Nissan LEAF - General

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189 posts

Master Geek

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#3196744 17-Feb-2024 11:41

joemate:

In December we decided to get a Leaf, a 2018 model G trim.

Didn't rush to use LeafSpy, knowing that I have a dongle laying around somewhere, but yesterday I thought I'd give it a go and read out the battery status. Unfortunately my dongle is not compatible with leafspy, and the info on the internet is kind of confusing regarding model and type.

I am planning to use it with an Android phone, and from what I've found I don't need a WiFi compatible dongle. Some are saying the KW902 other LElink BLE version.

Any advice what and where to get one?

Cheers

I bought this one, works wonderfully.

boland

545 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3197343 19-Feb-2024 08:10

We have serviced our Leaf recently, and they raised the issue that the strut caps I had installed still let water through. They showed me that it was still very wet underneath & rusting. I had bought them via TradeMe and they are the same as the Nissan ones. They have the problem that there's a minor hole in the center.

They installed new ones, which they had custom made, which don't have this issue. This could have become an expensive thing to fix obviously. So, I'd recommend anyone to check if their struts are protected.

RUKI

1402 posts

Uber Geek

#3197962 20-Feb-2024 15:59

There is one 30kWh Leaf recently bought in Auckland and now cursed. Unlikely it will see its next WOF. Ms Karma had been given heads up and in action as of now. ;)
The only way to lift the curse is to return Chris Rea CD which was left inside the stereo by mistake back to the car dealer and message me about it.
I am shocked at how some Leaf owners being so cheap. My friendly car dealers had not been returned dozens of LeafSpy dongles. Not a bonus!
On contrary absolutely all hybrid owners had returned whatever stuff I left accidentally while working on their cars.

Toyota / Lexus Hybrid and EV Battery Expert Battery Test & Repair

Jase2985

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#3208634 20-Mar-2024 15:29

Just started looking at leafs and have some questions.

Been looking at 40kwh ones from 2017-2019 and one thing I have noticed is some of them have as low as 10,000km but have what I would consider a low SOH of 88-89%, but others have 30-40,000km and have the same 88-89% SOH, is there anything to be worriers about with the lower km ones and the apparent low SOH for its KM or is it not something to worry about? or is it more an age thing? look at flip the fleet number's 88% seems to be average,, but their data is almost a year old.

Is pro pilot something that should be considered? About 75% of the commute is on the motorway.

IS there anything else i should be looking at?

Synopsis from the EV thread;
Would be predominantly used for the daily commute (70km), and lugging the kids round to their activities each day, so would need at least 100km of range but more would probably be desirable.
Would initially be charged off a 10A circuit till I could put in a 7kw wall charger. Would prefer the car had a larger charger as well to make use of this. We are thinking of solar if that makes any different to the decision.
I'm 6 Foot 2in, so something comfortable for me to drive would be good.
2 kids so a decent boot space would be good.
Android auto is a bonus but needs to have at least Bluetooth for calls.

boland

545 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3208662 20-Mar-2024 17:03

Jase2985:

Just started looking at leafs and have some questions.

We've got a Leaf 1.2 and were in a similar boat. I test drove a Leaf 2, but was not impressed.

Bear in mind it has Chademo, which is old, newer quick chargers are all CCS. It still doesn't have thermally cooled batteries, so not suitable for long drives.

In the end went for an Ioniq 2017 and can't be happier. Thermally cooled, CCS, NZ new so no Japanese stuff/stickers. Took it down from Auckland to Wellington and QC's were a breeze at ~60kW constant.
At 7 years old and still has 100% SOH. Yes, I know, it has a buffer, but even then it's pretty good.

Some people call it ugly, but I don't care, I find the Leaf 1 ugly as well but it drives well.

They can be found sometimes at Turners as ex company cars for <$20k.

HarmLessSolutions

969 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#3208678 20-Mar-2024 17:52

Jase2985:

Just started looking at leafs and have some questions.

Been looking at 40kwh ones from 2017-2019 and one thing I have noticed is some of them have as low as 10,000km but have what I would consider a low SOH of 88-89%, but others have 30-40,000km and have the same 88-89% SOH, is there anything to be worriers about with the lower km ones and the apparent low SOH for its KM or is it not something to worry about? or is it more an age thing? look at flip the fleet number's 88% seems to be average,, but their data is almost a year old.

Is pro pilot something that should be considered? About 75% of the commute is on the motorway.

IS there anything else i should be looking at?

Synopsis from the EV thread;
Would be predominantly used for the daily commute (70km), and lugging the kids round to their activities each day, so would need at least 100km of range but more would probably be desirable.
Would initially be charged off a 10A circuit till I could put in a 7kw wall charger. Would prefer the car had a larger charger as well to make use of this. We are thinking of solar if that makes any different to the decision.
I'm 6 Foot 2in, so something comfortable for me to drive would be good.
2 kids so a decent boot space would be good.
Android auto is a bonus but needs to have at least Bluetooth for calls.

A few suggestions based on your post.

