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Post by pharmadave on Feb 22, 2020 22:20:30 GMT 11
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Post by Feng on Feb 22, 2020 22:43:31 GMT 11
That looks pretty cool but I hate to imagine how much the larger wheels and roof rack will kill the driving range.
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Post by pharmadave on Feb 22, 2020 23:12:24 GMT 11
That looks pretty cool but I hate to imagine how much the larger wheels and roof rack will kill the driving range. Yes, that's true. Might be a case of style over utility. I can imagine maybe a 40kWh or an ePlus having this treatment and being pretty useful.
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Post by johnmath on Feb 24, 2020 13:08:02 GMT 11
That looks pretty cool but I hate to imagine how much the larger wheels and roof rack will kill the driving range. Thanks. The springs are about half the cost for the Spaccers we bought, but I couldn't find a listing on Yahoo JP at the time, unfortunately. We have larger tires giving approximately +4 cm diameter and still get an indicated 7.1 km/kWh. When +6% for the under-reading of the odometer is factored in that makes that a "real" 7.6 km/kWh over our 50/50 dirt and bitumen road driving. The front wheel arches won't accomodate anything much bigger. I have contemplated roof bars for the odd extra long items that won't fit in the car (i.e. more that 2.8 metres long) but typically just use the 4WD then. Drag goes up as a cube ratio of speed, so the impact of roof racks will be heavily speed dependent, especially over 80 kph or so. That rack looks like a boat anchor LOL.
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Post by Dave-2017_LEAF on Mar 8, 2020 11:33:51 GMT 11
Well, we've taken the plunge and bought a Leaf at auction today, or at more correctly Ben at J-Spec has secured it for us. Purchase price was 1,106,000 Yen, or ~AU$13,600. It's a 2016 X spec, 30,000km, 30kWh battery, 12 bars on the battery, Bose sound system, 4-way camera Around View system, attractive aftermarket alloy wheels and LED headlights. It should be under $22,000 delivered and complied. I'll soon be driving guilt free with the excess electrons we can't currently use from our off-grid solar power. How is your LEAF going 15 months in? I've also just used Ben's services on a 2017 G Aero top spec model. I founf him excellent to work with - Now the wait!!!!
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Post by tomkauf on Mar 8, 2020 11:56:38 GMT 11
How is your LEAF going 15 months in? I've also just used Ben's services on a 2017 G Aero top spec model. I founf him excellent to work with - Now the wait!!!! Congrats! We're another happy customer of Ben's. Our 2015 30kWh X arrived in Dec and is going great. The 3 month wait is tough, but definitely worth it . It gave us time to buy charging Cables (in our case Type 2 to Type 1, Tesla Adapter, 15A to 10A Adapter, 10m 2.5mm² Welding Extension Lead), Sun Shade, Spare Wheel and Tyre, and OBDII Adapter for LeafSpy. And I just completed conversion to all exterior and interior LEDs (except Indicators which generate CAN-Bus error). Might be overkill, but everything has a purpose. And a lot of the items have already been very useful. Oh and you can also start signing up to the Charging Networks if you haven't already (not sure if you already have an EV). Even if you mostly charge at home, you might need ChargeFox/Chargpoint/Evie occasionally. And EV Route planner Apps like A Better Route Planner and Plugshare are a lifesaver.
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Post by Dave-2017_LEAF on Mar 8, 2020 12:03:16 GMT 11
How is your LEAF going 15 months in? I've also just used Ben's services on a 2017 G Aero top spec model. I founf him excellent to work with - Now the wait!!!! Congrats! We're another happy customer of Ben's. Our 2015 30kWh X arrived in Dec and is going great. The 3 month wait is tough, but definitely worth it . It gave us time to buy charging Cables (in our case Type 2 to Type 1, Tesla Adapter, 15A to 10A Adapter, 10m 2.5mm² Welding Extension Lead), Sun Shade, Spare Wheel and Tyre, and OBDII Adapter for LeafSpy. And I just completed conversion to all exterior and interior LEDs (except Indicators which generate CAN-Bus error). Might be overkill, but everything has a purpose. And a lot of the items have already been very useful. Oh and you can also start signing up to the Charging Networks if you haven't already (not sure if you already have an EV). Even if you mostly charge at home, you might need ChargeFox/Chargpoint/Evie. And EV Route planner Apps like A Better Route Planner and Plugshare are a lifesaver. Yeah, I have a lot to learn about what I will need so your reply post will be very helpful - Thanks! post
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Post by Dave-2017_LEAF on Mar 8, 2020 12:05:57 GMT 11
Yeah, I have a lot to learn about what I will need so your reply post will be very helpful - Thanks! post
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Post by Feng on Jul 3, 2020 19:59:27 GMT 11
A question for the grey market imports: Does the car speak Japanese or English when you get the low battery warning? I was half joking to my partner last night about missing the classy accent of my car if I ever got something else.
