Thanks again to QC Charge for fixing my LEAF! I've left chapters in this video so you can skip around to areas of interest (It's another long in-depth EV video from us).
I'm an electrical engineer with board level repair experience and would love to try to repair your charger for no reason. The only problem is I live in Georgia. By the way, I just interviewed for a job at that new Hyundai EV plant! Wish me luck everybody!
Kyle @OutofSpecReviews, have you seen the Transport Evolved 7 apr. 2022 video “The Next Big Battery Breakthrough = A "Fountain Of Youth" For Lithium?” We have a 2014 24kWh Leaf. Bought it in march of 2021 at 84000 km, now at 113000 km. Mostly drives around town and charge over night. But did make a long trip last summer, and again this summer. Driving/charging/driving for about 18 hours, 16 fast charges in a day. Battery gets very warm in the end, at the first red bar on battery temp meter, but these old Leafs doesn't rapid-gate. Then immediately slow charge to 100% = balancing cells. Repeated going home again a few days later. Leaf Spy says it did wonders for battery health and capacity both times. Health up about 5% and stayed there for many months, almost a year. Capacity up about 1 kWh, which is also about 5%. I try to keep the battery cool to be able to go far. If you drive fast, go low and charge high, the battery will warm up much faster and I guess you won’t have to spend 18 hours in the car. Give it a try, you have nothing to loose. /Martin
Great vid. Something to consider: talk to Robby Layton Autobody in Utah to fix left rear QP? He is on CZcams and might be a good dual video opportunity.
We bought our 2013 Leaf used 8 years ago, with 11k miles. Right now we have only 2 bars of deg. My wife daily drives it, and we do all errands in it! 65 miles of city range. Just got new tires for it. Tires and a new 12 volt with AGM was all we ever gotten for it. 56k miles on original brakes. The PERFECT city commuter! Santa Fe, NM 🤘
Anything that only has 65 miles of range could probably be replaced by an ebike or bus around my parts. A car for just in the city means your city has got a terrible urban design.
Are you ever able to take the Leaf down to Albuquerque? The return trip might be tough but the DC charger at the Kewa Gas Station (Santo Domingo Pueblo exit) will actually work with a valid Blink card. It is just such an old charger that it couldn't communicate with and charge my 800-volt Kia EV6.
Those RAV4 EVs had 95 miles of range when new, similar to early Leafs. Amazing people were fine buying a new car with so little range back then to be an early adopter. Today, people pause if it's under 300 miles.
95 miles is plenty for errands around town or the typical commute. I'd wager not many people had these as their only car, especially with the state of public charging in 2012. You would take an ICE vehicle for road trips unless you were really looking for an adventure!
Hey, I know that RAV4! (23:50 and 36:00) I worked on it at my repair shop in Madison, WI. I had replaced that 50 amp fuse previously. Alex was a great resource. When it had charging problems again, decided it was time to have the motor milling noise addressed at the same time. And rather than pull the motor and ship it to QC Charge, it was more cost effective just to send the whole car to Alex instead. Glad to see it is being kept on the road. Keep up the good work!
In April 2023, I bought a 2013 Leaf SL with 42k miles, for $2,000. I’ve put 5k miles on it and I love it. It’s very well built and quiet. Mine has a lot of battery degradation, which is why it was so cheap. It will go about 45 miles on a charge. But most days I only drive 30 miles. Plus I can charge for free at work. My teenager loves borrowing it because it saves him from buying gasoline. Lol
I’m really hoping the ccs2 to chademo converters become cheaper and work on a wider range of public chargers. Things are looking good for a cheap ev future.
@@restfulplace3273if I were you, I wouldn't waste money on a nissan pack. Get a lifepo4 battery pack with updated bms with active cooling. Same price but better components.
The black box next to the charger is a backup power module for the braking system, if I recall. Similar to how a vacuum assist brake booster still gives you enough stored vacuum to stop the car if the engine dies, that pack uses capacitors to store energy for keeping the power brakes alive.
What a spectacular video, filled with interesting information, and conveyed by two elite EV minds! Hoping for more content like this in the future with QC Charge!
Great mechanic! There is no substitute for knowledge, and his communication skills are the kind that let you be confident of what's being done to your vehicle. I use a couple of dealers whose people keep me coming back, too.
I’ve watched the evening shop tour with Alex. What a fascinating 40 minutes! I’ve learned so much about the amazing behind the curtain world of EVs! Thank you Kyle for bringing this content out, and Alex for his excellent, concise and expert knowledge. Now, I’m going to have some dinner and a beer or two, and then finish the rest of the video. Bravo!
They fixed my B250e motor. I shipped the car from South Florida, and after adding in shipping, the cost was less than the local Mercedes dealer wanted. I love these guys.
As a 2015 Leaf owner this was a great watch, thanks for covering all electric vehicles! I’m down to 8 bars, there was a year I tried to make some 120 mile high-speed round trips in the Leaf using multiple DC stops in the Atlanta summers. I don’t think the battery appreciated it at all. Some days I did another 50 miles after that using a couple of L2 charges and the battery temp gauge was all the way up before the red zone. The lack of liquid cooling for the main pack was a real shortcoming.
