Nissan-LEAF-Inverter-Upgrade
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dalathegreat
160kW inverter limited to 400A (40kWh & 62kWh battery)
Noticed this on my personal car (2015 LEAF with 40kWh battery). The 160kW inverter is limited to 400A, which makes the kW output sit at roughly 145kW. The real 2019+ 62kWh LEAF will push 500A momentarily (180kW and 160kW to wheels).
There might be some CAN message that the inverter sees, so it limits to 400A instead of 500A. Further investigation needed.
Affected? Please list your setup!
EDIT: I am 99% certain that some message is not shaped/contain the same content as on the 2019 e+, that is causing this limit. One log file is all it takes to solve this, so if you know someone with a 62kWh LEAF that wants (AND IS TECHNICALLY CAPABLE) to take logs, let me know.
EDIT2: If you have an e+ and want to help: Please note that the EV-CAN system is not available from the OBD2 port. Nissan moved it away from the OBD2 port with the introduction of the ZE1 LEAF. You will need to first get a proper CAN logging tool (Kvaser, PCAN, Arduino Due, etc.), and connect it somewhere on the EV-CAN line. I have no schematics, but the EV CAN should run quite similar around the car like on the AZE0 LEAF. It is a blue/green twisted pair. Blue is high, green is low. You will have to splice into the wiring to read the CAN, so this is a potential warranty void action. Plug adapters are possible to avoid this, but no such exist to my knowledge, then they have to be custom made. Once you have connected to EV-CAN and can start logging to a file, also start up Leafspy Pro via the OBD2 port so that you can verify that the log you create actually contains 500A 180kW. That's it, quite advanced level of skill required for this unfortunately! Happy CAN-log reading!
EDIT3: We have CAN-logs! They are here: https://github.com/dalathegreat/EV-CANlogs/tree/main/Nissan%20LEAF/62kWh Been experimenting with generating more missing messages towards inverter, but no luck getting 500A yet!
This will be interesting on the 24kwh pack which i will be testing soon. If it does the same then its waiting for the OK message from from the pack? Have you been able to monitor voltage sag at 145kw ? I wonder if Nissan put protection in against pack variance.
@Jestroman The 24kWh pack will give max 145kW with a 160kW inverter.
We might have found a solution to this, waiting on a customer to test a special version of the firmware. (Changing LB_Discharge_Power_Limit to 180kW). It is too cold for me to test in Finland at the moment. Will update this later on.
It must be getting warm enough for testing ? Has the LB discharge setting made a difference ?
@Jestroman Forcing LB_Discharge_Power_Limit did not help, the inverter is still limited to 400A
We need a CAN-log from a native LEAF e+ to progress with this! Help wanted!
Id be interested to see if its voltage drop on our smaller packs. Id love to see if anyone with a 62kwh pack gets the same limit issue in an older leaf with an inverter change, this would be a rare case. 400a is a very specific figure that nissan is choosing to limit to. Does lowering the multiplier impact the 400a limit? Maybe its not accepting the multiplier value ? Or is it the torque nm start point, you pick 40nm ?
@Jestroman I changed the title to include 62kWh pack. I have another customer with this setup (2016 LEAF with 62kWh and 160kW inverter), and they are also limited to 400A. It is not voltage sag related, at full SOC and low SOC the same 400A is the max it will output.
We've also tried manipulating the NM demand up and down, with no effect.
I am 99% certain that some message is not shaped/contain the same content as on the 2019 e+, that is causing this limit. One log file is all it takes to solve this, so if you know someone with a 62kWh LEAF that wants to take logs, let me know.
Oks so i need to test drive a new e+ your saying :) just a raw stream with a WOTs ?
@Jestroman Forcing LB_Discharge_Power_Limit did not help, the inverter is still limited to 400A
We need a CAN-log from a native LEAF e+ to progress with this! Help wanted!
Hi,
I have a leaf e+ (waiting on the Ariya) how can i help ? I have an obd2 interface let me know how i can help you getting forward.
Hi Dobje
wow, thank you so much, Dala may have more info on how to obtain the readings without impacting warranty. A harness might be needed to intercept the canbus Dala ?
Regards jesse.
@dobje I updated the first post with this info;
EDIT2: If you have an e+ and want to help: Please note that the EV-CAN system is not available from the OBD2 port. Nissan moved it away from the OBD2 port with the introduction of the ZE1 LEAF. You will need to first get a proper CAN logging tool (Kvaser, PCAN, Arduino Due, etc.), and connect it somewhere on the EV-CAN line. I have no schematics, but the EV CAN should run quite similar around the car like on the AZE0 LEAF. It is a blue/green twisted pair. Blue is high, green is low. You will have to splice into the wiring to read the CAN, so this is a potential warranty void action. Plug adapters are possible to avoid this, but no such exist to my knowledge, then they have to be custom made. Once you have connected to EV-CAN and can start logging to a file, also start up Leafspy Pro via the OBD2 port so that you can verify that the log you create actually contains 500A 180kW. That's it, quite advanced level of skill required for this unfortunately! Happy CAN-log reading!
Is there anywhere discrete to tap into the high low? Can it be done without cutting ? 400amps is the specification for the latest CHAdeMO , not that this spec was around when in development, nor exists realworld, just interesting these figures are the same.
It can be done quite discreetly, simply remove some insulation from the wires and attach a clamp. Needle-pin probers will also work. No cutting needed!