White Lightning (Nissan Leaf) Build Thread

[MetroMPG]

Oil pan: I was just going to ask if there's a method for monitoring batt temperature.



Does the grille opening have any role in cooling electronics as well?

[oil pan 4]

Leaf spy will show live temperatures for the batteries 3 or 4 live sensors. Early batteries have 4, everything after 2013 has 3.

It cools the motor, charging electronics and inverter.
But the leaf has a radiator fan, it should only come on when using the air conditioning and charging during the summer.
The cooling system is so overkill there isn't a reason to have a temperature gauge.
No grille opening is enough to cool everything in the winter and opening the hood is the best way to cool during the summer when charging.

[Flakbadger]

User TonyWilliams on mynissanleaf.com posted this chart in this thread: https://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=16631

I'll be updating my first post with this info shortly

LEAF Batt Temp
Segments Degrees C (F). Temp difference
12----------60---------(140).........4.5F
11----------57.5-------(135.5)......4.5F
10----------55---------(131).........4.5F
9-----------52.5-------(126.5)......4.5F
8-----------50---------(122)........23.8F
7-----------36.8-------(98.2)......23.9F
6-----------23.5-------(74.3)......23.9F
5-----------10.3-------(50.5)......23.9F
4----------/ -3---------(26.6).......5.4F
3----------/ -6---------(21.2).......5.4F
2----------/ -9---------(15.8).......5.4F
1----------/-12--------(10.4).......5.4F
0----------/ -15---------(5).........5.4F

Thanks Oil pan for your continued expertise.

I always open the hood when charging since I first got the car, due to the pretty noticeable heat that radiates from the hood after it's been plugged in a while.

[oil pan 4]

7 bars and higher is bad. I won't charge mine and won't drive it unless I have to.

Oh also those temperature bars cover a range that is not set in stone.
It's a formula made up of a few different things. That chart should be accurate for any car with a good battery with most of its capacity.

I'm actively trying to get a 62kwh battery.
The main mods I will do to it are:
Add some combination of 120v and 12v stick on heaters up to 500w.
50F temperature switches.
Coating of spray foam and asphalt.
A mechanical temperature gauge.
Possibly a vent system.

[Flakbadger]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Oh also those temperature bars cover a range that is not set in stone.

Like anything on Nissan's Guess-O-Meter dashboard system.

[Flakbadger]

The grille on the Leaf is pretty minimal as-is, but I noticed a while back that part of it is fake. So I decided to block off the outer parts and make it flush (or more flush, anyway) with the front bumper.


Grille with "fake" part to the left.


Posterboard mockup of partial block. Final version to be made from ABS.

This car is from California (San Francisco, if the previous owner's sat-nav addresses are to be believed), and though front license plates are a requirement there, one was never installed. I bought a super cheap bracket from Amazon and I'll be installing it soon. I'm thinking dead center, to help block part of the middle as well. Should leave plenty of air space on both sides. This bracket will allow me to mount it off to one side at a slight angle if I so choose also, if this blockage turns out to be too aggressive. I think it'll be fine.


Full mockup. Holy hell, LOOK at that panel gap around the charging door! That's pretty high on the list of stuff to fix.

Now I'm just wondering, stick with white, or paint it black?

[Flakbadger]

Cut one of the templates out of a piece of my scrap ABS, used my heat gun, and bent it. The pen mark is still vaguely visible, I have spraypainted it with 2 coats but it needs a 3rd tomorrow. I did this because I am trying to get experience with the material before I go hacking away at the wheel skirt piece and destroy a dozen dollars worth of material.


The posterboard template (top) and the cut ABS plastic piece (bottom).


Here it is slapped in briefly. Will need a bit of adjusting still but I am happy with the result.

Later I'll attach this permanently with screws and L-brackets inside the bumper to make sure it doesn't go anywhere. For now I'm just test fitting. Turned out pretty great so far. Right side tomorrow. Onward and upward!

[Flakbadger]

Finally installed my partial grille block pieces. With the license plate mounted in the center, about 50% of the grille will be covered.


Here it is installed. Hard to see thanks to the gloomy, rainy Oregon day, but that's also kind of the point. If you weren't looking for it you probably wouldn't notice it. Looks almost like a stock piece of the car.


I used epoxy to secure a zip tie to the back of the plastic piece here. Then I slipped it through the grille and zipped it from behind. The pressure fit was good enough that I likely don't need the zip tie at all, but it's a good insurance policy anyway. Don't need stuff flying off at highway speed.

EDIT: I am planning on adding a piece of ABS behind the license plate once I get the bracket installed that will block off more of the middle of the grille, leaving two openings and eventually covering around 60%-70% of the grille.

[Flakbadger]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

7 bars and higher is bad. I won't charge mine and won't drive it unless I have to.

Oh also those temperature bars cover a range that is not set in stone.
It's a formula made up of a few different things. That chart should be accurate for any car with a good battery with most of its capacity.

I'm actively trying to get a 62kwh battery.
The main mods I will do to it are:
Add some combination of 120v and 12v stick on heaters up to 500w.
50F temperature switches.
Coating of spray foam and asphalt.
A mechanical temperature gauge.
Possibly a vent system.

Where would you get a 62 kWh battery---a Tesla or something?

One of the things that's most exciting to me is that Nissan kept the battery attachment points exactly the same, so you can swap in the newer 40 kWh battery into the vehicle if you want. Makes me hopeful that in ~5ish years I can swap in something around 50-60 kWh (hopefully). That'd be pretty gnarly range and I think it'd pretty much cover all of my driving needs. Especially with aeromods included.

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by Flakbadger

Where would you get a 62 kWh battery---a Tesla or something?

One of the things that's most exciting to me is that Nissan kept the battery attachment points exactly the same, so you can swap in the newer 40 kWh battery into the vehicle if you want. Makes me hopeful that in ~5ish years I can swap in something around 50-60 kWh (hopefully). That'd be pretty gnarly range and I think it'd pretty much cover all of my driving needs. Especially with aeromods included.

A leaf plus. The Nissan 62kwh battery kept the attachment points the same, the battery is just a little taller and weighs about 300lb more.