I've replaced the fuses on a RAV-4 EV charger in the past and I have a theory for why they fail: The Tesla LDU creates pretty high ripple voltage on the DC buss due to it's low capacitance polyester caps. Meanwhile the DC side of the charger that is also connected while driving has larger electrolytic caps that are trying to smooth out that ripple. I wonder if that ripple current is near the DC side fuse limit and slowly wearing out those fuses with thermal cycles? It would be interesting to put an AC clamp meter on on of the DC charge leads while driving to see what the ripple current is.
One of your best videos so far. Very educational with lots of good data. I am, however, surprised that as a car guy you don’t do much wrenching seems to me that part of being a car guy is fixing stuff. I bought a house 36 years ago and I’ve learned to fix pretty much everything inside it. I know how to fix most things in my ICE car and I’m learning to fix most things in my tesla. I would like to see more Contant about power, mathematics and electric cars. How much voltage how much amperage etc. can you get from a dispenser? I know you and Brandon talk about this a lot but you do it very quickly and even though I’m an engineer I don’t get all of it , so in the same way that this was a tutorial on how to fix older leafs in row fours I think some educational videos on car charging power mathematics would be great
for that question;As of August 8, 2023, Nissan has sold a total of 174,608 Leafs in the United States. This number includes all Leafs sold since the car's launch in December 2010. The Nissan Leaf is the best-selling electric car in the United States, and it has been a major factor in the growth of the electric vehicle market in the country. Globally more, of course
Love it. Not sure why, but I watched the whole thing. And I don’t even have a Leaf! Might come in handy for my Fiat 500e down the road (knock on wood) Thanks Kyle
Thanks Kyle and QC Charge. Shortly after I bought my 2015 Leaf SL in Ft. Collins in May I discovered your frozen Leaf video and have been a big fan of your channel since. I got lucky with my Leaf; it had one owner who obviously took great care of it as it looks virtually new. It has 11 bars, 82% SOC with 29 QC's. It's my daily driver and a great intro to the EV world. I've learned a lot your channel. I hope you enjoy your Leaf as much as I do and look forward to more Leaf updates from you.
Thanks for the info! I've owned 250e for couple years (had a drive train replaced by Benz under warranty once) and now I am still driving my 2012 Leaf. It's good to know there are service options as my battery is still on 9 bars (second battery already under warranty).
I drove my 2011 Leaf SL (same color as this one) for 12 years and 42k miles. Battery capacity was down to 5 bars. I could drive about 30 miles max on a charge. Nissan wanted $13,500 to replace the battery with one with the same capacity. I sold it to CarMax for $3400.
I owned a Rav4 EV and Tony and QC Charge was very active in the community. And I visited Tesla HQ (Palo Alto) back in 2011 and I saw Tesla building Rav4 EVs!
Wow one of my favorite videos ever! I started with a 2011 Nissan leaf as my first car in highschool. Now upgraded to a Polestar 2 but amazing to understand how the leaf works and little on how they made upgrades to the 2013 model year.
2013 LEAF about 65% battery health. PERFECT daily commuter with free L2 charging at work! Been using lvl 1 at home for now 3+yrs. Going on 7+yrs of ownership. Holding on to it to become kids car for school when they get their license in another 4 yrs!
A NACS-to-CHAdeMO adapter? An emphatic "yes" to that one ! As an i-MiEV owner, I've been thinking a lot about this one lately. Tesla, after all, still sells an adapter that basically does this in reverse (ie: CHAdeMO-to-NACS.) So, one would think it's within the realm of possibilities.
"Technically" the CHAdeMO adapter for Teslas is just straight through CAN communication to the vehicle, without much actual translation going on (though there are electronics in the adaptor to perform the handshake procedure for CHAdeMO). Also of note, Tesla superchargers when being used on a Tesla car also utilize CAN based communication. To put it a bit more simply, on "modern" Tesla cars, they can speak to the chargers in both CAN and are also capable of PLC when using a CCS charger. Older Teslas only speak in CAN, which is why they cannot use CCS chargers without being retrofitted. NACS on the other hand uses PLC communication (literally the exact same protocols as CCS), which is completely different from CAN, so the translation is a lot more complicated. V3 superchargers have the ability to speak in PLC for these future NACS equipped cars, but earlier V2 superchargers do not (which is also why future NACS cars will not have access to those chargers. To simplify, Tesla cars already have the correct communication abilities to talk to CHAdeMO, they just need a "physical" interface to plug into that can perform a few basic handshake procedures. Whereas a CHAdeMO equipped car does not have the communication abilities to talk to NACS (or CCS), so those capabilities would either have to be retrofitted to the car, or have some sort of mechanism to "translate" the totally different languages of CAN and PLC, so that makes things quite complicated...
@@QCCHARGE Thank you for this very detailed reply. I note that NACS is now being referred to in tech spec language as SAE J3400. I assume that is the PLC compliant version. An older chart I have, showing what was then all the world's DC EV charging standards, refers to the Tesla plug as SAE J2411, which I assume is the older CAN version. Very much enjoyed the video of your facility. It's important work you're doing to keep older EVs functioning and driving into the future.
