2011 nissan leaf

[curasun]

Hello guys, I've been lurking around on this forum this days, searching for an info.
I'm a person that promote green matters for ou well being for our future.
I drive a 2014 Prius and lives off grid, well the grid is connected, but I don't use it, so lowering my carbon foot print.
Planning for an EV, wanted to build a EV from scratch. But I can get a 2011 RHD Leaf from Japan for $7000.
But they are high mileage. So the battery will need replacement.
My question is can a battery be build with for example with calb cells or other make, the same AH and voltage. With battery cooling.
Because the older leaf have been design without battery cooling.

Can this be done? if it is possible one can get a EV for $10000 total.
Best regards.

R.G.Specht

[mikedufty]

I don't think it can be done. You can't generally legally import 2nd hand cars yourself unless you owned it overseas. There is an exemption for specialty vehicles, but it won't allow any model that was available in Australia (e.g. I have a Delica D;5 4wd van import, it is not legal to import the 2WD version of the same van because it is too similar to vehicles available in Australia.)

The minicab i-miev van has been imported successfully, so you may be able to find one of those with a dead battery and do something similar. Chris Jones has some ideas on replacing i-miev batteries.

I would guess the electric version of the nissan nv 200 van could be imported under the same rules.

Or you could look for a cheap EV here, there have been a couple listed on the forum in recent weeks but I think the <$10,000 ones are gone now.

[jonescg]

Interesting - you might have difficulty bringing the Leaf into Australia; there are rules about importing vehicles which have already been sold here (not sure if the 2011 Leaf counts though).

As for the battery, a replacement battery for the early generation Leaf will be possible, but it won't be that cheap. Best case scenario for non OEM battery prices is about $500/kWh, and more likely $750/kWh. If you're going to the effort of re-packing a battery you might as well make it better/bigger/liquid cooled.

[Bryce]

FYI: I have a 2011 Leaf (16 came in for Vic EV trial and were sold off after) so no-go to import one - but just having that series oficially imported negates bringing them in privately, no matter which year. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. Bryce

[curasun]

I don't live in Australia. I live in the carribean, the Island of Curacao. Our roads are for LHD cars, but the government has permitted to import RHD cars from Japan. They wanted to to stop it, but the people is against it, so the government left it.
So I wanted to import a 2011 leaf, before they stop it, hahaha.
The idea, is, the car is there, only the battery will be build with better battery.
Or you think to replace it with a original leaf to restore range. Our Island is a 40 mile Long Island, so I don't need a that long range.
What do you think?
R.G. Specht

[jonescg]

Well in that case...

I'd say replace the old battery with an equivalent one from Nissan. ~70 km from one end to the other doesn't need a big battery at all.

[antiscab]

Why not grey import a LHD leaf from the US?

[curasun]

that is another good idea.

thx.

[GVan]

Prestige Motorsport is now importing used Leafs from $15k or so the latest newsletter indicates.

[coulomb]

Prestige Motorsport is now importing used Leafs...

Would those be right hand drive? I assume that there would be a lot of those available from Japan, though probably not as many as left hand drive cars from the US and Europe.

Regardless of availability, I can't see the sense of importing left hand drive vehicles into Australia, unless they're really rare models that are only manufactured in right hand drive.

[nigwil]

Prestige Motorsport is now importing used Leafs...

Would those be right hand drive? I assume that there would be a lot of those available from Japan...

exclusively from Japan I understand and yes RHS: https://prestigemotorsport.com.au/auctions/

unfolding story of an active import: http://ozleaf.proboards.com/thread/1105 ... pan?page=2

[coulomb]

Also lots of Leafs at Be Forward: Search criteria Nissan + Leaf + Electric . Edit: note: prices are in US$ by default, there is a fee of at least US$1400, then 5% duty, 10% GST, and possibly many other costs.

[ Edit: added last sentence about US$ and extra fees. ]

[Adverse Effects]

know someone in japan?

Nissan Introduces $2,850 Refabricated Batteries For Older LEAF

[coulomb]

https://insideevs.com/nissan-introduces ... -4r-plant/ [ "Nissan Introduces $2,850 Refabricated Batteries For Older LEAF" ]

Interesting! I note that ¥300,000 ~= AU$3,900, so they're quoting US$ in the article.

Plus of course shipping a battery to Japan and a replacement to Australia, if the service was even offered, would mean your leaf would be off the road for maybe 6 months, possibly a lot more.

However, the battery health of the average leaf available second hand from Japan might increase, as dealers could decide it's better to get a leaf with a poor battery health upgraded rather than selling it for a fifth of the price it could fetch otherwise. Nissan's idea of displaying state of health of the battery on the dashboard, even if it's a bit crude, is a great boon for those buying second hand leafs.

[ Edit: "dealers decide" -> "dealers could decide", added title of link ]

[Adverse Effects]

no i was thinking more buy a clapped out car from japan and having the battery replaced then ship the car here as "parts"

[francisco.shi]

One less hurdle for electric cars. Everyone was worried about the cost of replacing the battery when it gets too old. It turns out that it is much cheaper than anyone expected and as more second hand electric cars become available there will be an incentive for aftermarket replacement batteries which will be even cheaper.
At 3000 replacement cost for a replacement battery it is not much more than an engine replacement on an ICE car but you get a new battery as opposed to a second hand engine for the ICE.

[brendon_m]

Aren't they exchange? Nissan has to make money somehow and a couple grand for a 24+kwh seems too cheap to be making a profit if it's filled with new cells. So I'd say they are probably 2nd hand cells that have been tested or Nissan are selling the exchange cells for a mint.
Also I thought they had been doing this for a while but they recently jacked the price up?

[brunohill]

Nissan dealers are quoting owners in Australia about $34,000 AUD to replace worn out battery packs. Do they really think they are going to sell the new model here?

[Adverse Effects]

Aren't they exchange? Nissan has to make money somehow and a couple grand for a 24+kwh seems too cheap to be making a profit if it's filled with new cells. So I'd say they are probably 2nd hand cells that have been tested or Nissan are selling the exchange cells for a mint.
Also I thought they had been doing this for a while but they recently jacked the price up?

yes its exchange
no there new cells and have about 1.5 times the Kw the old pack did (new chemistry?)
the $ is made by setting the old cells up as 2nd life grid storage