piece of leftover foam and wondering if I could turn it into a fairing to go around the antenna. About an hour of carving and sanding later, this is what I came up with. The white stuff is sandable spackle to smooth the inevitable dents that come from working with foam, and it needs to be sanded now that it's dry.

I really don't think it was worth the time and effort, but it was kind of fun to do. Thoughts?

[Flakbadger]

Hello all. Originally for White Lightning I'd planned on creating a reversible (IE symmetrical from front-to-back-of-the-car) template and using fiberglass to create rear wheel skirts. After doing some research into the cost of this option, as well as the hassle of dealing with glass fibers, I decided to go a different route.

Fiberglass is certainly something I'd like to use in the future for other projects, but for now I'm going with ABS plastic sheets. I ordered two sheets of 24" x 36" in white ABS. The plan now is to create a template with cardboard that I can trace twice, and use a heat gun to create bends in the plastic to mold it into shape for each side of the car. I can also secure ribs and other supports to the back side for stiffness.

After shaping I plan on painting the ABS to match the vehicle, to provide some defense against UV damage and to blend it a little better.

So here is my Cardboard Assisted Design Mk 1.

First up, using a thumb tack, some string and a pen, I traced out a rough half-circle the size of the rear wheel well. I knew this would not be exact (and indeed it wasn't) due to the curvature of the rear of the car, but I knew it'd at least get me in the ballpark.


I taped a long piece of styrofoam to the back side of the support to provide a natural spacer against the tire, so that no matter what shape I came up with, it would give the tire a wide berth and (hopefully) prevent rubbing, even when the suspension is moving.

Here's a side view of the completed skirt template. You can see the strip of styrofoam on the left side, which has been removed now that mocking up is done. I have to say, I really like the way this makes the back end of the car look. Makes it look futuristic and smooth. It'll look way better when it's white and not covered in random pen marks and blue painter's tape.


Here's a front view of the skirt. I will even out the skirt edge with the mud flap on cardboard template Mk 2. It will smoothly transition and be level. Despite this unevenness, it still looks way more aerodynamically sound than the old, open well.


Finally, here's a picture of the egregious trailing edge angle that results from meeting the rear mud flap. I know for a fact this will not result in attached flow at the back end because the angle is much to severe, but there's not really too much I can do about it. Sure, I could make extensions that go farther up the back of the car (and I might, someday), but for now I'm going to leave it as-is. This transition is surely 'cleaner' than the solid metal lip of the wheel well scooping air into the hollow cavity. Unfortunately I think this is the best I can do with the trailing edge for now.


Anyway that's Mk 1. The next version will be cut from a single piece of cardboard and carefully shaped with an eye for keeping as much of the sheet unbent as possible. Let me know your thoughts, and I'll see you next time.

[aerohead]

If you had some yard sale,carbon fiber arrow shafts,I'd say,bond them to the inside of the span,to add some rigidity.It would allow you to limit thickness,minimize material and weight,while maintaining shape under load.