So about the onboard charger fuse blow, it could be over amped but fuses depend on the metallurgy inside for the element to melt. Continuous or pulsed high current can cause the fuse to clow prematurely. Tesla now ahs a pyrofuse for that reason. Even overheating due to bad connections can cause them to blow.
The Santa Monica Civic Center parking structure across from the police station had the paddle chargers because they had cars and I think golf carts that used that!
Yay! So glad you got your LEAF's AC charger replaced! You'll love it more than ever now. I saw a lot of those inner "workings" when Nissan had to replace my battery pack under warranty. NOW… get that rear fender fixed! Surely there must be a wrecked LEAF in a salvage lot with an intact fender. Buy one, cheap, and then have it repainted if necessary. I'm sure Liv will appreciate being able to charge it at home.
Seems like that charge unit is worth repairing, it can't be that hard. Someone will be able to use it. Heck, you might even need it again when it's repaired. I wonder if there's a more robust diode that can be used, or if that would burn something else out. I wonder if an inline replaceable fuse tucked under the rear seat would be a good idea...
Thanks Kyle! I’ve owned a 2013 Rav4EV since 2016. Had Tony Williams come install the Chademo charger on it shortly after purchasing. It’s been a great but interesting car. Even today, can’t beat the cargo space for an EV!
Ever since you bought this car I was looking forward to you replacing the charger. I had a similar issue with my 2012 Leaf a couple of years ago and was quoted $6000 just for the part at my local Canadian Nissan dealer. I found a new part online from a supplier in Rhode Island and had it installed by the local dealer. In total it was still around $2500. I sold the old charger for $50 to a guy who had some unrelated project on the go. Still, with the exception of that issue and a 12 volt battery replacement, it was an excellent, dependable car. If I did it over again, I'd probably take the internal circuit board to an electronics repair shop and have the diode replaced. Thanks for the great video!
off topic, in Europe you woulud not be able to drive this with so extensive body damage - in general any sharp edge on the body of the car make its inligal.
Interesting, never heard of that law before. In the US, it just can't affect the function of the car or it's required components like lights, mirrors, windows, etc. So the Cybertruck will be illegal in Europe? 😂
Kyle, Professor John Kelly at Weber State University may do a student repair. The school is in or around Ogden. UT. Before buying my 2021 Bolt I watched his class on complete tear-down and re-assembly of every system in the car including the HV battery. He was impressed with the engineering.
It's also worth noting that the 2011-2012 Leafs were all manufacturered in Japan and imported, and they had the original battery chemistry packs. Once they redesigned and made the 2013's they were built here in the US (you can tell the US cars by the missing side turn signal lights near the front wheel fenders). The 2013+ cars had an improved battery chemistry pack known as the "lizard pack" which was built to handle heat better for warmer climates like Arizona, and also heat from DC fast charging.
Thank you. A fascinating & informative video from start to finish. Interestingly enough, I’m looking to replace my 21-year-old RAV4 EV with a second generation RAV4 EV or a used LEAF. And, being in CA as well, it’s great to know of a quality repair shop to tackle any issues that might arise.
We almost always have at least one or two customer cars here for sale! All of the cars we help to sell always come with a rebuilt drive unit, and in some cases other common repairs performed as well.
Great video. SO MANY cool trivial facts in this video. I just started looking into getting a Leaf as a runaround and this was fantastic! Alex seems so nice and knowledgeable. Look forward to seeing him more and will definitely check out his channel.
Amazing shop :) Just one comment on balancing 40:00 : I've used the Leaf battery and its BMS in a number of EV conversions. The BMS *always* balances when it's on but at a very low balancing current, like 20 mA or thereabouts. So balancing takes a super long time, many 10s of hours to level out like 50 mV imbalance. With DC charging and driving there simply isn't enough time for that.
I had the B250e also built with Tesla using the model 3 power train. Amazing car and they're still being built in other countries with a long range battery
Very cool to watch this I had an 2013 and miss it but got an 2019 now and works good, wish we had an shop like this near by then might have ask too see how much to fix my battery issue ⚠and heater too. The 2019 is working well but has 23% battery degradation 😐but 140+ miles range is good for me from like 35-40 in my 2013 with 5 bars. 😇
Great video. At $3750 plus $1200 for this repair I suppose this was barely worth it for a second vehicle to be used in by a typical household. I consider the 2012 and earlier Leafs to have been pathfinders. My 2013 Leaf was rear ended last year and totaled. At the time I was getting just 40 miles on a charge. I took the $7000 check from the guy's insurance and bought a 2015 Leaf for $8500. Now I get 84 miles of range and I can top up with CHadeMO when I need to. I hope to get 8 to 10 good years from this car.
54:00 - That seems such an inefficient use of space, piling a few components vertically behind the back seat, robbing cargo space and causing the non-flat-load-floor with the seats; when there was room under the hood for those components, which also would have saved significantly on complexity of running the wiring and coolant! Heck, relocate those components up front, and you could make a decent little cargo van out of a Leaf dumping the back seats.
