Hi Ali,

Looks like it's all coming on a treat. Whats your plan for all the steel work you're fabricating in terms of corrosion protection? Paint, galv?
 
Alibro said:
I'm in contact with him regarding the Nissan charger and dc to dc converter.
He's been very helpful. :)
Click to expand...

That's good.
He's pretty switched on with the software side of things. Which could well be helpful later on, so yes I can see you not wanting to rock the apple cart there. ;)
 
Now I have the frame built and the inverter position confirmed I'm going to switch tack for a while and start connecting stuff together. :eek:

I need to make some decisions about the charger, dc-dc controller and BMS so that I can finalise the layout under the bonnet.
Last year I bought and stripped a Nissan Leaf, complete bar the battery pack so I have all electronics required to make it work, but my battery pack came from a VW eGolf so the cell count and chemistry is not the same as a Leaf.

As far as I can tell the Nissan DC to DC converter to charge the 12V battery will just work when plugged in. ;)

The more complicated problems are charging and BMS.
If I use the Nissan parts I may need to purchase two more battery modules to get the cell count up to 96 to be correct for the Leaf BMS.
If I can get it to work this way then the BMS and Charger are both sorted. The battery chemistry may be a little different but it's close enough for me.

If I can't make them work then I will probably buy an Mitsubishi Outlander charger or a Tesla charger both of which have been cracked by the community, but will still need a BMS.
Neither of these scenarios will be cheap but obviously my preference would be to put the money towards more batteries.
 
Alibro said:
The more complicated problems are charging and BMS.
If I use the Nissan parts I may need to purchase two more battery modules to get the cell count up to 96 to be correct for the Leaf BMS.
If I can get it to work this way then the BMS and Charger are both sorted. The battery chemistry may be a little different but it's close enough for me.

If I can't make them work then I will probably buy an Mitsubishi Outlander charger or a Tesla charger both of which have been cracked by the community, but will still need a BMS.
Neither of these scenarios will be cheap but obviously my preference would be to put the money towards more batteries.
Click to expand...
Does battery life need to be factored into this decision? I.e. would the increased capital expenditure of the chargers outwiegh an increased cost of additional batteries now, and at some point in the future when they need replacing. Just wondering, whilst not understanding any of the costs involved in the components.
 
kernowsvenski said:
Does battery life need to be factored into this decision? I.e. would the increased capital expenditure of the chargers outwiegh an increased cost of additional batteries now, and at some point in the future when they need replacing. Just wondering, whilst not understanding any of the costs involved in the components.
Click to expand...
The only suitable battery modules I can find at the moment are £500 each and I need two. :eek:
I hope that if I can make the Nissan bits work I will be able to get the batteries a lot cheaper but realistically I'm looking at £500 at minimum.
The Outlander charger and a custom BMS could be over well £1000 and maybe £1500 so you can see why I want to make the Nissan bits work.
If you consider the extra batteries will also give more power and range it is a no brainer.
I don't believe the Outlander or Tesla charger would be any kinder to the batteries so I don't think that is an issue. Prolonging battery life has more to do with the charging regime than the management by the charger.
 
Fascinating stuff. Good answer Ali. Once again I'm impressed with how much thought and effort is going into this project
 
kernowsvenski said:
Does battery life need to be factored into this decision?
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EV batteries last much longer that the anti EV lobbies would have you believe.
If Ali can sort the charging parameters correctly, then the batteries could well last 10, maybe up to 20 years.
Reduced capacity EV batteries can also be repurposed to store electricity from solar panels, feeding the power into a home instead, so even after they're no longer suitable for vehicle use, they can still be used in a green application. ;)
 
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kernowsvenski said:
Fascinating stuff. Good answer Ali. Once again I'm impressed with how much thought and effort is going into this project
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In fairness I've been working on it for over 1.5 years so I've had a LOT of time to think about it. o_O

Nodge68 said:
EV batteries last much longer that the anti EV lobbies would have you believe.
If Ali can sort the charging parameters correctly, then the batteries could well last 10, maybe up to 20 years.
Redused capacity EV batteries can also be repurposed to store electricity from solar panels, feeding the power into a home instead, so even after they're no longer suitable for vehicle use, they can still be used in a green application. ;)
Click to expand...
I plan to ensure the batteries are never charged over 4.1V, never discharged under 3V and not charged unless necessary so they should hopefully last more than one car. ;)
 
Been a while since I gave an update here and there have been a couple of big changes.
This arrived 10 days ago.
IMG_20211213_213909027.jpg


You'll know if you've been following this build I've been dithering for months over how to resolve the charging/BMS/DC to DC conundrum. I kept myself busy welding and grinding but had come to the point where I needed to make the decision so plumped for purchasing another two 4S modules and have a go at making the Nissan Leaf BMS and Charger work. ;)
Only thing is the two modules came with a few friends. :eek:
Buying two modules was more than 1/4 the price of a full pack so made no sense.
This pack is the same age as my first one so the modules should be close enough mileage wise to be OK.
Having the two packs also means I have more options for packaging the modules, I can use more 4S or more 2S, whichever fits better.
I haven't decided whether to sell the extra modules or hang on to them for future projects but will worry about that later. ;)

The other big update is this
IMG_20211218_101631258.jpg
IMG_20211218_101829866.jpg
IMG_20211218_101804228.jpg


It's a 2004 SE with all the usual SE options. :)
It was being sold as spares repairs because of a few minor issues but is running and driving so I'm hopeful this will be the one. ;)
 
