On this episode of College of EV Knowledge, cEVk we ask the question: has enough time passed for soccer moms to wreck some Nissan Leafs for us to find them at the local junk [ahem] dismantler yards?
"Established in 1987, the Pick-n-Pull chain of self-service auto parts stores is one of the largest recyclers of end-of-life vehicles in the industry. You bring your tools, pull the parts you need and SAVE lots of money! Pick-n-Pull opened their first store in Stockton, CA in 1984 and has since grown to 46 U.S. and 4 Canadian locations."
pick_n_pull_logo.jpg (9.56 KiB) Viewed 1795 times
"I don't need to understand how it works, I just need to understand how to make it work!" ~ EV Greg
we send our Field Correspondent EV Greg to Rancho Cordova, California (conveniently located completely on the opposite side of town from me) to find out:
Fun Fact: PnP charges a $2.00 American dollar admission fee, and you must be at least 16 years of age to roam the yard.
if you get there before the rooster crows, you might get one of these spare tire wheel barrel carts, super handy (and greasy)
this place is massive:
"I don't need to understand how it works, I just need to understand how to make it work!" ~ EV Greg
That franchise has two locations in my city and I have never once seen even a hybrid pop up in their system. Even the fact that you got your hands on a Prius had me jealous!
Pick N Pull is getting pretty gougey lately. Their prices on some stuff has tripled in the last 3 years.
North of the border here we're getting a deal, it's only $1 CAD to get in, that's like, $0.65 USD.
They have these tablets where you have to sign a waiver every time you go in, and it takes your picture shortly after you click "submit", that goes to the girls at the cash desk so they know that person signed the waiver today. So I always make sure to make a stupid face, pulling on my cheeks, sticking on my tongue, picking my nose, etc.
Unlike some other yards, Pick N Pull sorts everything by row, and will tell you what row your car is in, no need to hunt around and know what every car looks like. And, at the desk they have access to the interchange database. If you ask for a transfer case from a certain make and model, it spits out a list of every car in the yard that's compatible. So you don't have to ask it year-by-year and model-by-model like when you're pecking for inventory online. If 30 vehicles across 7 years and 4 brands used that alternator and there's 50 of them in the yard, they'll tell you what and where. And every car is labeled with what it is so if you don't know what year/make/model something is, it's in grease marker.
Up here, they refuse to buy hybrids or EVs, though very rarely one will sneak into the lot from a bulk auction. They usually have no clue what to charge for anything, so, stuff is generally cheap. They just want it gone.
If you go for the parts from the 2011 Leaf, the motor and inverter are connected via a cable which makes it much easier to fit into a different car. The cable doesn't have much flex but enough to let you move things around a little. Also the ac charger (ac only) is in the boot so the stack is that much smaller anyway. I've heard the Gen1 motor can handle over 300kW but don't quote me on that.
I believe the Zombieverter can drive it but you would need to confirm that. I'm using a much earlier version that Damien built specifically for the Gen1 Leaf.
You would need to source a different charger and dc to dc converter. The dc to dc in the Gen1 Leaf is huge although I believe some folk have cut them down to make them more managable but the ac charger is unreliable and I don't know of anyone getting it working.
Oh and $475 would be very cheap here in the UK
Alibro wrote: ↑Sat Jan 06, 2024 10:56 am
If you go for the parts from the 2011 Leaf, the motor and inverter are connected via a cable which makes it much easier to fit into a different car. The cable doesn't have much flex but enough to let you move things around a little. Also the ac charger (ac only) is in the boot so the stack is that much smaller anyway. I've heard the Gen1 motor can handle over 300kW but don't quote me on that.
I believe the Zombieverter can drive it but you would need to confirm that. I'm using a much earlier version that Damien built specifically for the Gen1 Leaf.
You would need to source a different charger and dc to dc converter. The dc to dc in the Gen1 Leaf is huge although I believe some folk have cut them down to make them more managable but the ac charger is unreliable and I don't know of anyone getting it working.
Oh and $475 would be very cheap here in the UK
I can't thank you enuff for this feedback, you literally read my mind and answered all my questions and more. Not being able to use 100% Leaf components from this generation makes me want to look at other options now.
"I don't need to understand how it works, I just need to understand how to make it work!" ~ EV Greg
You will probably never find a battery under the car.
When a car arrives to Pick N Pull they process it before it hits the yard. That means they drain all the fluids (including often puncturing the main rad hose with a V-shaped awl rather than disconnecting it, letting you buy 3 of them each which look perfect but fail once pressurized until you figure out why they all have the same v-shaped hole... ask me how I know). They remove the battery so there's no fire risk and no one trying to start a dry engine or bump something and turn the starter and mangle someone's fingers in a belt. They remove the jacks so that you can't lift something and have it fall on you, or worse, lift something and leave it there unsuspecting for the next guy, who bumps it and then has it crush him. So, they'll certainly pull the HV battery.
If you wanted to pull something that size and are just worried about the weight, not the amount of work to do, then every yard I've seen has at least a couple rolling gantry cranes with chain hoists on them. They're sized to straddle a car. I'm not sure what the rules or procedures are for using them, as I've never needed one.
$475 would be cheap for a Leaf stack from what I've seen. I'd jump at that if it was here, but, there's no EVs at all here. California they line the streets like newspaper pages.
Gregski wrote: ↑Sat Jan 06, 2024 4:01 pm
I can't thank you enuff for this feedback, you literally read my mind and answered all my questions and more. Not being able to use 100% Leaf components from this generation makes me want to look at other options now.
2011 Nissan Leaf DC Fast Charge.jpg
2011 Nissan Leaf No DC Fast Charge.jpg
You're welcome.
If you take a look at Fiachra Cooks and my older videos you'll see what I mean. We are both using the same Gen1 Leaf inverter and motor.
If the Gen2 stack fits your car then I think the Zombieverter controls pretty much the whole setup but don't quote me on that.
Just for the record, I have driven nothing but FWD cars all my life up until a few years ago when I bought a C Class Merc. If I had the choice I would never drive FWD again. Are you sure it's what you want?
Interesting!... in the southeast, we more commonly seem to have Pull-A-Part - conveniently, one of the 3 Atlanta area yards is a few miles from my house. About 6 months back, the ATL South yard did have a LEAF, but oddly it disappeared quickly and I never got to pick over it. The South yard is on the opposite end of town, so it's not so convenient to trek down there. Sadly, I haven't seen them acquire another LEAF since then, but I'm on their list to text me when they get another. I've had luck scoring my 2013 Prius inverter from the North yard and a million other parts for my ICE vehicles over time.
...but your post made me wonder about Pick-N-Pull... I did a quick visit to their web site, and it appears they've acquired another yard I used to occasionally glance at in North Georgia (this yard was terribly disorganized with the previous owner, so I rarely went there). Knowing that they may acquire LEAFs makes me think I need to keep an eye on this yard as well. I don't see the ability to have them text when a car becomes available.
Maybe they'd sell the whole stack for $400 this time around... that for sure would be worth grabbing. In the past, it's always made me wonder what various yards consider a "motor" to be from a LEAF... can we sneak out with everything up to and including the power converter box?