The reason the fuses blow on the OBCs and also the heater is because they don't take an electrical spike/over-current very well. When replaced with a slow burn fuse, this problem is essentially completely eliminated. Discussion at 36:30 in the video. I can't take credit for the knowledge, as I learned about it when researching a dead 2012 Leaf heater and another youtuber explained the problem was the fuse.
I hope there's a conversion from Chadamo in the future, I normally charge at home but quick chargers are pretty rare in my city and mostly only at Nissan Dealers
Really enjoy the channel, if someone could manufacture refurbished batteries that double existing range, it would revive all these heavily depreciated Leafs, i3s, Mievs, Golf Es, etc.
I think you got a backwards when you said if the diode was Open there is nothing you could do but if it was shorted you could put another diode in parallel. If you have an open circuit and you put in another diode in parallel them that diode would function correctly but if you have a shorted diode and you put another one in parallel with it it's still a direct short. You should go back in your video and correct with some text on the screen.
It wouldn't be a diode in parallel, it would be in series (inline with the proximity, and upstream from the charger). The only way to fix a blown diode (open circuit) would be to remove the old one from the circuit board, and install a new one in its place.
I'm loving this nerd level, but for me it's just not enough. I'd like to see the board level failure (and repair) shown too. Otherwise its not nerd level 2000=)
I replaced the onboard charger on my 14 Smart. Few bolts and hoses and wires and I had the $600 used charger installed. Now miles later I have a p1ca100 code and it is time for the junk yard. The fix is now over my head. Wish there were more EV repair shops local to the panhandle of Nebraska. If you want another project car for videos let me know.
9 bars at mid to high capacity is probably not accurate. For some reason, Nissan doesn't give every bar equal 'weighting'. For instance, my 2016 Nissan Leaf SV has 10 bars of capacity, but the SoH in Leafspy is only 72.07%
I'm dealing with a Leaf myself. The on board charger failed. And the used unit the shop got me was no better. It appears that most of the Leafs that are at salvage facilities are there because the on board charger failed. If it's a leaf at a scrapyard and there is NO BODY damage, it's there because of a bad on board charger.
Thanks again to QC Charge for fixing my LEAF! I've left chapters in this video so you can skip around to areas of interest (It's another long in-depth EV video from us).
I'm an electrical engineer with board level repair experience and would love to try to repair your charger for no reason.
The only problem is I live in Georgia.
By the way, I just interviewed for a job at that new Hyundai EV plant!
Wish me luck everybody!
Kyle @OutofSpecReviews, have you seen the Transport Evolved 7 apr. 2022 video “The Next Big Battery Breakthrough = A "Fountain Of Youth" For Lithium?”
We have a 2014 24kWh Leaf. Bought it in march of 2021 at 84000 km, now at 113000 km. Mostly drives around town and charge over night. But did make a long trip last summer, and again this summer. Driving/charging/driving for about 18 hours, 16 fast charges in a day. Battery gets very warm in the end, at the first red bar on battery temp meter, but these old Leafs doesn't rapid-gate. Then immediately slow charge to 100% = balancing cells. Repeated going home again a few days later. Leaf Spy says it did wonders for battery health and capacity both times. Health up about 5% and stayed there for many months, almost a year. Capacity up about 1 kWh, which is also about 5%.
I try to keep the battery cool to be able to go far. If you drive fast, go low and charge high, the battery will warm up much faster and I guess you won’t have to spend 18 hours in the car. Give it a try, you have nothing to loose. /Martin
Great vid. Something to consider: talk to Robby Layton Autobody in Utah to fix left rear QP? He is on CZcams and might be a good dual video opportunity.
It’s always a great day when Kyle drops a 1hr video about the Leaf
over an hour over!!
Watch time is money! 😑
Can't wait to see what he has to say Nissan Leaf owner hello from golden Colorado 👋🏻💜🔌🚗😁
@@jaredcarter921 how long will that older charger last before it gives up the battle?🤔
Yeah... I've had two die in front of me. Dead stop, no lights. Thankfully I keep far away from this trash.
We bought our 2013 Leaf used 8 years ago, with 11k miles. Right now we have only 2 bars of deg. My wife daily drives it, and we do all errands in it! 65 miles of city range. Just got new tires for it. Tires and a new 12 volt with AGM was all we ever gotten for it. 56k miles on original brakes. The PERFECT city commuter! Santa Fe, NM 🤘
Anything that only has 65 miles of range could probably be replaced by an ebike or bus around my parts. A car for just in the city means your city has got a terrible urban design.
Are you ever able to take the Leaf down to Albuquerque? The return trip might be tough but the DC charger at the Kewa Gas Station (Santo Domingo Pueblo exit) will actually work with a valid Blink card. It is just such an old charger that it couldn't communicate with and charge my 800-volt Kia EV6.
much more convenient with an old EV though (written with firsthand experience)
Those RAV4 EVs had 95 miles of range when new, similar to early Leafs. Amazing people were fine buying a new car with so little range back then to be an early adopter. Today, people pause if it's under 300 miles.
95 miles is plenty for errands around town or the typical commute. I'd wager not many people had these as their only car, especially with the state of public charging in 2012. You would take an ICE vehicle for road trips unless you were really looking for an adventure!
