Some Geniuses Are Swapping Brand-New Chinese Batteries Into Dead Nissan Leafs For Over 250 Miles of Range

The Nissan Leaf should be a legendary vehicle, but it isn’t. That’s sad, given it was the first mass-market EV from a major automaker. Unfortunately, it was hamstrung by limited range and heavy battery degredation, and thus only really appealed to diehard early adopters. These days, there are thousands of old used Leafs on sale for peanuts. But what if an aftermarket battery swap could give them hundreds of miles of range on the cheap?

Besides the sub-100 mile range, there’s not a whole lot wrong with the early Nissan Leafs built from 2010 onwards. In many ways, they’re comfortable, practical cars that cost very little to run. The only problem is that they have tiny batteries that you’d probably need to charge every day. Indeed, it’s for this reason that many early examples are on sale for less than $3,000. Some examples are particularly cheap due to battery degradation that sees them running out of juice after 50 miles or less. Some have batteries that offer no usable range at all.

If you’re up to the challenge, you could grab one of these tired little cars, and swap in a brand-new battery with way more capacity than stock. You could net yourself an EV with over 250 miles of range for less than $10,000. But is the bargain worthwhile?

[Welcome to ‘Some Geniuses,’ our tongue-and-cheek-ishly named series highlighting the coolest car mods out there. If you have any clever car mod suggestions, please email us at tips@theautopian.com!]

Fallen Leaves, On The Ground

The original Nissan Leaf entered production in 2010 for the 2011 model year. The ZE0 generation, as it was known, debuted as a sleek, modern hatchback with a battery slung low in the chassis for tidy packaging and a low center of gravity. It boasted a single traction motor driving the front wheels, good for 107 horsepower, powered by a 24 kWh battery. Tiny in comparison to modern EVs, this decision limited range to just 73 miles according to official EPA figures.

This was no surprise, given the huge expensive of lithium-ion batteries when the Leaf was first released. The automotive market was yet to start building cells at scale, and fitting a larger battery would have been cost prohibitive on an already-expensive vehicle.

As Nissan improved the vehicle’s efficiency and battery size over the years, range improved gradually. The EPA rated 2014 and 2015 models at 84 miles of range due to some changes to the charging strategy and some efficiency improvements. The Japanese automaker would eventually upgrade the Leaf with a 30 kWh pack for the 2016 model year. This boosted range to 107 miles—still weak by modern standards, but better. In the second-generation ZE1 model, Nissan took things further. 2017 saw the introduction of the 40 kWh battery, good for 151 miles of range, while the 2019 model year brought a 62 kWh battery which pushed this figure to 226 miles—far more respectable in this day and age.

Over the years, the early models of the Leaf have depreciated rapidly. Few people are looking to buy an EV with only 73 miles of range, and many examples can barely muster that since their batteries have degraded over time. Most examples with 24 kWh battery packs are sold for well under $5,000 due to their limited appeal. The only thing really holding them back is the battery—swap that out for a larger version, and they’d suddenly be a lot more appealing. As our EIC David Tracy wrote “The First-Generation Nissan Leaf Was One Cooling System Away From Greatness,” referring to the air cooled battery’s severe degradation.

Thanks to Nissan keeping its battery designs relatively similar over the years, this is actually quite possible. A popular swap is to grab a larger battery from a later model to upgrade the earlier cars. The most common route is to purchase a 40 kWh or 62 kWh battery from a wrecked late-model Leaf. However, that’s no longer the only way to go. Now, it’s possible to buy upgrade kits to put brand-new cells into your aging early model Leaf. This is particularly achievable on the Leaf, which never used complicated liquid cooling systems in its battery packs.

A quick search on Google will turn up multiple results for Leaf battery swap kits, covering not only the original Leaf, but later generations, too. Vivne is one of the most visible suppliers, selling  40 kWh, 50 kWh, and 62 kWh packages from its own website. The largest pack offers up to 440 km (273 miles) of range, according to Vivne, and the company has also at times explored larger capacities. The company produces replacement battery modules using cells manufactured by Chinese supplier CATL. Vivne sells upgrades in two formats. You can either buy a set of battery modules to swap in to your original Nissan Leaf battery housing, or you can buy a complete plug-and-play battery pack that has had the fresh cells already swapped in. The latter is the more expensive route, but it’s easier and more convenient for those who don’t want to disassemble a whole battery pack.

