ishiyakazuo said:
I have to wonder (out loud)... has anyone actually done this (parted out a LEAF to make another EV)? I imagine that without aerodynamic tricks such as the bulging headlights, it might be really annoying and/or slow compared to a stock LEAF.
There aren't many aero tricks on the leaf that can't be replicated. The headlights are to reduce wind noise passing over the side view mirror. The side view mirrors are some of the worst parts for aerodynamics on any car, just because of the way they have to function. On a dedicated EV build the easiest trick is to just take off the mirrors, replace them with mirrors on the inside of the door, cameras and or a super wide centre mirror. A lot of older cars don't require a passenger side mirror too.
http://ecomodder.com/wiki/index.php/Vehicle_Coefficient_of_Drag_List
There's a lot of older cars on there that have the same or better CdA than the leaf. From an engineering achievement we always talk about drag as Cd because the lower you get it the better job the designer did with aero. For a consumer comparison most people don't cross shop civic coupes to SUVs so most cars in the same class the one with the lower Cd will probably be more aerodynamic but from a "how far can you go" point of view it's CdA that matters. Prime example is Tesla vs Gen III Prius. Same CdA so they take the same energy to go down the road at the same speed but Tesla did more work to get the low Cd since they were handicapped by a high frontal area. Another way to think of it is HP. It's common to take a big engine from a big car and put it in a small car, you see the performance increase because of the low weight. If you take an EV battery from a big car and put it in a smaller car you *may* see a range increase because of a higher frontal area. The things that govern that may can usually be controlled, ie no longer needing a front air intake, no more side mirrors, making a flat underbelly or adding wheel covers.
In terms of it being done, there is a guy on ecomodder (not very active so don't expect regular updates) who is putting a leaf drive train in an insight. That will blow the leaf out of the water for aero. And there was just a guy on here posting used leaf parts for sale, he's putting the leaf battery only in an S10. I also found a page selling new batteries for ev conversions. They sold leaf batteries new from 2013 that were charged to 30% at the factory and never installed. They come without the case so it sounds like they are left over stock from the 2012 to 2013 battery switch being sold off. Right now it's close to the cheapest way to get brand new 8+ kWh packs.
Depending on my time line and how long the leaf range is still good for me, plus value. I may play with putting a very small DC EV kit in the front of the mini, try to keep everything under the hood, just enough to let it drive around town at around the original power, 35lb/ft then later look at adding the leaf rwd to make an awd. However I think the best way to do the conversion would be using a smart EV, the rear subframe with suspension all comes off but then there's no QC and it's less power.
