Increasing Nissan Leaf Range with mini battery trailer

[TomT]

Range is interesting... Even with the new battery, my Leaf would be pressed to get 70 miles at 65MPH (real, not indicated)...
And yet, with my 2017 Volt I get about 60-65 miles under the same conditions and at the same speed...

Thanks for the feedback. With a 12-bar '11-12 LEAF you should be able to make 76 miles at 55 mph, but the GOM and SOC gauge is pretty pessimistic so it doesn't give you much confidence. My brother has a '14 Spark EV, it seems to have significantly better range than my LEAF ever did, but it's reported efficiency is also much higher.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Range is interesting... Even with the new battery, my Leaf would be pressed to get 70 miles at 65MPH (real, not indicated)...
And yet, with my 2017 Volt I get about 60-65 miles under the same conditions and at the same speed...

Thanks for the feedback. With a 12-bar '11-12 LEAF you should be able to make 76 miles at 55 mph, but the GOM and SOC gauge is pretty pessimistic so it doesn't give you much confidence. My brother has a '14 Spark EV, it seems to have significantly better range than my LEAF ever did, but it's reported efficiency is also much higher.

Yeah, the Volt is far more slippery in the wind, and gets much better highway mileage than the Leaf. One more reason I prefer a lower, sportier car style to a taller design.

 

[Tonyt]

Range is interesting... Even with the new battery, my Leaf would be pressed to get 70 miles at 65MPH (real, not indicated)...
And yet, with my 2017 Volt I get about 60-65 miles under the same conditions and at the same speed...

Thanks for the feedback. With a 12-bar '11-12 LEAF you should be able to make 76 miles at 55 mph, but the GOM and SOC gauge is pretty pessimistic so it doesn't give you much confidence. My brother has a '14 Spark EV, it seems to have significantly better range than my LEAF ever did, but it's reported efficiency is also much higher.

Yeah, the Volt is far more slippery in the wind, and gets much better highway mileage than the Leaf. One more reason I prefer a lower, sportier car style to a taller design.

I can understand the volt being very slippery. However to my untrained eye neither the Spark or 500E look very slippery or low to me. I do believe wind resistance becomes a much larger factor at higher speeds. Another point is my Leaf might not have the best tires. They came with the car and are supposed to be LRR. They have a lot of life left so I wont be replacing them anytime soon. Maybe after I do I may get more millage.

 

[bmartin]

<span>

"high <a href="http://www.myelectriccarforums.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=29" class="interlinkr">Volt<span class="tip">Visit the Volt Forum</span></a>age contractors"

</span>

<span> Unless they mean weekend electricians drinking Jolt cola, that should be "high <a href="http://www.myelectriccarforums.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=29" class="interlinkr">Volt<span class="tip">Visit the Volt Forum</span></a>age contactors." ;-)</span>

Hahaha yeah I meant contactors.

Let's say you add 1 more cell in parallel, 226 cells with the same 360/363 nominal voltage. It could store over 10kw for $5,650.

This seems like a whole lot of time/money for a very little gain. You are talking about a battery 1/3 the size of that built into the 2016 Leaf. So you have 33% increase in energy. With the drag of a trailer, you'll get maybe 25% increase in range. This is enough for me to simply call off the project as impractical.

But then again, don't let anyone discourage you if you really want to go for it. Let us know if you do build anything!

Don't consider me discouraged just yet.

I've found this where I can get name brand (LG/Samsung/Sony/Sanyo) Li ion 18650s for under $2 per cell in bulk (3,000mah). Plus free shipping to the US. This would be substantially cheaper than the "safer" 15Ah Headway Lifepo4 cells at $23 per cell.