Vivne is not the only supplier in this space, just the most visible. Yaste Tech is another Chinese manufacturer which also offers replacement packs for 2011 to 2020 Nissan Leafs in 53 kWh and 63 kWh capacities. Packs can also be readily found on sites like Alibaba from suppliers like Chuneng Energy and Aoyouji Energy Electronics in varying capacities up to 62 kWh. Prices range from $5000 to $8000 depending on capacity and whether you’re buying modules or a complete pack.

Of course, swapping in the battery itself is just part of the equation. If you have a particularly early Leaf from 2011 or 2012, you may need an adapter for the earlier version of battery control ports these vehicles used. From 2013 onwards, battery packs across models will plug in fine, but there can be issues getting the vehicle to report the correct range and state of charge for the battery. To solve this problem, you’ll need something called a “CAN Bridge” which sits in between the battery and the vehicle and translates messages between the two to get both on the same page. Normally, this is best sourced from the battery upgrade supplier to ensure it works with your replacement pack and your target swap vehicle. Reflashing the battery management system or other software changes can be necessary in some cases; replacement battery suppliers are generally the best resource on what precisely is required to make their cells work in a given vehicle.

There are also size issues to consider when upgrading to a larger pack. When swapping in a used Leaf 62 kWh Leaf pack, one must fabricate or source spacers to allow it to sit lower in the vehicle, as it’s physically taller than the earlier, smaller capacity packs. The same goes for these Chinese packs and module swaps. If you’re swapping the new modules in to a Leaf housing yourself, you’ll have to install a rubber spacer between the top and bottom plates to make room for the beefier cells. If you’re buying a preassembled 62 kWh pack from China, this will have been done for you. Vivne explains how this is done in one of their own videos. Plenty of sealant is lathered on to ensure the rubber seal is bonded to the original battery housing. It’s a somewhat crude solution, but necessary to fit higher capacity batteries. We’d be interesting to see how it survives in a wet or snowy climate.

Installation is easiest with a lift and a large battery jack.

Sealing methods for the embiggened pack are rather basic.

There are some challenges and risks involved with this sort of work. To achieve a swap like this, you need to be able to remove and replace your Leaf’s heavy battery pack without accidentally crushing yourself in the process. It’s best achieved with a proper lift, but DIY jobs are possible with some ingenuity. You also need to take the proper precautions to avoid electrocution from the high voltages inside the battery. Generally, if you’re diligent, wear the right protective gear, and can follow instructions carefully, you should be okay—but this is not an area to cut corners or mess around.

Traditionally, when swapping in a used 62kW Leaf battery to an earlier model, it’s necessary to replace the springs in the suspension to keep ride height correct. This is important because Nissan’s 62 kWh battery weighs 903 pounds, versus just 601 pounds for the original 24 kWh unit. However, some suppliers like Vivne sidestep this due to their packs being lighter—with their 62 kWh pack being just 188 pounds heavier than the 24 kWh unit.

In a commuter test, Vivne tester Cora Liu got approximately 215 miles out of a 62 kWh battery in temperatures from 32 to 57 F. 

Real Experience

These swaps are still relatively new, having gained prominence over the last year or so. Stories of success or failure are still thin on the ground. However, I was able to get in touch with Ryan James, who executed one of these swaps on his own. He gave me the low-down on what it took to pull this off. Having started his swap journey in early 2024, he’s been one of the first to document what it was like to swap fresh Chinese batteries into an old Nissan Leaf.

Ryan started with a 2015 Nissan Leaf with a badly-degraded battery, showing just 60 miles of maximum range when charged. It was the perfect candidate for a fresh battery, and he found one via Alibaba. “I sourced it through Chu Energy,” he explains. “The total cost was around $6,000 USD… $4,500 of it was the battery and then $1,500 was the shipping.”

There were some initial teething problems from the start. “The project took a long time from order to completion,” notes Ryan. “The first CAN bridge they sent caused the car to have errors, so they replaced it and we were able to proceed with the battery upgrade after that.” Once the correct CAN bridge had arrived to go with the rest of the supplies, Ryan was able to pursue the actual installation.

Once the right gear arrived after many months, he elected to perform a DIY install at home. “I did follow my original plan, which was lifting the car on jack stands and lowering the battery with a small ATV jack and a second jack to balance it,” he explains. “I lowered it on to 4 small wood furniture dollies and pulled it to the side of the car to work on.”

