TLDR:
Note: I'll try to put any actually useful Leaf technical info into Somebeach's "Leaf for EV swap" thread.
Basically, I bought this Leaf off a guy who had bought it in 2023 from an auction but never transferred the title and only drove it on his own property (yeah or whatever, 1k miles/ year is still a lotta laps around a horse corral). On the phone he said it had a clean title but he had "never registered" it. That should have been a clue for me to ask if this clean title was in his name. Oops. Anyway, at some point someone in his family supposedly DUI'd the Leaf into a tree/ fence/woodpile.
I had already come up with two major 'branches' of possible projects I wanted to do with a Leaf: 1) modify the thing but basically keep it as a Leaf; 2) use the motor/drivetrain as a donor to convert some other car.
My basic unit of reference for everything is a Mk4 Golf. Anything larger is too bloody big to justify its existence (at least, as a single-occupant vehicle, if not more generally). Leaf is almost a foot longer than Golf. The stackup of Leaf + Golf doesn't fit in my driveway w/o sticking out into the sidewalk, which is unacceptable. Kinda difficult to clip the overall length of a Leaf, but that doesn't mean it is impossible...
I 'need' ~70miles of range to drive around recreationally. I think the battery has fairly typical degredation (for a 2013 leaf) so I expect it has maybe 60-ish miles of range, depending on a bunch of stuff. The "S" trim level does not have DC fast charging.
Aerodynamic drag is proportional to CdA (drag coefficient times frontal area). It takes a lot of work to improve the Cd a huge amount. OTOH, the frontal area...
First things to do
Very interested to see what happens with this!
Oh for sure this needs to be powertrain swapped into a smaller and much cooler platform.
A few suggestions for your consideration:
Always wanted an ev powered mg midget....
I'll post a useful update eventually, but a couple teaser pix (which hopefully I won't regret):
In reply to Oapfu :
Oh boy, i can only hope that little wooden coaster is the target of a driveline swap!
bbbbRASS said:In reply to Oapfu :
Oh boy, i can only hope that little wooden coaster is the target of a driveline swap!
Me, too!
I reckon that's what Oapfu plans to drop the pack onto after liberating it from the Leaf shell, and still have it "mobile" instead of being a multi-hundred pound garage filling paperweight
edit
on second though, maybe not, since the central board seems not quite wide enough to really give the pack a steady place to rest?
hobiercr said:bbbbRASS said:In reply to Oapfu :
Oh boy, i can only hope that little wooden coaster is the target of a driveline swap!
Me, too!
Y'all are pretty close, in an indirectly-meta kind of way. Sleepyhead is correct that it needs a couple additional 'outrigger' crosspieces for stability. Overall I'm amazed that the thing mostly worked. I cheated and bought lag screws and corner braces, otherwise everything was all crap lying around the garage from other failed projects.
But I'm planning to put all that in a separate "Part 2" thread.
I got a nastygram from the HOA management b/c the Leaf has been sitting in my driveway under a too-small car cover held down with ugly orange ratchet straps. Or maybe I should say there was a high likelihood of potentially being or becoming a nastygram?
The Association has reasonably determined that an alleged violation of the community governing documents has occurred or is occurring...
I am so totally done with the mouse smell of this Leaf. At first it felt weird dismantling/destroying the newest car I'd ever bought, but now I have no problem making this thing an ex-Leaf.
Supposedly the Leaf kills its stock 12V lead-acid battery (Group 51R) fairly quickly, and a larger capacity battery has better longevity. Weak 12V batteries are known to cause all kinds of problems and errors (including some super-scary brake booster fails). I may not care long term, but I needed a new battery right now just to figure out if the various DTCs were real or not. So far (only 6 months) I have had good-ish luck with an H7 size Weize ultra-cheap AGM I stuffed into my GMT355, so I got an H5 for the Leaf.
Group 86 (stock for GMT355, fits in Leaf okay but this one is dead too); stock Leaf size 51R; Weize H5 (Group 47) AGM:
H5 obviously requires new hold-downs (1/4" PVC sheet would NOT be acceptable for real). H5 should fit even w/o the cutoff, and also should fit with the headlight in place. Brilliant idea: let's bolt the negative cable's ring terminal against painted sheetmetal!
I got the cheapest 7in round LED headlights on Amazon. Later I decided I'm not really going to bother mounting 'em.
Forbidden bubblewrap? Laminated windshields make cool crunching noises. If you fold and jump on it enough, a complete windshield will easily fit inside a 35gal wheelie bin. The world's nastiest shower curtain liner kept most of the glass contained. That is surprisingly tough stuff.
I'm not really sure what is going on here, but I know it's bound to be endlessly entertaining in a GRM sort of way.
Leaf roller skate it seems, but what's gonna be the top hat!?!
I'm in either way.
Um.... if you end up selling the drivetrain, I could be a buyer.... for reasons.
Looking forward to seeing what you're cooking up. Nissan Leafs have been on my radar since I found out about this build. Seems like a lot of fun GRM-type shennanigans are possible
wvumtnbkr said:Um.... if you end up selling the drivetrain, I could be a buyer.... for reasons.
The drivetrain, including inverter and charger!
I know this doesn't really fit with your current goals for this project, but if you like your rollerskate, you could give it a major upgrade!
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