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A Guide For Electric Vehicle Batteries, Apps and All Things EV!

  • 6 July 2020
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A Guide For Electric Vehicle Batteries, Apps and All Things EV!
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Hello All!

Throw in a bit of Jim from Friday night dinner

I hope everyone is doing very well with things slowly going back to normal. It has been around 4 months since lockdown. People may now start being brave and venturing outside to look for a new vehicle, specifically an EV! You may be thinking, with the EV’s sitting for such a long time, will this effect the battery. 

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t know the definite answer but would certainly look into purchasing an OBD dongle and Leaf Spy Pro if you are purchasing a Nissan Leaf of course.

 

OBD Dongle - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01JU11EZE/

Leaf Spy

iOS - https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/leafspy-pro/id967376861

Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Turbo3.Leaf_Spy_Pro&hl=en_GB

 

With Leafspy, you are able to check the following

* Voltage of each of the 96 cell pairs (highlighted if shunt active)
* Minimum, average, maximum cell pair voltages
* Histogram of cell pair voltages
* Battery Temperature readings (4 sensors for 2011/12 models, 3 for 2013 models)
* Battery AHr rating (this will decease with age and is an indication of remaining capacity)
* VIN
* Odometer
* Number of Quick Charge connections
* Number of L1/L2 Charge connections
* EVSE Max available amps
* EVSE voltage


Additional information displayed by Leaf Spy:
* Battery energy level in GIDs & kWh
* Resetable energy usage meter (Wh resolution)
* Graphic display of SOC, GIDs and DTE (Distance to Empty)
* Remaining distance meter (miles/km) to Event (Low Battery Warning, Very Low Battery Warning or Reserve) based on user selectable energy efficiency
* Graphic display of battery temperature with min, avg, max temperatures
* Tire Pressure of each of the four tires with low pressure warning and delta pressure warning alarm (at the moment only for 2011-2017 Leafs)
* Ambient Temperature
* Logging function that records most data and optionally GPS location to a csv file that can be easily imported into excel.


The "Pro" version adds the ability to perform functions normally requiring a visit to the dealer.
* Change automatic door lock/unlock settings
* Read Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC)
* Register Tire Positions (required after tire rotation or seasonal tire changes so your Leaf knows the correct location of each tire on the car, at the moment only for 2011-2017 Leafs)
* Ability to reset DTCs from selected ECUs

 

If you are looking at purchasing a Renault Zoe. You can use the same OBD dongle shown above but with the following app

CanZE - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=lu.fisch.canze&hl=en_GB

Unfortunately there is only an android app so if you are iOS I am not sure what is out there. 

Hopefully using these apps will help keep a peace of mind when looking for a car you can plug the dongle in and take a look. The dealerships should NOT say no when you ask if you can do this. Certainly the Nissan dealership I spoke to were very intrigued and was happy I showed them the app. 

As for my fellow EV drivers on here. Is there anything else you can think of which a new EV owner would need to know when looking to purchase an EV after lockdown? Any other apps for other car manufactures? 

 

 As well as this great user-created guide to EV battery checking apps, we’ve got some great info for prospective EV Owners here on the OVO online community.

Why not check out the reviews our members have written about their EV wheels:
 


Or their top tips on what to consider before choosing which wheels to go for:
​​​​​

 


2 replies

Userlevel 7
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@Tim_OVO @Nancy_OVO Or any other mod this was meant to be a discussion but I forgot to change it 😞 Please are you able to change it from Question to Discussion, thanks

Userlevel 4

Wow @ITGeek123, this is really helpful for those newly converted EVers, or for those on the fence about a purchase!

 

We’ve got a great discussion going on over here about the Vehicly 2 Grid Charger Trials, I’ve just popped you an @ to see if we can get your opinion over there. It’s also another handy topic for anyone who’s read this, and wants a bit more info!

 

@Mikeyoung  @liz18  @Speedbird @tony1tf @WAH64  @RogerB @DrMatt@MURPHYJIM @UC Bear @EVMatt@andyfras @Robdog @Snaxmuppet  @Physal@Peetee - Anything else you’d add in here for new EV owners?

 

PS: Jim gif for the win!

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