[WIP] 2006 Holden Rodeo Ute - Gen 2 Nissan Leaf

Iceman96 · Post by **Iceman96** » Mon May 20, 2024 8:55 am

Hi Everyone

Episode 1 - introduction to my project.

My name is Andrew, and I am. Retired Electrician living in Brisbane Australia, and I am about to embark on my first EV conversion,
I have been thinking about doing this for a couple of years now, but other commitments have taken priority. But I am now in the position where I can get started.
The only unconditional requirement I had, was that the vehicle I converted had to be a utility with a dropside tray. I also preferred it would have a manual transmission, and it would be nice if the bodywork and interior were in good condition too. I wasn’t concerned about the type or condition of the engine for obvious reasons. I am also working to a budget for my project, so had set myself a AUD$2K limit for the conversion vehicle. Other than that I was open to what components I used for the conversion. I have been watching lots of youtube videos, and have been following many of the projects here on the OI forum ( which is why I am now documenting my project here too), so I have a few ideas on how I would like my project to go.
After 4 months of looking at potential cars, eventually one came along that met my requirements. So the car I am converting is a 2006 Holden Rodeo 2wd Hi-Rider, with an aluminium dropside tray. It has a 3.6 litre V6 Petrol engine, with a 5 speed manual gearbox. The car has done 182000 klms, and is in overall good condition, and drives well. The motor runs well too which is a bonus, so that will get sold to help fund the project. It was right on my maximum for cost at $2K, but I figured it was worth it, as it was in good condition and it met all of my requirements, and I will recoup some of the cost when I sell the V6 engine.

Next I turned my focus to the EV components. My first preference was to use a Lexus transmission from either the GS450h, or the GS/IS300h. This would take the place of my V6 and manual transmission which could also be sold to help recoup costs. It would also free up the engine bay to mount at least some of the HV batteries. But after almost 6 months of haunting the Salvage auctions, and even pricing a transmission / inverter combo from the wreckers, I realised that I would not be able to get one within my price range. The best price I saw a Salvage wreck go for was AUD$3.5K, and that was for a 2010 GS450h with over 200000 klms on the clock. ( having watched lots of salvage auctions over the last 6 months it seems anything with a Toyota badge goes for big $ here in Oz ). As I would still need to source the HV battery if I went that way, it would have ended up blowing my overall budget. So I gave up on my Lexus dream, and went with my next choice which was a salvaged Nissan Leaf. There are quite a few of these available over here, and not a lot of love for them either now, especially the older ones, so the prices are a lot more reasonable. I ended up getting a Statutory Write off 2014 Leaf with the 24KWH battery that has only done 75000 klms for AUD$1700. I am not sure about other parts of the world, but here in Oz the Salvage auctions are “online only” ( probably a hangover from Covid perhaps?) So it is a bit of a gamble as to what you end up getting, as you can only look at pictures and vehicle condition descriptions online. As luck would have it I did ok. Everything on the car works, and it drives fine. Having never driven a Leaf before I was quite impressed with the performance. After checking it with Leafspy the only downer is the battery SOH. It is only at 74%. So only about 17 kwh of battery capacity

. Battery balance is good at about 14mV. So I will use this battery to get the car going and registered, and will look at a battery upgrade in the future.

Final decision I need to make is the VCU. Again, having researched this for a while now, I know the easier option would be to use something like the Thunderstruck, or the Resolve controller. But I like the ethos and the option to tune or alter things the the open source models give you, so it comes down to the choice between Johanes’ OI leaf replacement board and OI controller, or Damien’s Zombieverter. I am currently leaning towards the Zombie, due to the ability to also control the Leaf PDM, but I also like the OI board, due to the fact that it allows you to extract a bit more Power and Torque from the gen 2 Leaf. And lets face it - a bit more power is always nice

. So if anyone has any advice on this I would love to hear it. I expect to be placing an order for 1 of them in the next 4 weeks or so.

The current state of play on the project is that I have started stripping the Leaf, which I hope to finish this coming week. I will then dispose of the body shell at the scrapyard. I will then move the Rodeo into the workshop and begin the de-icing work on that. My plan with the forum is to try and do a weekly progress report.

We will see how I go

marcexec · Post by **marcexec** » Mon May 20, 2024 1:31 pm

Have you tried sourcing the Lexus components from Japan?
IIRC somebody was importing a newer Outlander rear (with inverter bolted on) and it was reasonable shipping to the US and very cheap to buy but our standards. Just as couplers seem to be tricky.

Iceman96 · Post by **Iceman96** » Mon May 20, 2024 11:07 pm

Hi Marcexec - yes I did investigate this option. But after reading some stories from people who had done it I decided against trying that. Plus my preference was always to get a complete donor car, as there are other bits and pieces like throttle pedals and electric A/C compressors that you also get with a complete car.

Iceman96 · Post by **Iceman96** » Sun May 26, 2024 11:17 am

Episode 2 - Leaf Stripped

Hi Everyone - I had a productive first week, having successfully removed all the parts I needed from the Donor Leaf, as well as removing a lot of other parts I hope to sell in the future. I have watched quite a few youtube videos of people removing the Leaf drivetrain , and thought it was going to be a lot harder than it was! I Saw people using sabre saws and angle grinders to cut drive shafts etc, but luckily I didn’t need to do any of that. I reckon it only took about 1 hour to get both driveshafts out, and then the motor stack and transaxle came out without a problem. Similarly the main HV battery came out fairly easy. I Got the car up nice and high on stands and then just lowered the battery on my floor jack before rolling it out from under the car on that. Far and away the longest and hardest job was stripping the interior of the car ( seats, dash etc.).