Nissan Leaf 52kWh Battery Upgrade
Replacing degraded factory 24kWh & 30kWh batteries in Gen1 Nissan Leafs with modern modules. More range, full compatibility with existing charging infrastructure and no CAN bridge.
The idea
There are thousands of first-gen Nissan Leafs in New Zealand (ZE0 2010–2012, AZE0 2013–2017) with badly degraded batteries. These cars still drive fine they're just stuck with 80–100km of range on a good day.
I'm developing an upgrade kit comprised of a new 52kWh battery that will bolt and plug into an existing vehicle with no modifications required.
The approach keeps the original Leaf BMS with re-flashed Nissan firmware to suit the new cells, so LeafSpy continues to work, CHAdeMO DC fast charging runs at full factory speed with all safety control paramaters retained, SOH, battery bars and charger cycles are reset. The AC onboard charger is unchanged. This solution is a battery swap and BMS calibration.
Technical spec
Battery modules (per module)
- Model
- CALB D221N147A
- Configuration
- 12S1P
- Chemistry
- NMC (Ternary Lithium)
- Capacity
- 147Ah @ 1C
- Nominal voltage
- 44.52V
- Voltage range
- 33.6V – 52.2V
- Energy per module
- 6.5 kWh
- Weight
- 30.25 kg
Vehicle pack (8 modules)
- Total capacity
- 52 kWh
- Module weight (8×)
- 242 kg (+70–90 kg over factory)
- Expected range
- ~300 km real-world
- BMS
- Original Leaf (re-flashed)
- DC charging
- CHAdeMO retained (50kW)
- AC charging
- Original OBC unchanged (6.6kW)
- Install time
- ~3 hours
Roadmap
Phase 0: Validation
- Technical approach validated (existing BMS, LeafSpy compatible)
- Installation partner confirmed (ECVS)
- Strategy locked: CHAdeMO retained, BMS re-flash, no CCS2 upgrade for now
- Prototype vehicle sourced
Phase 1: Prototype
In progress- Battery in transit
- Build and test first installation
- Document installation process
- Validate WOF compliance
Phase 2: Pilot and Production
- First customer installations (target Q2 2026)
- Refine process and pricing based on prototype learnings
- Achieve some economy of scale to bring price down further
- Consider V2X/V2G as additional product