I've recently heard a story that front end crash write-off Nissan Leafs a...

Julian Bond - 2014-04-18 07:08:32+0000 - Updated: 2014-04-18 07:08:32+0000

I've recently heard a story that front end crash write-off Nissan Leafs are a good source of parts in the USA for home builders. Especially the battery packs. Any comments?

And as an aside does anyone know the specs on the battery packs? What Chemistry, Voltage, Capacity, C rate? I understand they're modular so you can replace individual packs as well as the whole set.

Bob Hewitt - 2014-04-19 17:14:12+0000

I've heard that too. Info seems to be scattered all over the web. I'd try contacting the guys over at evtv. They're into conversions and seem very helpful.

Julian Bond - 2014-04-21 16:50:10+0000

http://insideevs.com/nissan-ceo-carlos-ghosn-second-generation-battery-is-coming-online-now/
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=31954

It looks like the early ones were LiMnO2. 2nd gen is LiNMC. Still digging.

Trevor Larkum - 2014-04-22 20:12:59+0000 - Updated: 2014-04-22 20:17:28+0000

I've seen two such Nissan Leafs go for sale at Coparts.co.uk. I bid on the second one, which started the auction at about £1k, but I pulled out once it went over £4.5k. That seemed to me the limit at which it was good value for money.

There's one at the moment for £1050:

http://copart.co.uk/c2/homeSearch.html?_eventId=getLot&execution=e1s1&lotId=16489334

There's a bit more information and some pics on my blog:
http://myrenaultzoe.com/index.php/topic/home-battery-storage/#post-7348

Bob Hewitt - 2014-04-23 06:26:34+0000

Very interesting project of yours +Trevor Larkum. I've toyed with the idea myself but I'm struggling to make the numbers add up. I wonder if the Zoe's batteries (same module as the leaf I believe) would still work if you took them out of a crashed car because of the whole Renault lease arrangement?

Trevor Larkum - 2014-04-27 08:16:16+0000

I think the Zoe uses different batteries from the Leaf (though the Renault Fluence uses the same ones). Because of the leased battery issue, you couldn't use batteries from a wrecked Zoe that you bought as the batteries would still belong to Renault. That's why I've been looking at wrecked Leafs, since for a home storage system I don't car what car they come from.