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Post by johnmath on Aug 10, 2020 15:09:34 GMT 11
Warnings are in Japanese in our private import 2016 30kW Leaf. I quite like having the car talk to me in Japanese, even though I barely understand a word! EVolution are now offering navi unit English conversion (without maps). I expect after the conversion the warnings will be in English. To Dave, sorry didn't see your post months ago. The car is going great and we have now done 20,000km for a grand total of $8 in charging costs, which equates to two fast charges in Adelaide, where we travel for supplies about once every four months. We mainly charge from our off-grid system, although doing that is more hassle than I imagined it would be. I though we could automate charging, but in reality we only want to charge when the sun is shining so as to not draw down the house battery and then only charge if we need to, to avoid having the car battery at 100% unnecessarily. (To get the most years of service life the house's lead/carbon batteries like to be at 100% and the car's lithium batteries like to be at 50%.) It's hard for an automated charger to know what the weather will be tomorrow and the next few days, nor can an automated charger know what trips we plan and when. We are lucky to have access to a free charge station in the town nearby, which we can use during periods of cloudy weather if we need to. the charger is one of 5 on the island that were installed with Federal government renewable energy funding and powered by photovoltaic arrays as part of the same project. There is no cost to using the islands charging stations and there are only 3 electric vehicles on this end of the island, and a few at the other end. We've also charged a dozen times or so at friends houses and they've all refused payment! Other than that we haven't spent a cent on the car since we got it. It drives very well on the rough dirt roads and stone tracks we frequent. It really has exceeded our expectations! Below is a snip of a typical driveway around here: Ross drive trim.mov (1023.79 KB)
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Post by tomkauf on Aug 10, 2020 22:00:58 GMT 11
A question for the grey market imports: Does the car speak Japanese or English when you get the low battery warning? I was half joking to my partner last night about missing the classy accent of my car if I ever got something else. Our 2015's conversion to English doesn't speak at all unfortunately. The only thing that still speaks is the Japanese ETC (Toll Card Reader). There might different ways to do the conversion, and I'm not sure who Japan Imports in Brisbane (who did the conversion) used to do it. But we got both Instrument Cluster and Headunit done. No map conversion, as you mentioned, despite the guy intially saying it could be done. Apparently only the earlier Carwings headunits can be done, not the later Nissan Connect ones. There's still quite a few messages that pop up on the Headunit in Japanese, so I'm not fully convinced it was worth the money.
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bobc29
EV Enthusiast
Where can I get an aftermarket radio/navigation unit for my Leaf?
Posts: 11
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Post by bobc29 on Aug 31, 2020 14:30:44 GMT 11
I bought a 2016 Nissan Leaf S with a 24kW battery with 48,000kms on it with a 4.5 rating and B interior. The auction price was 575,000¥ plus the usual fees. I expect it to end up costing me about A$13,000 all up, which I am quite happy with. I am dealing with an Aussie who has lived in Japan for 25 years and has Aussies and Canadians working with him there, so there is no language problem. The company is Get Cars Japan and Mark Cathcart is the owner - his email address is mark@getcars.jp and his telephone number in Osaka is +81-6-6415-9770. Their costs are lower than most of the Japanese auction houses. If there is anyone who is considering buying a Leaf at Japanese auctions, it would be worth contacting Mark.
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bobc29
EV Enthusiast
Where can I get an aftermarket radio/navigation unit for my Leaf?
Posts: 11
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Post by bobc29 on Aug 31, 2020 14:35:24 GMT 11
May I ask who you are insured with? Our policy is more than double that. Check with Huddle Insurance on-line. They quoted me A$613/year for comprehensive insurance in Sydney!!
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Post by pharmadave on Aug 31, 2020 18:14:04 GMT 11
I bought a 2016 Nissan Leaf S with a 24kW battery with 48,000kms on it with a 4.5 rating and B interior. The auction price was 575,000¥ plus the usual fees. I expect it to end up costing me about A$13,000 all up, which I am quite happy with. I am dealing with an Aussie who has lived in Japan for 25 years and has Aussies and Canadians working with him there, so there is no language problem. The company is Get Cars Japan and Mark Cathcart is the owner - his email address is mark@getcars.jp and his telephone number in Osaka is +81-6-6415-9770. Their costs are lower than most of the Japanese auction houses. If there is anyone who is considering buying a Leaf at Japanese auctions, it would be worth contacting Mark. That's great stuff. Hope you receive it without too much delay. Did the buying service do a Leafspy check of the State of health (SOH%) of the battery? You've done well with getting the S-spec which means you can take out the head unit and put a more modern one in which supports Android Auto and Apple Carplay. I'm curious about the other specs such as whether it has a heat pump and upgraded safety tech.