Li ion would require less cells in series too. My current thought process is to build many 4s packs, then line up all BMS in series to get 360v. Li ion 4s is 14.4v nominal, I'd need 25 14.4v packs. Each pack would have a BMS that monitors each cell in series, I would get these that have temperature monitoring too, hopefully for cheaper than $15 each. (Though, $375 for all BMS is cheaper than having a $12 BMS on each 3.2v pair of Headway)

Let's say each 14.4v pack is a 4s10p, storing 30Ah * 360v = 10.8kwh. This pack would cost $1,750 for lithium, $375 for BMS, over estimate $250 for wires/connectors/holders. Assuming I already have the trailer/hitch (installing September 10th).
Let's get crazy and assume the budget is larger and we can double lithium. 21.6kwh pack for roughly $4,125, possibly less.

Another route would be to go with a DC-DC converter. Enginer used a DC-DC converter to add more range to Leafs. They used a 48v battery and boosted the voltage to the Leaf's 360v, and even tapped into the AC charge port to draw an additional 5A for charging. This would surely make building the battery easier as you'd only need a few packs in series, and a 48v charger would be easy to come by. The added benefit of charging off of the stock inlet would be a huge plus. I just can't find any information online of the technicalities involved, Enginer only advertises their Prius conversions.

I know longer range EVs are just a month away (Chevy Bolt), but I'm more interested in hacking what I have. Plus I want the added benefit of having emergency power for my house/a great camping companion. I plan on looking into a Model 3 in a few years as used, but I doubt I'll find one in my budget for many more years to come.

 

[Oils4AsphaultOnly]

<span>

"high <a href="http://www.myelectriccarforums.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=29" class="interlinkr">Volt<span class="tip">Visit the Volt Forum</span></a>age contractors"

</span>

<span> Unless they mean weekend electricians drinking Jolt cola, that should be "high <a href="http://www.myelectriccarforums.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=29" class="interlinkr">Volt<span class="tip">Visit the Volt Forum</span></a>age contactors." ;-)</span>

Hahaha yeah I meant contactors.

Let's say you add 1 more cell in parallel, 226 cells with the same 360/363 nominal voltage. It could store over 10kw for $5,650.

This seems like a whole lot of time/money for a very little gain. You are talking about a battery 1/3 the size of that built into the 2016 Leaf. So you have 33% increase in energy. With the drag of a trailer, you'll get maybe 25% increase in range. This is enough for me to simply call off the project as impractical.

But then again, don't let anyone discourage you if you really want to go for it. Let us know if you do build anything!

Don't consider me discouraged just yet.

I've found this where I can get name brand (LG/Samsung/Sony/Sanyo) Li ion 18650s for under $2 per cell in bulk (3,000mah). Plus free shipping to the US. This would be substantially cheaper than the "safer" 15Ah Headway Lifepo4 cells at $23 per cell.

Li ion would require less cells in series too. My current thought process is to build many 4s packs, then line up all BMS in series to get 360v. Li ion 4s is 14.4v nominal, I'd need 25 14.4v packs. Each pack would have a BMS that monitors each cell in series, I would get these that have temperature monitoring too, hopefully for cheaper than $15 each. (Though, $375 for all BMS is cheaper than having a $12 BMS on each 3.2v pair of Headway)

Let's say each 14.4v pack is a 4s10p, storing 30Ah * 360v = 10.8kwh. This pack would cost $1,750 for lithium, $375 for BMS, over estimate $250 for wires/connectors/holders. Assuming I already have the trailer/hitch (installing September 10th).
Let's get crazy and assume the budget is larger and we can double lithium. 21.6kwh pack for roughly $4,125, possibly less.

Another route would be to go with a DC-DC converter. Enginer used a DC-DC converter to add more range to Leafs. They used a 48v battery and boosted the voltage to the Leaf's 360v, and even tapped into the AC charge port to draw an additional 5A for charging. This would surely make building the battery easier as you'd only need a few packs in series, and a 48v charger would be easy to come by. The added benefit of charging off of the stock inlet would be a huge plus. I just can't find any information online of the technicalities involved, Enginer only advertises their Prius conversions.

I know longer range EVs are just a month away (Chevy Bolt), but I'm more interested in hacking what I have. Plus I want the added benefit of having emergency power for my house/a great camping companion. I plan on looking into a Model 3 in a few years as used, but I doubt I'll find one in my budget for many more years to come.

