What a project! I am amazed how straightforward the swap was, in a garage with little headroom. The car did not need much of a lift. I did not see how you paired the new battery to the car using the adapter tool and its open source software. That must be key to a successful swap. Next time you do it, put the battery support trucks the same way round ! Then their lift/lowering bolts will be on the same side. Brilliant effort. Well done! I’m awaiting both home charger install and a New LEAF Tekna to be delivered. (… as of 9th Oct ‘24) My aim is to run my house from the LEAF battery using V2H charger - not yet available in the UK, but coming in 2025. I saw an Artisan Electric UA-cam video, where they installed a new home charger. They installed a current-sense coil on the Tesla Powerwall output, to switch off the Powerwall when the EV was charging, as if they didn’t, the EV drained the 2 Powerwall batteries flat, as they were ‘on’ when cheap rate charging switched on the EV charging side. This made me realise the average EV battery capacity is many times that of a Powerwall (or equivalent) set-up. Matt (UK and aged 68, and 40 years doing technical electronic stuff in the industry)
Very well done indeed! Great how you managed all that without a professional setup. I also very much enjoy the way you don't make a big fuss about safety gloves and the likes. No high-gloss shiny garage, just an average person doing a tremendous job. Thanks for sharing this (I own two leafs and will be doing a battery swap in the future).
Owen, wow, well done! I’ve got a 2016 LEAF that I’m planning to upgrade in a couple years. Please post the story of acquiring the 40 kWh battery and maybe include how to properly bench test it to make sure it’s good before purchase. I’m assuming it involves LeafSpy and some jumpers. So happy you were able to accomplish this safely; I kinda held my breath every time you were underneath that heavy battery!!! Cheers, and again, good job!
Thanks for the informative video, you’ve done some fantastic work 👍🏼 I’ve a recommendation to go along with your work. I’d def recommend using some rust converter on the undercarriage of your Leaf. I saw several areas that were rather rusty and some areas are beginning to show signs of rust. The battery swap you did is phenomenal and will certainly extend your car’s range. Doing a bit of maintenance on its rusty bits will further extend the car’s shell as well.
wow .. i have a 2015 with a 22 or 24kw battery. I would like to change it to a bigger battery. I understand the physical side of undoing the bolts, and the straps and lifts. What Im not too sure about is the connections, I see you used a black blank, you also spoke about some software, you also showed some sort of extra adapter that you have added, but didnt show where is goes. Any help you can give would be amazing. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Gret job! I wouldn't recommend using a can bridge as it only blocks the information he doesn't want to interfere. I would prefer a reprogrammed BMS which is safer and also calculates much better the mileage. Thanks for sharing!
I have been wanting to do this to my 2013 for quite a while. Where did you get the 40 kwh battery? How did you know what you were getting before you bought it?
It's stripped from a totaled 2019 Leaf. The mileage and year told most of its story, and luckily in this case it still can be turned on to connect to OBD II. Your concern is real and legit. I went through the same. Be honest, if only rely on scanner, your task will be harder. Sooner or later you would have enough experience to make the call based on mileage and year. A test platform to make quick connect the battery to OBD II would not be easy-especially hand-held for field use, if could not figure out a way to get around the ECM, and an emulator might not be justified...
A torque wrench is not used to remove bolts/screws - in fact that could damage it. Use the torque wrench when replacing the bolts. And never get any body part between the battery and the ground (when lowering the carts), use a long extension on the drill to keep yourself safe. Otherwise well done for extending the life of your car.
Thank you for your input! For the bolts in limited space, torque wrench was used as a brake bar and that's my only option at that time. Also on the safety reminder. There were more safety engineering details going on in the background, but not explained due to time limitation. I'm thinking about a separate video to focus on this topic since many viewers seem interested in this. Again, thank you for your support!
I saw the title “rebirth of . . . “ and 1st gen . . . my mind immediately went to Edison Electric with nickel iron batteries .. . . . . Environmental low impact?
Yes, the torque verification part is not in the video. Tightening is not the concern, loosening is. That's why the anti-seize lubricant part is added in the video. Hopefully it would help people. Thanks for the comment!
What a project! I am amazed how straightforward the swap was, in a garage with little headroom. The car did not need much of a lift. I did not see how you paired the new battery to the car using the adapter tool and its open source software. That must be key to a successful swap.
Next time you do it, put the battery support trucks the same way round ! Then their lift/lowering bolts will be on the same side.
Brilliant effort.
Well done!
I’m awaiting both home charger install and a New LEAF Tekna to be delivered. (… as of 9th Oct ‘24)
My aim is to run my house from the LEAF battery using V2H charger - not yet available in the UK, but coming in 2025.
I saw an Artisan Electric UA-cam video, where they installed a new home charger. They installed a current-sense coil on the Tesla Powerwall output, to switch off the Powerwall when the EV was charging, as if they didn’t, the EV drained the 2 Powerwall batteries flat, as they were ‘on’ when cheap rate charging switched on the EV charging side. This made me realise the average EV battery capacity is many times that of a Powerwall (or equivalent) set-up.