It then took a further few days to get the old batteries out of the pack housing and the new modules swapped in. “Putting the new battery modules and internals was relatively easy, but tedious process,” he explains. “[It] was slowed down by a mix of unclear instructions and sometimes having the seller amend instructions through chat.” It’s a daunting experience, but the support was there to help Ryan get the project over the line. It took some doing, but careful attention to detail got the modules in and the pack upgrade completed.

With the pack installed, Ryan’s Leaf had far greater range than before. “I’d say it can comfortably get up to 200 miles on a full charge, probably 200 plus if driven lightly or drained very low,” he says. “Previously it got around 30 miles, with the guessometer saying 55.” By and large, the car seems to display a relatively good prediction of its new range. ” I personally did a test not long after completing the install and it initially performed fairly well… I did a mix of higher speed freeway driving and city and got 184 miles,” says Ryan. “The guessometer still had 18 miles left, where it initially started with 224.”

The new battery seems to do what it says on the tin. “It does seem to have the advertised capacity, since after my test I charged it nearly 50 kWh,” he explains. “My ordered battery was 62 kWh, so when accounting for the remaining charge and any unusable buffer it seems right in my uneducated opinion.” Thus far, he’s only had one minor issue while driving. “My wife did have an issue with it one day when it went down to 19 miles,” he says. “She was traveling uphill at freeway speed, when she states it went turtle mode and then completely lost acceleration.” However, the problem was soon rectified. “She stopped and after a few minutes and restarted the car, then she said it just worked normal,” he explains. “This has been a one off incident, and I suspect it is CAN bridge related.”

Overall, Ryan is pleased with his purchase. “My daughter has been using it daily since early January, plus occasional family use as well,” he explains. “We have really enjoyed having the new battery and it has been working great for us.”

Ryan’s story is just one anecdote; there are a handful of others out there across Facebook and forums. General reports are that the replacement batteries do the job, boosting range up to 220 to 280 miles when going with the larger 62 kWh packs. Small issues around CAN bridges and the finicky work of swapping modules into a pack are common, too. The one thing still lacking at this stage is long-term performance data. These swaps are still new enough that we don’t have 1, 2, or 5 year reports yet. nor have many drivers put thousands of miles on their new batteries. Still, I was able to speak to one more owner who has completed the swap, and he’s racked up a full 8,000 miles to boot. That’s some driving!

I was also able to speak to Daniel Rykiert, who ordered a 68 kWh Vivne battery swap all the way down to Australia. It didn’t come cheap, at a touch under $15,000 AUD (~$9,500 USD), but the benefit was a neat and easy install that was literally plug and play. “The installation was very easy as there were only 3 cables from the battery to the car and 12 large bolts holding the battery to the frame of the vehicle,” explained Daniel. “Once installed you reset the cars computer as the battery pairs with the vehicle and off you go.”

There have been some minor teething issues at higher temperatures. “I haven’t had any major issues with the battery just a few technical issues that are being worked on by Vivne,” Daniel explains. “These include when the battery temperature goes above 42°C the power to motor is limited and seems to flutter on and off, but this only occurred if I fast charge for extended periods of time over 45 minutes.” But overall, in over 8,000 miles (13,000 km) of driving, the battery has held up well. “I haven’t done an official range test, but it would do 390 km (242 miles) [on the highway], around town is 450 km (280 miles),” Daniel says. Huge figures for a Nissan Leaf, to be sure.

First of Its Kind

The Leaf is an interesting case when it comes to battery swaps; seldom few electric vehicles are getting the same attention from the aftermarket or DIY-minded individuals. With used examples being so cheap, they could become particularly appealing now that there is a cheap (if risky) way to turn them into longer-range EVs. The short legs were always the biggest weakness of the model, and there’s now a straightforward way to fix that—if you’re willing to invest the money.

[Ed Note: I just want to make it clear that there are dangerous associated with DIY’ing high-voltage battery packs, and with purchasing such batteries from insufficiently-vetted sellers. That is all. -DT]. 

The question is whether the Leaf will remain unique in this regard. There are plenty of older EVs out there now, but most had longer range than the Leaf from the factory. While they might still be good candidates for fresh batteries when their original packs wear out, there might not be the same demand for extended-range packs for these models, since they weren’t so lacking in the first place.

In any case, as the population of EVs in the world continues to grow, we’ll see more and more of this kind of thing. Motor swaps and battery swaps will become the new way to chase performance in the way that engine swaps and aspiration upgrades were in years past. The times, they are a-changing.

Image credits: Facebook via screenshot, Ryan James (supplied), Nissan, Vivne, VIVNE-Cora Liu via YouTube screenshot