Hoping to revive this discussion after a few years, as more products have become available. So how did this project go? Or are you going the muxsan route (they have an in-trunk range extender).

And per the thread title, has anyone had any experience with this range-extending trailer?: https://eptender.com/en/

 

[Oilpan4]

I still say a diesel powered push trailer is a better option.
Just putting my empty trailer behind my leaf reduces range by around 25%. Make a trailer around a 600 to 900lb battery, just doesn't seem worth it.
Assuming you had a 40kwh car and you put a 1,000lb 60kwh battery trailer on your car you might double your trailerless range.

Thats why I say diesel power push trailer, you have infinite range and you get to where you are going, drop the trailer and have a full battery to drive around with.

 

[Oils4AsphaultOnly]

I still say a diesel powered push trailer is a better option.
Just putting my empty trailer behind my leaf reduces range by around 25%. Make a trailer around a 600 to 900lb battery, just doesn't seem worth it.
Assuming you had a 40kwh car and you put a 1,000lb 60kwh battery trailer on your car you might double your trailerless range.

Thats why I say diesel power push trailer, you have infinite range and you get to where you are going, drop the trailer and have a full battery to drive around with.

The ICE pusher trailer had already been done, and it was a monstrosity. You're welcome to do that if that's what you want.

A battery trailer (with deployable solar canopy) would mean being able to recharge the trailer just by leaving it outside. And the EP Tender that I referenced is fairly compact, so the aero-drag reduction should be much better, but it lost the utility of being an actual trailer. So looking for something like the T-Rex (made by James Klafehn), but shorter.

 

[Oilpan4]

A solar canopy, bahahahaha.
Since you are on here I assumed you know how big solar panels are, how much they output, and how much power it takes to move an electric car. Guess not.

Let me demonstrate the numerous ways you are wrong. First why the "solar canopy" is useless, a waste of money and unnecessary weigh. Let's say you need a 60kwh battery to double the range of a 40kwh leaf.
Let's say a 1,000W array is portable IMO 500 to 600 is doable, but benefit of the doubt and all. Under ideal new mexico conditions you will collect about 5 or 6 kwh a day during the summer. The first spring or summer storm that blows through will topple the trailer smashing the panels.
Obviously you won't run your 60kwh pack flat dead, but that's still at least a week charge time so the solar is pretty much pointless.
And then what do the solar panels do in the mean time? It's a waste of solar panels.
Heck even a lowly 120v 12 amp evse could restore 50kwh to a battery pack in 2 and a half days or less.
2, Solar panels belong on the roofs of people's homes making electricity every single day that the sun is out. Not packed away in some trailer. Serious under utilization of solar panels.
3, Also we know we can't leave lithium batteries fully charged for days at a time so this trailer, assuming it's privately owned would be stored at around half charge. Again self stowed solar panels are out.
4, the panels definitely need to be stowed because it very easy to mess with the leafs aero dynamics. My tests show a 52 inch light bar can reduce range up to 20% on the highway. Big panels hanging off a thousand pound trailer would further ruin range.

Winter operation. Let's say you want to drive a leaf when it's below freezing. Since the largest travel holidays are between thanksgiving and new years it seems like a reasonable scenario. My own tests show to maintain 75mph with my empty trailer below freezing the motor is pulling around 40kw. So your total range on a 40kwh car with a 60kwh trailer is going to be about 200 miles. That kind of seems like a waste to me. I think you're better off going no trailer and hope you can find a working chademo. For summer trips with no solar panels riding along on the the battery trailer it could be a viable option.

Trailering. Have you ever towed a thousand pounds with a leaf? I have and I would not recommend it for the faint of heart. Also pulling a thousand pounds with a leaf in snowy icy conditions would be suicide. Furthermore I don't believe that the leaf is rated to tow any amount of weight, at least all the older ones arent.

I'd rather have a monstrosity that works than an over priced monstrosity that underperforms but looks good on paper.