EVs are trash. Stop spreading BS
@@keegan854
Lol I don't think ppl really understand how far 300 miles is! I had 120 mi range on all my EVs they were perfect and everybody wanted to drive them
Hey, I know that RAV4! (23:50 and 36:00)
I worked on it at my repair shop in Madison, WI.
I had replaced that 50 amp fuse previously.
Alex was a great resource.
When it had charging problems again, decided it was time to have the motor milling noise addressed at the same time. And rather than pull the motor and ship it to QC Charge, it was more cost effective just to send the whole car to Alex instead.
Glad to see it is being kept on the road.
Keep up the good work!
In April 2023, I bought a 2013 Leaf SL with 42k miles, for $2,000. I’ve put 5k miles on it and I love it. It’s very well built and quiet. Mine has a lot of battery degradation, which is why it was so cheap. It will go about 45 miles on a charge. But most days I only drive 30 miles. Plus I can charge for free at work. My teenager loves borrowing it because it saves him from buying gasoline. Lol
same
I can get a 62kw.hr battery kit landed in Australia for $5400. Swap out the pack internals. ~400km range. Transforms the car.
I’m really hoping the ccs2 to chademo converters become cheaper and work on a wider range of public chargers. Things are looking good for a cheap ev future.
@@restfulplace3273if I were you, I wouldn't waste money on a nissan pack. Get a lifepo4 battery pack with updated bms with active cooling. Same price but better components.
Even with battery at 66% it's a great city car daily driver! Glad to see it back to normal charging status.
The black box next to the charger is a backup power module for the braking system, if I recall. Similar to how a vacuum assist brake booster still gives you enough stored vacuum to stop the car if the engine dies, that pack uses capacitors to store energy for keeping the power brakes alive.
Good to know. Capacitors are dangerous
Thanks Kyle and QC Charge. Great to get nerdy about electric cars and their history.
What a spectacular video, filled with interesting information, and conveyed by two elite EV minds! Hoping for more content like this in the future with QC Charge!
Great mechanic! There is no substitute for knowledge, and his communication skills are the kind that let you be confident of what's being done to your vehicle. I use a couple of dealers whose people keep me coming back, too.
I’ve watched the evening shop tour with Alex. What a fascinating 40 minutes! I’ve learned so much about the amazing behind the curtain world of EVs! Thank you Kyle for bringing this content out, and Alex for his excellent, concise and expert knowledge.
Now, I’m going to have some dinner and a beer or two, and then finish the rest of the video.
Bravo!
The amount of EV knowledge dropped in this video is insane.
They fixed my B250e motor. I shipped the car from South Florida, and after adding in shipping, the cost was less than the local Mercedes dealer wanted.
I love these guys.
I really enjoyed how Alex is so forthcoming with valuable information; he's been impressive in the community.
As a 2015 Leaf owner this was a great watch, thanks for covering all electric vehicles!
I’m down to 8 bars, there was a year I tried to make some 120 mile high-speed round trips in the Leaf using multiple DC stops in the Atlanta summers. I don’t think the battery appreciated it at all. Some days I did another 50 miles after that using a couple of L2 charges and the battery temp gauge was all the way up before the red zone. The lack of liquid cooling for the main pack was a real shortcoming.
I wasn’t expecting such a nerdy history lesson but I was pleasantly surprised
20:00 A CCS kit for the Leaf does exist, but you have to ship it to Muxsan in the Netherlands. They will not ship you the kit to DIY install.
There is a ccs2 to chademo adapter now. Early testing phase as initial
Users are finding compatibility issues with some public chargers.
I've replaced the fuses on a RAV-4 EV charger in the past and I have a theory for why they fail:
The Tesla LDU creates pretty high ripple voltage on the DC buss due to it's low capacitance polyester caps. Meanwhile the DC side of the charger that is also connected while driving has larger electrolytic caps that are trying to smooth out that ripple. I wonder if that ripple current is near the DC side fuse limit and slowly wearing out those fuses with thermal cycles?
It would be interesting to put an AC clamp meter on on of the DC charge leads while driving to see what the ripple current is.
I'd love to see OutofSpec do a full video on the Rav4 EV. Maybe look into Rav4 EV conversions out there as well.
Another CZcamsr, Nikki (she covers EVs) out of Oregon bought a 2001 Rav EV to repair! She has posted about it.
One of your best videos so far. Very educational with lots of good data.
I am, however, surprised that as a car guy you don’t do much wrenching seems to me that part of being a car guy is fixing stuff.
I bought a house 36 years ago and I’ve learned to fix pretty much everything inside it. I know how to fix most things in my ICE car and I’m learning to fix most things in my tesla.
I would like to see more Contant about power, mathematics and electric cars. How much voltage how much amperage etc. can you get from a dispenser? I know you and Brandon talk about this a lot but you do it very quickly and even though I’m an engineer I don’t get all of it , so in the same way that this was a tutorial on how to fix older leafs in row fours I think some educational videos on car charging power mathematics would be great
Isn't it obvious to you he is a trust fund baby and his daddy makes all the money. He has never turned a wrench in his life.
for that question;As of August 8, 2023, Nissan has sold a total of 174,608 Leafs in the United States. This number includes all Leafs sold since the car's launch in December 2010. The Nissan Leaf is the best-selling electric car in the United States, and it has been a major factor in the growth of the electric vehicle market in the country.