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bobc29
EV Enthusiast
Where can I get an aftermarket radio/navigation unit for my Leaf?
Posts: 11
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Post by bobc29 on Sept 1, 2020 18:00:11 GMT 11
No, I didn't get the Leafspy check done - I didn't know about it. I won't know about the heat pump or safety tech until the car arrives here in October. I found out that the Japanese charging cable won't work here, and I resent paying close to $500 for a cable which is what I have found. I have found a good quality Chinese cable with an Aussie plug on it and am considering importing and selling them. I should be able to sell them for about $395 including free postage. Saves about $100!
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Post by coulomb on Sept 3, 2020 13:15:19 GMT 11
I should be able to sell them for about $395 including free postage. Saves about $100! I got one for around AU$200 with a European plug, Zwet brand from Ali Express. I chopped off the plug and put on a screw shroud clipsal 15 A plug, which mates with my "industrial" 15 A outlet. 6-16 A adjustable, 1 A increments. It works very well, I only wish I had one that automatically adjusted to solar output. But I have to do some work to interface with my DC coupled system; this does nicely in the mean time.
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Post by tomkauf on Sept 3, 2020 16:17:21 GMT 11
I found out that the Japanese charging cable won't work here Why not? Here is ours, with the plug changed over by the importer as I mentioned. An industrial 15A Plug and Outlet like coulomb mentioned would be a bit better, but this setup works well. The plug barely gets warm, and draws 13.8A. But the plug isn't the problem, it's that the EVSE is only rated for 200V Input (as per the sticker on the back). See this forum for discussion on what internals are rated for what voltage. Some people change over the internals, but they mention that a lot of Japanese import Leaf buyers in NZ seem to be using the 200V EVSE unmodified (just the plug changed). www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=17213
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Post by tomkauf on Sept 3, 2020 16:58:15 GMT 11
Although, today I was interested to see if our importer changed anything internally like that person in the forum link above (I doubted it). And our 2015 EVSE is actually a bit different (pictures below). It's all covered in a soft resin, so not easy to get to the circuit board. None of the labelled components in mine are rated under 250V. Two capacitors are even rated at 310V. The Relay is 20Amp 250V. Once you get yours, you could check what internals yours has (just requires a T20 security Torx).
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Post by coulomb on Sept 4, 2020 11:30:45 GMT 11
I found out that the Japanese charging cable won't work here Why not? Because the transformer is rated at 200 VAC, and our "230 V nominal" mains often runs at 247 VAC or higher. Yes, but New Zealand is a more advanced country than us, at least as far as EVs and electricity goes, and has probably gotten the changeover to real 230 VAC done by now. My mains as I type is at 249.1 VAC. The conspiracy theorist in me says that they are delaying the changeover to suppress PV generation. PV inverters have to limit exporting when the local voltage rises too high.
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Post by tomkauf on Sept 4, 2020 13:21:08 GMT 11
Fair enough, makes sense. It works, but that doesn't mean it'll last a long time or be safe.
Interesting regarding the changeover and PV Inverters.
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Post by coulomb on Sept 4, 2020 16:10:19 GMT 11
Although, today I was interested to see if our importer changed anything internally like that person in the forum link above (I doubted it). Agreed. But I'd say they didn't need to. The problem component is the iron cored transformer, roughly outlined in yellow in the first photo, with 200 V spec in red. Yours seems to be a slimline model, with a switching power supply, which is able to cope with a wide range of voltages (at least 200 - 265 VAC). I'm guessing that your High Frequency transformer is the thing outlined in yellow in the second photo. The problem with the iron cored transformers is that the core saturates at a particular voltage, determined by the number of turns. When it saturates, it quickly makes the primary coil more like a short circuit, causing heating and wasting power. Enough of an overload could cause an over current trip.
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Post by rusdy on Sept 8, 2020 12:03:50 GMT 11
The problem component is the iron cored transformer, roughly outlined in yellow in the first photo, with 200 V spec in red... I'm always lost with this 'portable charger unit'. I thought the actual charger is in the car, so the 'portable charger unit' only task is to select the charging power? Am I missing something? For example, my 'Type 2 (62196-2) to J-1772 cable' has NO ELECTRONICS whatsoever in it (ok, maybe a resistor inside one of the plug). But, that's the point, why can't they make the same for 'portable charger unit' Maybe, I've misunderstood the function of 'portable charger unit' ??
