RegGuheert
Well-known member
I've been thinking about how to get the longest useful life out of the LEAF battery and it occurred to me that this battery could benefit from rotating the modules within the pack in much the same way that tire wear can be evened out by rotating tires. Just like the tires on a vehicle, the modules in the battery pack live in different environments and likely will wear out at different rates. Also like the tires, we have the option to simply replace the modules which wear more quickly as they reach the end of their lives or we could consider rotating our modules to get even wear and potentially get a longer interval before any modules need to be replaced. It appears from the results of the "How long will you keep your LEAF?" survey there are more of us out there with long-term plans for this car than I had expected. Perhaps a few of us will find module rotation a worthwhile endeavor.
While we do not yet have any data on what the relative wear-out rates are for the different positions in the pack, I expect that information will emerge over time. (That is, assuming dealerships learn how to perform the cell voltage test properly at very low SOC. :roll: ) Depending on how much different the aging of the modules at various positions turns out to be, it seems reasonable that a rotation schedule could be developed which would optimize the life of the overall pack, allowing for it to be replaced when all modules have reached their end-of-life at nearly the same time. OTOH, if the modules tend to wear very evenly, there would be no point in doing this kind of a rotation. Personally, I suspect there will be locations which wear modules more rapidly than others due to higher temperatures. We shall see.
Of course rotating the modules in the LEAF is a much bigger and more technical job than rotating the tires, but note that the cost of replacing a module or replacing the pack is also a much larger expense.
Anyway, it is too early to start doing this today, but I thought I would get a dialog going. What say you?
While we do not yet have any data on what the relative wear-out rates are for the different positions in the pack, I expect that information will emerge over time. (That is, assuming dealerships learn how to perform the cell voltage test properly at very low SOC. :roll: ) Depending on how much different the aging of the modules at various positions turns out to be, it seems reasonable that a rotation schedule could be developed which would optimize the life of the overall pack, allowing for it to be replaced when all modules have reached their end-of-life at nearly the same time. OTOH, if the modules tend to wear very evenly, there would be no point in doing this kind of a rotation. Personally, I suspect there will be locations which wear modules more rapidly than others due to higher temperatures. We shall see.
Of course rotating the modules in the LEAF is a much bigger and more technical job than rotating the tires, but note that the cost of replacing a module or replacing the pack is also a much larger expense.
Anyway, it is too early to start doing this today, but I thought I would get a dialog going. What say you?