Globally more, of course
I think you mean the Leaf *was* the best selling electric car in United States!
Years before the expensive Tesla Roadster
I think over 1 million leafs have been sold world wide
This was an amazing video. You can tell he has a passion and deep knowledge for his craft.
From certain angles I kinda get skinny Henry Cavill vibes from Alex. Especially with the Superman blue T-shirt and the Mission Impossible moustache…😜💪
Love it. Not sure why, but I watched the whole thing.
And I don’t even have a Leaf!
Might come in handy for my Fiat 500e down the road (knock on wood)
Thanks Kyle
Thanks Kyle and QC Charge. Shortly after I bought my 2015 Leaf SL in Ft. Collins in May I discovered your frozen Leaf video and have been a big fan of your channel since. I got lucky with my Leaf; it had one owner who obviously took great care of it as it looks virtually new. It has 11 bars, 82% SOC with 29 QC's. It's my daily driver and a great intro to the EV world. I've learned a lot your channel. I hope you enjoy your Leaf as much as I do and look forward to more Leaf updates from you.
Thanks for the info! I've owned 250e for couple years (had a drive train replaced by Benz under warranty once) and now I am still driving my 2012 Leaf. It's good to know there are service options as my battery is still on 9 bars (second battery already under warranty).
I drove my 2011 Leaf SL (same color as this one) for 12 years and 42k miles. Battery capacity was down to 5 bars. I could drive about 30 miles max on a charge. Nissan wanted $13,500 to replace the battery with one with the same capacity. I sold it to CarMax for $3400.
Since we're talking about the old paddle chargers, there is one left in the wild at the Sheraton Grand Parking garage in Sacramento.
there is a lot more than that. I know of 7.
I owned a Rav4 EV and Tony and QC Charge was very active in the community. And I visited Tesla HQ (Palo Alto) back in 2011 and I saw Tesla building Rav4 EVs!
You need to get a paintless dent repair guy to pull that dent out of your fender. It would make a good video.
Wow one of my favorite videos ever! I started with a 2011 Nissan leaf as my first car in highschool. Now upgraded to a Polestar 2 but amazing to understand how the leaf works and little on how they made upgrades to the 2013 model year.
do you want to upgrade?
That was so satisfying. I really felt invested in that fix. Congratulations!! Stupid but makes me want an old Leaf😂
Love the authentic amount of dirt on that shirt. 😆
It's a dirty job!
2013 LEAF about 65% battery health. PERFECT daily commuter with free L2 charging at work! Been using lvl 1 at home for now 3+yrs. Going on 7+yrs of ownership. Holding on to it to become kids car for school when they get their license in another 4 yrs!
A surprisingly easy fix, if you’re comfortable doing relatively complex repairs on an ICE car you could totally do this in an afternoon at home.
A NACS-to-CHAdeMO adapter? An emphatic "yes" to that one !
As an i-MiEV owner, I've been thinking a lot about this one lately. Tesla, after all, still sells an adapter that basically does this in reverse (ie: CHAdeMO-to-NACS.) So, one would think it's within the realm of possibilities.
"Technically" the CHAdeMO adapter for Teslas is just straight through CAN communication to the vehicle, without much actual translation going on (though there are electronics in the adaptor to perform the handshake procedure for CHAdeMO). Also of note, Tesla superchargers when being used on a Tesla car also utilize CAN based communication. To put it a bit more simply, on "modern" Tesla cars, they can speak to the chargers in both CAN and are also capable of PLC when using a CCS charger. Older Teslas only speak in CAN, which is why they cannot use CCS chargers without being retrofitted.
NACS on the other hand uses PLC communication (literally the exact same protocols as CCS), which is completely different from CAN, so the translation is a lot more complicated. V3 superchargers have the ability to speak in PLC for these future NACS equipped cars, but earlier V2 superchargers do not (which is also why future NACS cars will not have access to those chargers.
To simplify, Tesla cars already have the correct communication abilities to talk to CHAdeMO, they just need a "physical" interface to plug into that can perform a few basic handshake procedures. Whereas a CHAdeMO equipped car does not have the communication abilities to talk to NACS (or CCS), so those capabilities would either have to be retrofitted to the car, or have some sort of mechanism to "translate" the totally different languages of CAN and PLC, so that makes things quite complicated...
@@QCCHARGE Thank you for this very detailed reply. I note that NACS is now being referred to in tech spec language as SAE J3400. I assume that is the PLC compliant version. An older chart I have, showing what was then all the world's DC EV charging standards, refers to the Tesla plug as SAE J2411, which I assume is the older CAN version.
Very much enjoyed the video of your facility. It's important work you're doing to keep older EVs functioning and driving into the future.
This 72-year-old fart had been born later and been in my 20s, 30s, I would have been working on these. This is the future of the EV repair business.
So about the onboard charger fuse blow, it could be over amped but fuses depend on the metallurgy inside for the element to melt. Continuous or pulsed high current can cause the fuse to clow prematurely. Tesla now ahs a pyrofuse for that reason. Even overheating due to bad connections can cause them to blow.