Check out the amount of charges the Leafs you're looking at have had high numbers of rapid "QC" charges as shown in Leafspy data often relates to reduced battery SoH, particularly so if done during highway use rather than from daily top-ups at a convenient facility during city commuting. Battery degradation is closely linked to heating of the battery pack and highway driving alternating with rapid charging so looking at Leafspy data with this aspect in mind can be quite inciteful.

If you're considering solar I strongly suggest an EVSE that can be configured to use only your own PV generation. Having charging rate (with a 1.5 kW car dictated minimum) that follows your solar 'excess' is a great way to maximise the ROI for your solar. In our case we have an Evnex E2 (NZ made) but I believe the Zappi EVSEs also have this functionality. Also worth noting that imported 2ndhand Japanese Leafs have a Type 1 charging socket whereas most other EVs have a Type 2 so if you install an EVSE with a tethered connection you will either need to buy an adapter or change out the EVSE if you upgrade from a Leaf later.

Leafs are currently the only EV available in NZ that have potential for V2G by virtue of their Chademo connectivity. The Outlander PHEV also has this potential though their battery size is a handicap in this regard. If you're considering solar in the future a Leaf (together with a bidirectional EVSE) has the potential to be your home battery if your usage suits this scenario. (A recent post on Evnex's own forum has mentioned that they're working on bidirectional EVSEs so 'watch this spot' in that regard.)

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

tripper1000

1617 posts

Uber Geek

#3208683 20-Mar-2024 18:08

Jase2985:

Been looking at 40kwh ones from 2017-2019 and one thing I have noticed is some of them have as low as 10,000km but have what I would consider a low SOH of 88-89%, but others have 30-40,000km and have the same 88-89% SOH, is there anything to be worriers about with the lower km ones and the apparent low SOH for its KM or is it not something to worry about? or is it more an age thing? look at flip the fleet number's 88% seems to be average,, but their data is almost a year old.

Is pro pilot something that should be considered? About 75% of the commute is on the motorway.

IS there anything else i should be looking at?

The 40kw batteries are way better that than the 24/30's and, so far, don't deteriorate as fast. They seem to drop to 88% pretty quickly then level off. When I was shopping the worse I saw (on a really beaten up car) was 80%. Never saw anything in the 70's, even with 130,000km on them. As you say most were mid 80's. (edit: this could be because the dealers leave the low % junk in Japan, so I would not go so far as to say you can't go wrong, but mostly you can't go wrong).

KM isn't anything to worry about. I wouldn't pay much/any extra for low km and I wouldn't be too concerned about it. Just judge it by the condition.

I have ProPilot. Don't use it/don't like it/don't recommend it. Tried it, but it takes as much energy to hover over the steering wheel as it takes to just drive it, so don't bother. It is only any good on nice motorways with clear markings, and little other traffic, in dry weather and not at dawn or dusk. The lane assist/keeping and radar cruise control gets confused up by winding/undulating roads, so again only good on the motorway and a PITA the rest of the time. The radar cruise control is too harsh - you can feel every small throttle change the car in front makes - if the car in front momentarily disappears over a brow or around a corner, or simply moves lane, is gives it ALL the throttle to get back up to speed, which can be scary in the corner situation, and uncomfortable other times. The lane keeping camera hates sun-strike and cause spurious pedestrian warnings on the motorway & emergency brakes (once or twice a year). The radar cruise control doesn't work in heavy rain and the minimum increment of speed is 5kph, unlike the non-radar version that has more granular control. I think the only good thing is the frontal collision avoidance - stops you rear-ending cars in front if you tik-tok while driving (which appears to be legal again in N.Z.??).

Gen 2 has a slightly bigger boot. Gen 1.2 had wasteful/empty humps jutting in from the wheel-arches that were vestigial artifacts from when the Gen 1.0 had the battery charger in the boot. The boots of the Leaf's are carelessly designed IMHO when compared to something like a Toyota. Lots of wasted space in the walls and under floors. Uneven floor in the side purely for ease of assembling the plastic at the factory. The parcel shelf was an option.

The Leaf has no spare tire nor place for the spare tire. In the Tida chassis (the donor for the Leaf chassis) there was a spare tire well. In the Leaf they deleted it (why? - even if you didn't want a spare it would have been a great place to put the charging cable!). It has no-where to store the charging cable, unlike most other EV's and PHEV's.

Test drive! Make sure you are happy with the seating before you buy. Not saying anything is wrong with it, but at 6'2" it has to suit you. It has mini-van quantities of head room, and decent leg room. Old people that have ridden in my Leaf have been please by the seating position/spacing/pan-height.

Android Auto on the factory head-deck (once converted to English) works good. I have read that pre-conversion/Japanese language head-decks do NOT have android auto. Be aware there is a dodgy Russian stereo conversion around, and it looses the day/night function, so the screen is dazzling at night, but most conversions are decent. Audio quality is OK, but not quite as good as the Gen 1 IMHO.