At best it's an ok idea ruined by adding solar panels. Your best bet is to trade cars with a friend for your road trip, rent a car or make sure you have a chademo about every 25 miles or so along the way. Personally I would rent a car, leave your electric car in your driveway so it looks like you're home.
As this is exactly what I did, my wife had a death in the family at the start of the Texas cold spell, she took off with her hybrid, 360 miles away while I was at work, I sure as heck wasn't making that in any leaf. So I rented a gas burner for a few days.

 

[Oils4AsphaultOnly]

A solar canopy, bahahahaha.
Since you are on here I assumed you know how big solar panels are, how much they output, and how much power it takes to move an electric car. Guess not.

Let me demonstrate the numerous ways you are wrong. First why the "solar canopy" is useless, a waste of money and unnecessary weigh. Let's say you need a 60kwh battery to double the range of a 40kwh leaf.
Let's say a 1,000W array is portable IMO 500 to 600 is doable, but benefit of the doubt and all. Under ideal new mexico conditions you will collect about 5 or 6 kwh a day during the summer. The first spring or summer storm that blows through will topple the trailer smashing the panels.
Obviously you won't run your 60kwh pack flat dead, but that's still at least a week charge time so the solar is pretty much pointless.
And then what do the solar panels do in the mean time? It's a waste of solar panels.
Heck even a lowly 120v 12 amp evse could restore 50kwh to a battery pack in 2 and a half days or less.
2, Solar panels belong on the roofs of people's homes making electricity every single day that the sun is out. Not packed away in some trailer. Serious under utilization of solar panels.
3, Also we know we can't leave lithium batteries fully charged for days at a time so this trailer, assuming it's privately owned would be stored at around half charge. Again self stowed solar panels are out.
4, the panels definitely need to be stowed because it very easy to mess with the leafs aero dynamics. My tests show a 52 inch light bar can reduce range up to 20% on the highway. Big panels hanging off a thousand pound trailer would further ruin range.

Winter operation. Let's say you want to drive a leaf when it's below freezing. Since the largest travel holidays are between thanksgiving and new years it seems like a reasonable scenario. My own tests show to maintain 75mph with my empty trailer below freezing the motor is pulling around 40kw. So your total range on a 40kwh car with a 60kwh trailer is going to be about 200 miles. That kind of seems like a waste to me. I think you're better off going no trailer and hope you can find a working chademo. For summer trips with no solar panels riding along on the the battery trailer it could be a viable option.

Trailering. Have you ever towed a thousand pounds with a leaf? I have and I would not recommend it for the faint of heart. Also pulling a thousand pounds with a leaf in snowy icy conditions would be suicide. Furthermore I don't believe that the leaf is rated to tow any amount of weight, at least all the older ones arent.

I'd rather have a monstrosity that works than an over priced monstrosity that underperforms but looks good on paper.

At best it's an ok idea ruined by adding solar panels. Your best bet is to trade cars with a friend for your road trip, rent a car or make sure you have a chademo about every 25 miles or so along the way. Personally I would rent a car, leave your electric car in your driveway so it looks like you're home.
As this is exactly what I did, my wife had a death in the family at the start of the Texas cold spell, she took off with her hybrid, 360 miles away while I was at work, I sure as heck wasn't making that in any leaf. So I rented a gas burner for a few days.

Sorry, but completely irrelevant, since your use case and mine are different. The solar panels were for use at a potential boondocking site, where the trailer being parked for days at a time is actually part of my use case. I'm not looking for a daily commuter solution to extend the range of the leaf, otherwise swapping the batteries for a larger pack would've been a better solution. And yes, Chademo charging would be a better use of the time and resources.

That's NOT why I asked to revive this thread. I'm looking for a trailerable battery-based range extender for occasional use. Your condescension isn't welcome.

Edit: Having the trailer act as a portable generator would be a side-benefit that would increase its utility when not being used as a range extender.

 

[Oilpan4]

Well if it's part of a camper setup, emergency power rig it makes way more sense.
Cause we know know entire electrical interconnects are vulnerable to collapse.