Alibro said:
I kept myself busy welding and grinding but had come to the point where I needed to make the decision so plumped for purchasing another two 4S modules and have a go at making the Nissan Leaf BMS and Charger work. ;)
Only thing is the two modules came with a few friends
Click to expand...
So another full pack then Ali. :D

That'll give you some spares to either sell on, and maybe build yourself your own power wall, which is what I'd do with the spares. ;)
 
Nodge68 said:
So another full pack then Ali. :D

That'll give you some spares to either sell on, and maybe build yourself your own power wall, which is what I'd do with the spares. ;)
Click to expand...
Funny you should say that John, I have ordered solar panels that should be installed early next year and I hope to be able to put together a DIY power wall with some of the modules. For the solar company to do it would have cost £6k on top of the price of the panels and inverter.
I still need to figure out how it can be done but will probably have to get another inverter to make it work.

All this is expensive up front but I'm hoping to save a lot of money over time.
 
Alibro said:
It's a 2004 SE with all the usual SE options.
Click to expand...

I liked my SE. It has just enough options to be useful like the heated front screen and heated seats (handy in an EV), without the silly leaking sun roof of the HSE.
Alibro said:
I have ordered solar panels that should be installed early next year
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Wow. That's a big move towards a greener energy source Ali.
Alibro said:
For the solar company to do it would have cost £6k on top of the price of the panels and inverter.
Click to expand...
Yes, power walls are still at silly prices just now, even though solar is dropping in price.
Alibro said:
I still need to figure out how it can be done but will probably have to get another inverter to make it work.
Click to expand...
I've also been trying to work out how to implement a DIY power wall into the home electrical system.

I've come up with a couple of ways, but neither are ideal, unfortunately, at least not yet.
Not having the available spare cash does limit my availability to try to implement or test my thoughts. :(

However I expect our Chinese friends have something available, it just needs to be found.
Alibro said:
All this is expensive up front but I'm hoping to save a lot of money over time.
Click to expand...
The price of electricity is only going to go up, so what seems expensive now, will become cheaper in the future. ;)
 
Nodge68 said:
I liked my SE. It has just enough options to be useful like the heated front screen and heated seats (handy in an EV), without the silly leaking sun roof of the HSE.
Click to expand...
I'm looking forward to getting it on the road. Any advice for tidying up alcantara? It's a wee bit tired looking as it's balled up a bit
Nodge68 said:
Wow. That's a big move towards a greener energy source Ali.
Click to expand...
I'm hoping for a good return on investment too with the price leccy is going. The location I'm putting it is not ideal cause SWMBO won't have them on the front of the house so they are all going on the roof of the garage. It's a bit overlooked but hopefully not too bad.
Nodge68 said:
Yes, power walls are still at silly prices just now, even though solar is dropping in price.

I've also been trying to work out how to implement a DIY power wall into the home electrical system.

I've come up with a couple of ways, but neither are ideal, unfortunately, at least not yet.
Not having the available spare cash does limit my availability to try to implement or test my thoughts. :(

However I expect our Chinese friends have something available, it just needs to be found.
Click to expand...
A few years ago when I had a wind turbine going with a lead acid battery pack, I installed several sockets around the house and brought them back to a new box beside the main consumer unit. I put a couple of 240V relays in the box that were driven by the mains voltage from an old UPS. The relays were connected so that the sockets had mains voltage from the grid when the UPS was off and mains from the UPS when they were on. Connecting them this way meant the sockets always had power but there was no way the leccy from the UPS could ever get on the grid in the event of a power cut.
It worked a treat but the batteries died and the wind turbine was more trouble than it was worth so I didn't go any further with it.
I'm considering doing something similar with the solar system but will wait until it's installed before deciding.
Nodge68 said:
The price of electricity is only going to go up, so what seems expensive now, will become cheaper in the future. ;)
Click to expand...
Your not kidding and if (when ;)) I have a leccy car it will hurt even more without the solar. ;)
 
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Alibro said:
I'm hoping for a good return on investment too with the price leccy is going.
Click to expand...

The more electric goes up, the faster the break even comes round. ;)

Alibro said:
The location I'm putting it is not ideal cause SWMBO won't have them on the front of the house so they are all going on the roof of the garage. It's a bit overlooked but hopefully not too bad.
Click to expand...
Hopefully. My SWMBO isn't so fussy about such things, although for me, the panels would be on the back of my house for maximum sun hours.
Alibro said:
I installed several sockets around the house and brought them back to a new box beside the main consumer unit. I put a couple of 240V relays in the box that were driven by the mains voltage from an old UPS.
Click to expand...

One of my ideas was to run another independent ring main, which runs off solar/batteries.
If it's used to power long term, lower power items like fridges, freezers, TV, computers, and so on, the savings can be large, especially if you have enough energy to power a tumble dryer. The trick is maximise your solar storage, and minimise your mains supply, but you know this already. ;)

Alibro said:
Your not kidding and if (when ;)) I have a leccy car it will hurt even more without the solar.
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Nothing better than running you car off the sun.
I put at least £70 a week in our cars, and don't actually drive that far, but if I could run them off the sun, it would save me over £3500 in liquid motor fuels per year.:eek:
 
@Alibro Don't you work with IT? Reason I ask is I was thnking for your domestic off grid energy storage you could upcycle a few computer UPS modules and bigger batteries?
 
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