Matt (UK and aged 68, and 40 years doing technical electronic stuff in the industry)
Great, happy to see more and more people are upgrading old EVs, lots of knowledge on several YT channels :-)
Very well done indeed! Great how you managed all that without a professional setup. I also very much enjoy the way you don't make a big fuss about safety gloves and the likes. No high-gloss shiny garage, just an average person doing a tremendous job. Thanks for sharing this (I own two leafs and will be doing a battery swap in the future).
Owen, wow, well done! I’ve got a 2016 LEAF that I’m planning to upgrade in a couple years. Please post the story of acquiring the 40 kWh battery and maybe include how to properly bench test it to make sure it’s good before purchase. I’m assuming it involves LeafSpy and some jumpers. So happy you were able to accomplish this safely; I kinda held my breath every time you were underneath that heavy battery!!! Cheers, and again, good job!
Thanks for the informative video, you’ve done some fantastic work 👍🏼
I’ve a recommendation to go along with your work. I’d def recommend using some rust converter on the undercarriage of your Leaf. I saw several areas that were rather rusty and some areas are beginning to show signs of rust.
The battery swap you did is phenomenal and will certainly extend your car’s range. Doing a bit of maintenance on its rusty bits will further extend the car’s shell as well.
Thank you and great suggestion!
amazing! Iike your DYI improoved tools
Thank you and so glad you like them! As someone once said: In America, we improvise...😂
So cool! I just got a 2016 Leaf with a 30kwh battery and I'm already thinking about DIY replacing it down the road. Thanks!
Good choice！Battery upgrades are the key to allowing existing electric vehicles to become far better than they ever were, even when new
great job !
Would it not be a good idea to add some rust protection in the areas worst effected before fitting the newer battery?
wow .. i have a 2015 with a 22 or 24kw battery. I would like to change it to a bigger battery. I understand the physical side of undoing the bolts, and the straps and lifts. What Im not too sure about is the connections, I see you used a black blank, you also spoke about some software, you also showed some sort of extra adapter that you have added, but didnt show where is goes. Any help you can give would be amazing. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Gret job! I wouldn't recommend using a can bridge as it only blocks the information he doesn't want to interfere. I would prefer a reprogrammed BMS which is safer and also calculates much better the mileage.
Thanks for sharing!
The problem is the car cannot talk to the 40kWHr BMS. Reprogramming it with a 24kWHr version will make the battery unsafe.
Interesting step by step guide to battery swap; thanks for sharing.
Did you consider replacing the battery cells with modern cells from CATL? 🤔
ua-cam.com/video/al3BGVxnIOs/v-deo.htmlsi=UG_HpFhh9EXlRwrX
He replaced the pack as a unit, not the individual cells contained inside. You can buy a pack with CATL cells from China but it costs 8000 shipped.
You are so close to my procurement story...😂 Glad you like the video and thank you for your comment!
I have been wanting to do this to my 2013 for quite a while. Where did you get the 40 kwh battery? How did you know what you were getting before you bought it?
It's stripped from a totaled 2019 Leaf. The mileage and year told most of its story, and luckily in this case it still can be turned on to connect to OBD II.
Your concern is real and legit. I went through the same. Be honest, if only rely on scanner, your task will be harder. Sooner or later you would have enough experience to make the call based on mileage and year.
A test platform to make quick connect the battery to OBD II would not be easy-especially hand-held for field use, if could not figure out a way to get around the ECM, and an emulator might not be justified...
I really like my id4 and in 20 years I hope this might be possible for it
A torque wrench is not used to remove bolts/screws - in fact that could damage it. Use the torque wrench when replacing the bolts. And never get any body part between the battery and the ground (when lowering the carts), use a long extension on the drill to keep yourself safe.
Otherwise well done for extending the life of your car.
Thank you for your input! For the bolts in limited space, torque wrench was used as a brake bar and that's my only option at that time. Also on the safety reminder. There were more safety engineering details going on in the background, but not explained due to time limitation. I'm thinking about a separate video to focus on this topic since many viewers seem interested in this. Again, thank you for your support!
Put the whole system into an excavator 😂
I saw the title “rebirth of . . . “ and 1st gen . . . my mind immediately went to Edison Electric with nickel iron batteries .. . . . . Environmental low impact?
We really need to talk about this...;)
To me, EV has a threshold in terms of energy density, Li-ion is just the first one to cross it. Nothing mysterious.
Tighten that with a long wrench. Looks like crappy impact driver
Yes, the torque verification part is not in the video. Tightening is not the concern, loosening is. That's why the anti-seize lubricant part is added in the video. Hopefully it would help people. Thanks for the comment!
Wish I could afford a better one soon! For the time being, just improvise...😂