My background: Had a 2013 Leaf for 5 years, then upgraded to a 2018. I speak harshly about my Leaf in the spirit of full disclosure, but the truth is that it is nice to drive and I feel as smug A.F. every time the price of gas goes up.

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Jase2985

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#3208815 20-Mar-2024 19:49

@boland thanks for the response, not much on offer at turners at the moment, or on TM. We have a larger car for any long distance trips so its going to be a more of daily driver car.

@HarmLessSolutions thanks for the comments. The EVSE doesn't necessarily have to go in when the solar does, and as you said it's about finding one that works with your system. I already ran a 32A cable to where the charger is going to go but it looks like i should have run a 2 core cable for a current clamp. The issue i have is the garage where the EVSE and Solar would be is a subboard of the main board and it would be pretty hard to get a cable into the main board for a current clamp. oh for forethought, right.

@tripper1000 thank you so much for the good information, and honest truth. I took one for a test drive today and didnt have too many issues with the seating arrangement apart from the seat bottom bolsters might be a little narrow for me, would have to have another drive to see, not a dealbreaker as my current car is similar. Did see a few importers mentioning the screen conversion and brightness thing, thats good to know. Would rather not have one like that as i commute early and value my eyes :)

Jase2985

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#3211962 28-Mar-2024 22:05

Ended up with a 2018 Leaf G model with Pro Pilot in Grey. It's in very tidy condition, with only just shy of 11,000km on the clock. Sat in it for about an hour or so when i got it home while reading the manual and understanding all the settings.

Should do us well and once we get solar that should cover the charging of it.

HarmLessSolutions

969 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

#3211966 28-Mar-2024 22:24

Jase2985:

@HarmLessSolutions thanks for the comments. The EVSE doesn't necessarily have to go in when the solar does, and as you said it's about finding one that works with your system. I already ran a 32A cable to where the charger is going to go but it looks like i should have run a 2 core cable for a current clamp. The issue i have is the garage where the EVSE and Solar would be is a subboard of the main board and it would be pretty hard to get a cable into the main board for a current clamp. oh for forethought, right.

When we upgraded last year I feared we were going to have to trench across an asphalt driveway for the comm's cables required for the inverter export cap and Evnex solar diversion but our installer managed to draw the required combination of cables through an existing 25mm conduit. Not an easy task but super grateful to our installer for putting in the extra effort that was required.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

Jase2985

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#3211967 28-Mar-2024 22:29

Yea my issue is going to be the main board is in the house which is about 25m from the garage, and not easy to run another wire too, where the EVSE and solar is going to be installed on a sub board, so i don't know if the current clamp would be able to work on the sub board. THe Zappi charger looks to have a wireless connection for that part of it but have to look into it more and if it will cover that distance ok.

HarmLessSolutions

969 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

#3211970 28-Mar-2024 22:46

Jase2985:

Yea my issue is going to be the main board is in the house which is about 25m from the garage, and not easy to run another wire too, where the EVSE and solar is going to be installed on a sub board, so i don't know if the current clamp would be able to work on the sub board. THe Zappi charger looks to have a wireless connection for that part of it but have to look into it more and if it will cover that distance ok.

In our situation the EVSE is on a subboard in the garage and the solar is mounted on another shed with its own subboard there. In the case of the export monitoring clamp I trenched in the comm's cable between the two sheds and then that and another comm cable continued through the conduit to the house/meter board. This is our setup. The house is behind the flowering rhododendron in front of the blue Leaf.

The export (and EVSE) clamps need to be on the grid feed into your main meter board to be able to monitor the total export/import of your property, which is therefore instrumental in diverting it to the EVSE, or throttling back the inverter. If for example you are generating 8kW a CT clamp at the subboard would ignore any house consumption from that current would would be counterproductive. In our case the HWC diverter allows 3kW (plus any incidental use) to be deducted from the 8.2kW inverter's generation so even at max generation with the HWC heating we can export ~5kW with no throttling occurring.

We work to avoid inverter throttling if at all possible as this is a total waste of potential generation export or consumption.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

Jase2985

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#3214247 4-Apr-2024 16:00

Is there a way to turn on auto folding mirrors on a 2018 Leaf? im sure it was doing it when i brought it, but with all my learning about the car i think i might have turned if off.

everettpsycho

614 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3214361 5-Apr-2024 07:30

Jase2985:
Is there a way to turn on auto folding mirrors on a 2018 Leaf? im sure it was doing it when i brought it, but with all my learning about the car i think i might have turned if off.

I'm not certain about a 2018 but in a 2017 I think you need leaf spy. What's weird is it's not a standard feature as one of ours has it and the other you have to push the button to fold the mirrors. All the equipment needed is installed on both cars so not sure why you wouldn't have it be a feature on all X models.

ShinyChrome

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#3214594 5-Apr-2024 14:24

Jase2985:

Is there a way to turn on auto folding mirrors on a 2018 Leaf? im sure it was doing it when i brought it, but with all my learning about the car i think i might have turned if off.

It is under Settings > Vehicle settings in dashboard.

In my case, it is blank presumably because of the subpar english conversion

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