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Post by brunohill on Sept 8, 2020 12:30:10 GMT 11
The problem component is the iron cored transformer, roughly outlined in yellow in the first photo, with 200 V spec in red... I'm always lost with this 'portable charger unit'. I thought the actual charger is in the car, so the 'portable charger unit' only task is to select the charging power? Am I missing something? For example, my 'Type 2 (62196-2) to J-1772 cable' has NO ELECTRONICS whatsoever in it (ok, maybe a resistor inside one of the plug). But, that's the point, why can't they make the same for 'portable charger unit' Maybe, I've misunderstood the function of 'portable charger unit' ?? From memory there is a square wave oscillator/generator in the EVSE and the frequency of the oscillator tells the car charger at what rate to charge. This circuitry runs off 12volts/5volts which is supplied by that transformer. If the 200volt transformer is feed with 240 volts the output will be 20% higher and therefore stressing the lower voltage components. The latter model unit uses a switch mode low voltage DC supply which will regulate the output voltage (for the control circuitry) with a wide range of AC input voltage and creates less heat.
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Post by rusdy on Sept 8, 2020 14:30:02 GMT 11
From memory there is a square wave oscillator/generator in the EVSE and the frequency of the oscillator tells the car charger at what rate to charge. This circuitry runs off 12volts/5volts which is supplied by that transformer. If the 200volt transformer is feed with 240 volts the output will be 20% higher and therefore stressing the lower voltage components. The latter model unit uses a switch mode low voltage DC supply which will regulate the output voltage (for the control circuitry) with a wide range of AC input voltage and creates less heat. As I suspected, it's me being ignorant how things work . I can't find the circuit diagram of the 'portable charger unit' (the closest one I've found is here and here). However, the wikipedia entry is more telling. What I'm still lost: why on earth there is a heatsink in the 'portable charger unit', if it's just a control signal??? So, in regards to my type-2 (62196-2) to J-1772, I've just found out the 'pilot' signal is simply passed to the charger (hence, no electronics in the cable itself).
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Post by coulomb on Sept 9, 2020 13:31:10 GMT 11
It's just about safety and sharing / limiting charge power. Mainly, it doesn't connect if it seems the plug is in a puddle (fails the diode test), and only tells the on-board charger to use whatever power the cables can handle at present. For example, at a dual outlet EVSE, it may reduce the maximum current to the two cars to not exceed the capacity of the cable / breaker. Once one car stops charging, it can send full current to the other one. Edit: calling an EVSE a "charger" or "portable charge unit" is a frequent error.
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Post by johnmath on Sept 10, 2020 22:08:32 GMT 11
What I'm still lost: why on earth there is a heatsink in the 'portable charger unit', if it's just a control signal??? It looks to me like the heatsink is there for a series regulator that supplies the low voltage power for the control circuit. This regulator will need to work from 100 volts to 260 volts of AC input, and keep working for years even when the EVSE is left in the sun on a 45 degree day, and of course the heatsink is half buried in potting compound AND interred in a virtual thermos flask enclosure with other heat generating electronics (the capacitors are rated for 105 degrees C), so its prudent there is a huge over specification of the heatsink to cover the worst case scenario.
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Post by rusdy on Sept 10, 2020 23:51:23 GMT 11
It looks to me like the heatsink is there for a series regulator that supplies the low voltage power for the control circuit. This regulator will need to work from 100 volts to 260 volts of AC ... Ah, that makes sense. As the newer slim design doesn't have it.
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Post by tomkauf on Sept 11, 2020 9:53:44 GMT 11
Very interesting! And because this EVSE was supplied during compliancing, I'm not sure if that was the one that came with the car, or if they get these newer slimline ones and convert them to an australian plug.
One thing I can definitely check is the energy efficiency. We have a EVolution EVSE as well, which we use when charging at someone else's house (because it's variable between 6A, 10A, 15A). So I can compare the power consumption to go from eg. 60%-80%.
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Post by tomkauf on Sept 24, 2020 12:46:07 GMT 11
So here are the results. When using Nissan EVSE, it draws 13.7A average. Evolution EVSE (set to 15A) is 13.8A. Average time to charge 1%: Nissan: 4m44sec EVolution 8m15s That's a big difference. That would mean the converted Japanese EVSE is a lot more efficient. I'll have to repeat the test to rule out any error. Ideally a whole eg 20-80% charge would be compared, but this time I only had time for averaging a few percent. And as it was getting higher in SOC, the device tested last was at a disadvantage. So I can reverse the next time and see if there's any difference. Edit: the forum has reached it's attachment upload limit again. But it's this one: www.evolutionaustralia.com.au/product-page/portable-evse-ev-charger-10a-15a-switchable
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Post by tomkauf on Sept 28, 2020 0:02:59 GMT 11
Got different results this time: Nissan EVSE 3m51s per % EVolution EVSE 3m16s per %
Maybe it was directly at a point where charging slowed down last time. If those are correct, the Nissan EVSE is actually less efficient.
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