Nissan LEAF, the best selling EV on Earth is now 5 Years Old !

Remember: Olivier Chalouhi received the very first LEAF back on December 11, 2010 close to San Francisco
 Source: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Redwood-city-man-gets-first-Nissan-Leaf-2453579.php

After 5 years of good services and 3 versions, 200,000 LEAFs have been sold worldwide, making it the best seeling EV ever


Its Battery Pack has held its promises with no incidents, no fire, and better than expected with almost no problems (I think Nissan replaced just a few packs over the 5 years, all covered under warranty); For a first EV, that is pretty good !



Now the latest version has a boosted Energy Density offering 30kWh instead of the original 24, in the same package and weight ...



I received mine among the first ones in France, 4 years ago, and it still is in great condition :) To me, it is a very reliable car, I used it mostly for commuting and going out with the family on week ends in Paris. I never regretted this purchase even if it was the most expensive vehicle I ever got

The future for the LEAf is what you see in this video below (Nissan IDS Concept)

Already One Year with the BMW C Evolution ! => 20/06/2014 - 20/06/2015

20/06/2014 - 20/06/2015 : 11,500 km of mostly commuting + few trips to Paris & nearby suburbs
Yes, already, it's been a full year of joy riding my BMW C Evolution, purchased from the BMW Motorrad dealer in Boulogne - 2nd unit -

I remember very well, test riding it, being amazed by its amazing torque & power, ordering it almost right after, waiting for almost two months and finally getting it on June 20, 2014 :)



Overall, it is an awesome machine, as I already wrote in this blog, dispite 2 software bugs, one fixed by BMW, the other one, more recent, never occured again



I experienced 0 mechanical problem, and the tires are still fine, even if the rear one is supporting heavy accelerations every day



For a first electric scooter, I think BMW did a pretty good job with a quality & good looking product which is the reference in this field now - maybe for a long time -

Yes, it is expensive at 15,400 EUR, but I can tell you that it is worth every cent, and once you turn the throttle and feel this kick, you forget about it right away ;) !!

This is why I will not use SSR Solid State Relays instead of Tyco Kilovac contactors

Shopping for components for my DIY ESS Kit #2, I started to look into SSR - Solid State Relays - to maybe replace the expensive Tyco Kilovac contactors, one of the most pricy item in my build, and I need 2 of them for each kit ...

Looking on eBay I found a lot ...

Also I found this interesting video a a SSR maker, explaining how you have to install it:

I discovered that you need to heat sink it because it will use so much power ! In the video it says the SSR is wasting 1W per Amp of current passing through it: this is huge

Unless you want to create heat, I do not see any good reason to use this; The Kilovac EV200AAANA from Tyco uses only 1.7W when the contact is closed, and for whatever amount of current passing through this contact, and it can be a lot !

So I guess I will keep using Kilovac for my build :

It is an investment but a good one for safety - reliable cut off - and efficiency - 1.7W used only -

DIY ESS Kit Blog gets a New Header

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