EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

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Ultimate Geek
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#3466621 4-Mar-2026 09:26

Nissan NZ are having a run out sale of their Ariya models in preparation for a face lifted version arriving later in the year.

Armstrong's seem to have bought all remaining stock and they are heavily discounted.

E.g. AWD premium model with 87kWh battery, 290kW drivetrain, 1500kg towing capacity and close to 500km range is selling for $60k including ORC.

https://www.armstrongs.co.nz/our-vehicles/make-nissan/model-ariya/

Otautahi Christchurch

SaltyNZ

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#3466624 4-Mar-2026 09:39

MikeAqua:

In an HEV with V2L, I guess you could connect plug in a 12v power supply and connect that to the 12v battery to get into ready mode.

Unlikely, because the computers that manage the traction battery need the 12V battery in order to start up.

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fastbike

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Ultimate Geek
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#3466662 4-Mar-2026 10:23

MikeAqua:

In an HEV with V2L, I guess you could connect plug in a 12v power supply and connect that to the 12v battery to get into ready mode.

It's a chicken and egg situation. The HV battery has a BMS and contactors that need 12V to operate.

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gzt

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#3466666 4-Mar-2026 10:52

My MK2 nissan leaf EV automatically charges the 12v battery from the HEV battery. I can leave the car unused for months and it charges from the HEV all by itself. Unexpected bonus. Other nissan models may be similar.

fastbike

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Ultimate Geek
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#3466669 4-Mar-2026 10:57

gzt: My MK2 nissan leaf EV automatically charges the 12v battery from the HEV battery. I can leave the car unused for months and it charges from the HEV all by itself. Unexpected bonus. Other nissan models may be similar.

No it doesn't. The DC-DC converter is only active when the contactors are closed, which does not happen when the car is switched off. Unless you leave it switched on at all times LoL

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Scott3

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#3466674 4-Mar-2026 11:11

fastbike:

gzt: My MK2 nissan leaf EV automatically charges the 12v battery from the HEV battery. I can leave the car unused for months and it charges from the HEV all by itself. Unexpected bonus. Other nissan models may be similar.

No it doesn't. The DC-DC converter is only active when the contactors are closed, which does not happen when the car is switched off. Unless you leave it switched on at all times LoL

Nissan leaf has the following wording in it's manual. "When the EV system is off for an extended time, the 12-volt battery may be automatically charged for a short period of time on a regular basis" - I understand it to be every 5 days, but don't have a reliable source for that number.

Be aware, that leaving the leaf plugged in, both increases 12v power draw, and (after the initial 12v battery charge), doesn't do regular 12v charges. This combination is well known to cause issues, so it is important that if a leaf is going to be left for a long period of time that it be left unplugged, or plugged in with a timer set (12v charge will happen each time the timer starts a charge).

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richms

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#3466675 4-Mar-2026 11:12

MikeAqua:

Random question, why don't HEVs have a 'self jump-start' function?

A few weeks ago a guy at the marina had a flat starter battery in his HEV and it was dead, he wasn't going anywhere. Anyhow it occurred to me, that a sensible solution would be for manufacturers to provide a switched jump start circuit that would allow the traction battery to temporarily power the 12v/starter battery to start from the traction battery. I know he batteries are operating on different voltages but here are solutions to that.

I carry a jumper pack that will start the pajero, and we managed to get him going, so crisis averted in the end.

In an HEV with V2L, I guess you could connect plug in a 12v power supply and connect that to the 12v battery to get into ready mode.

There are numerous safety circuits that have to complete tests on insulation before the HV battery contactor will close, and the 12v also powers that contactor.

If they were to put a smaller DC to DC inside it that was pre-contactor then its more stuff to test and be compliant, and it means that cutting the HV cable in a crash situation may not make everything dead. You would be working around saftey protocols to handle a seldom to never happens occurrence for the EV. It doesn't take much power to awaken an EV with a dead 12v system. We did it with a half flat 9Ah UPS battery on a leaf.

If they were concerned about this happening then providing a small lithium jump starter with the car would be a cheaper and easier option.

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#3466682 4-Mar-2026 11:42

fastbike:

gzt: My MK2 nissan leaf EV automatically charges the 12v battery from the HEV battery. I can leave the car unused for months and it charges from the HEV all by itself. Unexpected bonus. Other nissan models may be similar.

No it doesn't. The DC-DC converter is only active when the contactors are closed, which does not happen when the car is switched off. Unless you leave it switched on at all times LoL

Actually, it does. It turns on to recharge the 12V battery for about 10 minutes every night. It's not very good at it, but it is better than a conventional vehicle.

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gzt

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#3466692 4-Mar-2026 12:34

fastbike:
gzt: My MK2 nissan leaf EV automatically charges the 12v battery from the HEV battery. I can leave the car unused for months and it charges from the HEV all by itself. Unexpected bonus. Other nissan models may be similar.

No it doesn't. The DC-DC converter is only active when the contactors are closed, which does not happen when the car is switched off. Unless you leave it switched on at all times LoL

It really does, documented in the manual and numerous 3rd party sites as you see above.

RunningMan

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#3466727 4-Mar-2026 15:47

But it's the 12v battery that closes the contacter to then charge itself. If the 12v battery was totally discharged it wouldn't be able to activate that charge cycle from the HV battery.

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#3466728 4-Mar-2026 15:53

RunningMan:

But it's the 12v battery that closes the contacter to then charge itself. If the 12v battery was totally discharged it wouldn't be able to activate that charge cycle from the HV battery.

That's the problem that people are having when their 12v battery is near death and they suddenly leave the car for a while, the small charge time is not enough to get it thru the day.

You dont get a hesitation to crank like in an ICE car to let you know the battery is near dead, it will just not have enough to keep it running one day and you find yourself stranded. Tesla moved to a LiIon low voltage battery which will hopefully solve this but remains to be seen as I only know of failures from people who have depleted the HV battery and then left the car sitting.

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gzt

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#3466738 4-Mar-2026 16:29

Hopefully you're going to notice a 12v battery warning light on the dash before that happens.

In any case, with a healthy 12v battery the 12v battery in Leaf will charge automatically from the HV battery while the vehicle is off and unplugged sitting for several months.

richms

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#3466741 4-Mar-2026 16:42

gzt: Hopefully you're going to notice a 12v battery warning light on the dash before that happens.

In any case, with a healthy 12v battery the 12v battery in Leaf will charge automatically from the HV battery while the vehicle is off and unplugged sitting for several months.

Just takes a cold snap and a lead acid that is performing well enough is suddenly dead. There is no high demand like cranking in an EV to see how it behaves to know its true state of charge or condition.

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RunningMan

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#3466744 4-Mar-2026 16:48

gzt: Hopefully you're going to notice a 12v battery warning light on the dash before that happens.

Not likely. More probable is some stuff just suddenly stops working properly, or get erratic behaviour with some systems.

SaltyNZ

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#3466810 4-Mar-2026 18:42

RunningMan:

gzt: Hopefully you're going to notice a 12v battery warning light on the dash before that happens.

Not likely. More probable is some stuff just suddenly stops working properly, or get erratic behaviour with some systems.

That was my experience with it. Towards the end of the time I had it, the (Japanese only) telemetry module failed and started pulling a current all the time, which lead to the battery going flat overnight. Symptoms the next morning were generally erratic behaviour; it might look like it had come to life, but it would refuse to drive, throw a bunch of errors etc. No warning to say it was the 12V battery that was bad though - I had to find that out from LeafSpy (which fortunately could also clear all the fault codes once I had recharged the battery).

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