The Santa Monica Civic Center parking structure across from the police station had the paddle chargers because they had cars and I think golf carts that used that!
Yay! So glad you got your LEAF's AC charger replaced! You'll love it more than ever now. I saw a lot of those inner "workings" when Nissan had to replace my battery pack under warranty. NOW… get that rear fender fixed! Surely there must be a wrecked LEAF in a salvage lot with an intact fender. Buy one, cheap, and then have it repainted if necessary. I'm sure Liv will appreciate being able to charge it at home.
Seems like that charge unit is worth repairing, it can't be that hard. Someone will be able to use it. Heck, you might even need it again when it's repaired. I wonder if there's a more robust diode that can be used, or if that would burn something else out. I wonder if an inline replaceable fuse tucked under the rear seat would be a good idea...
Looks like a $10 MOUSER order … and enough spares to fix 10 more
PADDLE CHARGERS ARE INDUCTIVE? J1773. MIND BLOWN.
Thanks Kyle! I’ve owned a 2013 Rav4EV since 2016. Had Tony Williams come install the Chademo charger on it shortly after purchasing. It’s been a great but interesting car. Even today, can’t beat the cargo space for an EV!
One of the BEST videos to date! Thoroughly enjoyed this.
Hopefully, repair shops that can do this exist outside of California.
Looks like we’re picking up a 2013 in amazing shape for $6k. 65 miles range still. 39k miles. Looking forward to growing the EV stable.
Ever since you bought this car I was looking forward to you replacing the charger. I had a similar issue with my 2012 Leaf a couple of years ago and was quoted $6000 just for the part at my local Canadian Nissan dealer. I found a new part online from a supplier in Rhode Island and had it installed by the local dealer. In total it was still around $2500. I sold the old charger for $50 to a guy who had some unrelated project on the go. Still, with the exception of that issue and a 12 volt battery replacement, it was an excellent, dependable car. If I did it over again, I'd probably take the internal circuit board to an electronics repair shop and have the diode replaced. Thanks for the great video!
off topic, in Europe you woulud not be able to drive this with so extensive body damage - in general any sharp edge on the body of the car make its inligal.
Interesting, never heard of that law before. In the US, it just can't affect the function of the car or it's required components like lights, mirrors, windows, etc.
So the Cybertruck will be illegal in Europe? 😂
In which country and under which law?
@@Harrythehun Any country that does the yearly EU inspection should fail a car with sharp edges. On the other hand not everyone follows the rules
Love to see LEAF get repaired. We love our LEAF. These cars will be around a long time.
I could listen to Alex talk EVs all day, he needs his own podcast! Also supremely curious to find out what he drives 😊
Kyle, Professor John Kelly at Weber State University may do a student repair. The school is in or around Ogden. UT. Before buying my 2021 Bolt I watched his class on complete tear-down and re-assembly of every system in the car including the HV battery. He was impressed with the engineering.
czcams.com/video/vKfTe2WSAMc/video.html This is a link to Professor Kelly's CZcams training channel.
2011 Nissan Leaf Battery Deep Dive: czcams.com/video/vYQJatWpBXY/video.html
It's also worth noting that the 2011-2012 Leafs were all manufacturered in Japan and imported, and they had the original battery chemistry packs. Once they redesigned and made the 2013's they were built here in the US (you can tell the US cars by the missing side turn signal lights near the front wheel fenders). The 2013+ cars had an improved battery chemistry pack known as the "lizard pack" which was built to handle heat better for warmer climates like Arizona, and also heat from DC fast charging.
I want this paddle charger video kyle...I think that would be SUCH a cool video.
Board level repair looks like fun! There is not reason to throw those chargers out.
Loved learning the history between Toyota and Tesla. Great video, and loved the nerdy details!
One of your best videos ever. Bravo!
The Nissan Leaf air cooling reminds me of the old VW Bus with the air cooled engine that had it's own cooling challenges.
Thank you. A fascinating & informative video from start to finish. Interestingly enough, I’m looking to replace my 21-year-old RAV4 EV with a second generation RAV4 EV or a used LEAF. And, being in CA as well, it’s great to know of a quality repair shop to tackle any issues that might arise.
We almost always have at least one or two customer cars here for sale! All of the cars we help to sell always come with a rebuilt drive unit, and in some cases other common repairs performed as well.
Love the leaf videos. Wish there were more 😊 cant wait for next leaf video.
The car looks detailed, shiny, it will now live in California, neat.
Very interesting video, particularly for those Toyota EV models which we never seen in Oz.
The Leaf info is also very useful as these EVs age.
I would love to see a Smart For 2 ED CCS1 to NACS adapter especially 'replacement adapter'.
Fascinatingly commendable.
Great video. SO MANY cool trivial facts in this video.
I just started looking into getting a Leaf as a runaround and this was fantastic!
Alex seems so nice and knowledgeable. Look forward to seeing him more and will definitely check out his channel.
Loved all of the detailed information.
