Leaf owners wanted for further battery study

Auckland-based Blue Cars is embarking on a second stage of its Nissan Leaf battery pilot project and seeks expressions of interest from Leaf owners keen to participate.

Its first stage involved designing a new battery based on 18650 lithium cells and, after testing in a Leaf for three months, Blue Cars found the new module had a 45% greater capacity compared with a new 24kWh Leaf.

The next project involves a full upgrade of several Leaf battery packs as a step toward scaling up production to achieve further cost reductions and a commercially viable upgrade solution, Blue Cars’ Carl Barlev says.

“Our new prototype design for stage 2 uses lithium cells with a larger form-factor to greatly reduce our projected assembly cost,” he says. “The new modules will give a pack capacity of a projected 38kWh for a practical driving range exceeding 200km.”

Blue Cars has applied for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) low emission vehicles contestable funding, with round five recently closing.

The company successfully gained a grant for the first stage of its project.

The cost to Leaf owners involved in the second stage may depend on whether the latest application is successful.

Blue Cars’ internal projected cost for each Leaf is in excess of $25,000, but Barlev says that with further funding this could be reduced to a projected $15,000 and a stepping stone towards even cheaper costs.

“We are now looking to gauge the general level of interest from the wider Nissan Leaf community in New Zealand,” Barlev says.

About 16 Leaf owners have already indicated interest in participating.

To be involved, Leaf owners must have a battery state of health of less than 70%, consider paying for an upgraded battery pack (the final cost still to be decided) and be keen to support development of an upgrade solution.

Those interested should email to pilot@bluecars.nz

, enclosing their contact and Leaf details along with a recent Leaf Spy screenshot (if possible).