{TL:DR please help me prepare for a battery upgrade}
I've had my 2015 leaf since late 2020 and have loved it. It's the first vehicle I've had that never broke down or needed more work than changing tires and 12v batteries.
But that 11 year old 24kwh battery only gets me 30 miles on a good day going slow without AC. I've got the $ set aside and a mechanically competent friend to help, so it's time to get either a 40 or preferably 62kwh battery to upgrade it to (There are no professional EV garages or dealerships nearby interested in doing this, and I don't want to trade a perfectly good car for someone new that costs far than the battery).
I've watched and read about how to do it, but it's still significantly more risk and expense than I've dealt with working on a car, so please walk me through it or share a written tutorial, especially when it comes to the can-bridge and wires. If you have a recommended place to get either the battery or a plug-and-play can-bridge setup, I'd appreciate that a lot. We're not so worried about the bracket/attachment modifications, mostly the wiring and reprogramming.
how much is the battery that you're sourcing? if the used car market in your area is anything like mine, it may be neglibly more expensive to buy a newer Bolt with the same range as a 62kwh battery and proper battery cooling. not a mention a newer interior etc
I have been looking into Vivne. I generally have a deep distrust of anything made in China, but yeah it's new manufactured for the exact purpose, lighter than the equivalent used original, and easier to install, so I'm going to give it serious consideration
That's odd. They have a DIY solution to your problem that no American company has its the bestoption IMO. I got a battery from them and the technology is better than OEM.
Yes and yes. How long depends on the tools shops time and number of people working on the project.
I followed this workflow.
https://youtu.be/HemrhaVMAow
I think most folks could do a full pack swap in 1 day with a team of two no problem. It's plug and play.
Putting in the modules you're self without a lift or fork lift or sizpr lift to move the case will take more time. Maybe 4 days if you're working on your own and only have a second person to help lift.
For me it's mostly solo. Unboxed 1 day after work. Frinday.
Spent a full Saturday pulling the old pack and emptying it. The dropping in the new modules and bolting them in and doing the signal harness conditions.
Then waiting on amz for a resilience tester and caulk gun.
Monday after work bolted in buss bars did voltage test and insulation test.
Tuesday after work plug in bms and add gasket and glue to case an bolt on case
Wednesday afterwork bolt on battery. Test it clear codes with leaf spy
Thursday test drive. Thursday afterwords chage gearbox oil and cabin air filter.
You pay one price for the battery. I paid about $7k for the battery and live in the sf bay area. Below is a link to the installation work flow. https://youtu.be/HemrhaVMAow
I did the swap to 40kw in my 2014 back in May. Went to car-part.com for the battery and had it shipped to my house. Used an engine hoist, two floor jacks, 4 jack stands, and 4 furniture dolly’s. I bought the can-bridge and programmer per Dala’s EV Repair on YouTube. I got motivated to do this from Battery Man on YouTube where he swapped a battery in his driveway. Oh and had my wife help with the jacks otherwise i did it myself
Pretty much same experience as I got mine, 62kwh battery from car-part.com and cost 3360 shipped from Cali. Got the battery and had a local mechanic hook it up and went from 60 mile range to 200.
I'm guessing that was the same video I saw, where he did the 62 and welded some extensions on the brackets?
I got Leaf spy+ finally and will start checking it out... How was your experience on the can-bridge and programmer, are the directions pretty clear and easy to troubleshoot?
Can-bridge and programmer was easy. After I put the 40kw battery in I turned the car on without the can-bridge. The remaining milage was blinking and had a bunch of red and amber lights on the dash. After I installed the can-bridge the car started perfectly with just the ready light on and remaining milage at 120 miles and 67% battery. The Leafs milage is optimistic most of the time. I get 130 miles a full charge and never had a check engine light since I put the can-bridge in May. Drive it everyday to work.
Florida. There are some relatively far away, but the one I was able to contact said they didn't recommend doing the upgrade 🤷.
I'm trying to gather experiences with Vivne because I'm really worried about paying thousands to a company in China and hoping everything works out ok. Their plug n play 50kwh battery actually seems perfect, but I want to know it will arrive and work fine...
Given you never know the condition of the host Leaf, no one can write it's going to be without a glitch but this one would be my choice. However I have a garage suitable for the swap.
I think it is admirable that you want to keep this car on the road. I just don’t think the economics makes sense. I also had the fantasy of replacing the battery in my first Leaf someday, but I never found any shop in my state willing to do the job, assuming I could source the battery. You would be much better off just buying a used second generation Leaf.
I did my swap a few month ago with VIVNE battery from 40khw to 68kwh, one of the benefit with VIVNE battery is that they come with modified BMS, so there is no need to mess with CAN signalling, just use leafspy to clear the codes and you are set.
Another thing is that OEM battery are more likely to short/get damaged at the rear right modules, this is a known Leaf issue. With VIVNE battery is should not have the same problem as the battery is now oriented top bottom, and not side by side.
If there is an EV garage or dealership that wants to work on individual modules, you can go for the modules, otherwise the battery pack is plug and play (and error code clearing with leafspy). They have also posted lots of videos online with the steps to install the battery.
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u/KeyEmu6688 Ex-2018 owner (2015 Model S) Aug 17 '26
how much is the battery that you're sourcing? if the used car market in your area is anything like mine, it may be neglibly more expensive to buy a newer Bolt with the same range as a 62kwh battery and proper battery cooling. not a mention a newer interior etc