Amazing shop :)
Just one comment on balancing 40:00 : I've used the Leaf battery and its BMS in a number of EV conversions. The BMS *always* balances when it's on but at a very low balancing current, like 20 mA or thereabouts. So balancing takes a super long time, many 10s of hours to level out like 50 mV imbalance. With DC charging and driving there simply isn't enough time for that.
I seem to remember the B-Class EV being available in Canada when it was not available in the US.
finally, getting back to your Leaf for us
I have a 2012 leaf and in 2015 I ordered the long exposure extension cord from qc power. Not many dc chargers then
Is that Henry Cavill's little eco brother?
I had the B250e also built with Tesla using the model 3 power train. Amazing car and they're still being built in other countries with a long range battery
Carfax on the 2017 Bolt I bought in the Memphis, TN area shows it was originally purchased in Massachusetts.
More interestign than I expected! Good job to that guy!
The Leaf lives!
I put a 62k battery 🔋 on my 2013 🌿 Leaf and man she is gorgeous gives me 216 miles per charge and a big quicker too the ride
What a great video Kyle!
*Brilliant outcome!!!*
This was great! Thank you.
Very cool to watch this I had an 2013 and miss it but got an 2019 now and works good, wish we had an shop like this near by then might have ask too see how much to fix my battery issue ⚠and heater too. The 2019 is working well but has 23% battery degradation 😐but 140+ miles range is good for me from like 35-40 in my 2013 with 5 bars. 😇
Great video. At $3750 plus $1200 for this repair I suppose this was barely worth it for a second vehicle to be used in by a typical household. I consider the 2012 and earlier Leafs to have been pathfinders. My 2013 Leaf was rear ended last year and totaled. At the time I was getting just 40 miles on a charge. I took the $7000 check from the guy's insurance and bought a 2015 Leaf for $8500. Now I get 84 miles of range and I can top up with CHadeMO when I need to. I hope to get 8 to 10 good years from this car.
Wish to have mechanic like this guy in my neighborhood 👍 Great video, thanks!
Rewatching this. Def some knowledge dropping.
I really hope they have commercial success and restart their own products.
54:00 - That seems such an inefficient use of space, piling a few components vertically behind the back seat, robbing cargo space and causing the non-flat-load-floor with the seats; when there was room under the hood for those components, which also would have saved significantly on complexity of running the wiring and coolant!
Heck, relocate those components up front, and you could make a decent little cargo van out of a Leaf dumping the back seats.
They did re-locate the onboard charger up to the front (along with numerous other changes) starting with the 2013 model year.
Great video, love content on the leaf!
The reason the fuses blow on the OBCs and also the heater is because they don't take an electrical spike/over-current very well. When replaced with a slow burn fuse, this problem is essentially completely eliminated. Discussion at 36:30 in the video. I can't take credit for the knowledge, as I learned about it when researching a dead 2012 Leaf heater and another youtuber explained the problem was the fuse.
Next you gotta pull out that quaterpanel 😊
I hope there's a conversion from Chadamo in the future, I normally charge at home but quick chargers are pretty rare in my city and mostly only at Nissan Dealers
I was trained in board level repair for the navy nuclear power program, if you feel like sending it out for exploration / repair drop me a line!
Maybe a pipe dream, but if they do figure out an upgrade for the Chademo port, maybe it can work on the Soul EV as well.
Now take it to a CZcams pdr channel. Paintless dent removal
Great video.
My 2018 blew its PDM. 132k miles on it. Got a 12k one from UK. Fix was €1600. Mates rates HEVRA garage.
This video was interesting as hell and i dont own a leaf.
Really enjoy the channel, if someone could manufacture refurbished batteries that double existing range, it would revive all these heavily depreciated Leafs, i3s, Mievs, Golf Es, etc.
I think you got a backwards when you said if the diode was Open there is nothing you could do but if it was shorted you could put another diode in parallel. If you have an open circuit and you put in another diode in parallel them that diode would function correctly but if you have a shorted diode and you put another one in parallel with it it's still a direct short. You should go back in your video and correct with some text on the screen.
It wouldn't be a diode in parallel, it would be in series (inline with the proximity, and upstream from the charger). The only way to fix a blown diode (open circuit) would be to remove the old one from the circuit board, and install a new one in its place.
I'm loving this nerd level, but for me it's just not enough. I'd like to see the board level failure (and repair) shown too. Otherwise its not nerd level 2000=)
I replaced the onboard charger on my 14 Smart. Few bolts and hoses and wires and I had the $600 used charger installed. Now miles later I have a p1ca100 code and it is time for the junk yard. The fix is now over my head. Wish there were more EV repair shops local to the panhandle of Nebraska. If you want another project car for videos let me know.
9 bars at mid to high capacity is probably not accurate. For some reason, Nissan doesn't give every bar equal 'weighting'. For instance, my 2016 Nissan Leaf SV has 10 bars of capacity, but the SoH in Leafspy is only 72.07%
I'm dealing with a Leaf myself. The on board charger failed. And the used unit the shop got me was no better. It appears that most of the Leafs that are at salvage facilities are there because the on board charger failed. If it's a leaf at a scrapyard and there is NO BODY damage, it's there because of a bad on board charger.
For mind best video yet very interesting.