GEN1 Nissan Leaf Battery Upgrade HOW-TO [PART1]
So I thought I would share my deepest secret how to upgrade a 2011-2013 Leaf with the newer 2014+ style battery. I think this is very necessary information to share so that we can keep these cars going for longer. We need more people doing battery upgrades! So let's begin!
Here we have the batteries side by side. On the left is the ZE0 (2011-2013), and on the right we have a AZE0 -15 battery. The same connectors on AZE0 is used on 2014->2020 batteries, so this is the same connectors on all 24/30/40/62kWh batteries.
One thing you might have noticed on the previous picture is that the newer battery has an additional orange high voltage plug on it. This plug is used by the heating system on the newer cars, but the older ones share it with the main HV connection. So this plug will be unused when retrofitting a battery. So to keep it safe I will plug it.
Thankfully I got the plug and a few centimeters of wiring with the battery, so let's de-pin it and fill it with sealant. To de-pin this connector, push the tab highlighted in blue upwards. Then pull down the wiring.
Once that is done you can fill the whole plug with sealant. Once it has cured, re-apply the plug to the battery.
Next order of business is the wiring harness. The ZE0 has a 22-pin connector for CAN and power signals, the AZE0 has a 36-pin connector. So you need to get this part also from a scrapyard, try to 3d-print it, or order a new one. I have the wiring details on this github repository for anyone playing along at home.
https://github.com/dalathegreat/Nissan-Leaf-Battery-to-OBD2/tree/master/Documentation
Note that they renamed the RLY signals;
RLY1 (ZE0) == RLY P (AZE0)
RLY2 (ZE0) == RLY N (AZE0)
Here is a newer style plug being spliced into the old wiring harness.
Some tips here if you splice. You can crimp or solder. There are pros/cons to both methods. If you solder, follow the NASA-standard, pre-tin both ends, get shrink wrap with glue inside threaded on, solder wires together and shrink the wrap around it. Once it's all done, electrical tape never hurts. Push/pull the cabling into the car to avoid the splice being exposed to the elements. Again, this is controversial and many swear by their own method of splicing wires in an automotive system for maximum longevity. I will probably be criticized on this, but feel free to give constructive criticism
End of Part 1, Part 2 incoming soon.