# What pre-used battery is better to use - Volt or Leaf?



## Jbrewer106 (May 7, 2015)

Back in Nov, I traveled to meet a friend that lives there in Florida, We drove over and saw and got to ride in a car that was using volt battery packs. That was converted using 3 out of 4 battery volt packs using a Zillia controller and a warp 9 motor , I believe the car was just over 3000 pounds and the aceleration was less then 7 seconds on flat road, the higher voltage does make a difference, very impressed.


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## Yabert (Feb 7, 2010)

Hello
A point to consider.
The 24 kWh (360v 60Ah) Leaf battery can be split in 7,5v and 60Ah nominal battery. With multiple batteries, you can build any battery voltage in multiple of 7.5v (22,5v, 90v, 105v, 180v, etc) and capacity can be increase by paralleling cells (60Ah, 120Ah, etc).

The 16 kWh (360v 45Ah) Volt battery can be split in 45v* and 45Ah nominal battery. With multiple batteries, you can build any battery voltage in multiple of 45v (90v, 135v, 180v, etc) and capacity can be increase by paralleling cells (45Ah, 90Ah, etc).

*The volt battery contain two smaller pack of 22,5v and 7 pack of 45v. So, 2x 22,5v = 45v for a total of 8x 45v pack.


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## Jbrewer106 (May 7, 2015)

Look on US eBay the volt batteries show up on occasion.


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## Matej (Dec 4, 2015)

Sorry for bumping this thread, but I am also trying to decide between Leaf or Volt modules for my battery pack. At the moment I am looking to start out with only about 90V.


These are the main criteria I am curious about:

*Cost* - The Volt modules seem to generally be cheaper.
*Range* - I assume the Leaf modules will go a bit further.*
Charging* - Which is easier and safer to set up for charging?
*Reliability* - I have not read about major issues with either so far.
*Performance* - Which will make the car feel more 'spirited'?


Please correct me if I am wrong on any of the points. Thank you for all input.


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## hmincr (Jan 20, 2012)

Matej

From my researching, Leaf batteries are much more available in Ca., and, the Pacific northwest. Because of their Kwh size, also more money, plus shipping. Leaf is 24Kwh Volt is 16.5Kwh. Leaf are 60 Ahr modules and Volt are 45 Ahr modules. Volt being slightly smaller might be easier to install in your project. Charging is about the same for each battery as long as the V is similar (90v) ? The earlier Leaf had problems with losing capacity from hot climate conditions, (Arizona) and are air cooled. Volt are water cooled. To me Kwh are Kwh, all else being similar ?

Right now there are 2 Volt packs listed for sale in St. Louis, MO. If you could drive there and pick one up, they are listed for $1540.00 and $1760.00. Neither states core needed for exchange. This alone will save you money from not needing shipped. You can always sell a few modules for cheap and recover most of your expenses. Try to get as new a year model as possible. I forget what the year is for the 2 I mentioned. 

Look for 2012 Chevy Volt battery thread in the battery section of this forum. As far as which is better, I have used both Leaf and Volt and have no real
preference.

Call and ask for vehicle mileage and you have to trust the seller to be honest. Also ask how long the battery has been in their possession.


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## onegreenev (May 18, 2012)

Im not sure about the Volt modules and how well you can break them down but with the Leaf modules you are stuck with nominal 7.4 volt modules. It would be better if you could change that but if you have a charger where you can better control your final voltage the Leaf modules are good and they don't use any sort of air or water cooling. If you go with the Leaf modules be sure you get the newer modules that are designed to not degrade in excess heat. I have them in my 2015 Leaf and after 16,000 miles I see almost zero capacity loss. They are good cells. You can stack them in parallel and series if you want. My vote is for the Leaf modules. You can also install them in any direction.


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## Matej (Dec 4, 2015)

Thank you both for the advice.
I am aware about the Leaf modules being 7.6V, yet I am also a bit unclear on the Volt modules. I always see them stacked in increments of 12. Is there a reason for this, or is it just because it lets one reuse the OEM components which separate the modules into sections of 12?

Another aspect I forgot to ask about is the peak current. The listed peak current for the Volt modules (with water cooling) is 430A while for the Leaf modules it is 540A. Will this pose an issue with controllers capable of 1200A?
I should also mention that I would prefer not to deal with water cooling if I go with the Volt modules, at least not if I can get by without it. However, I will use fans to cool the battery pack, no matter which modules I go with.

If there is not a drastic difference, then I will most likely just end up choosing whichever battery I happen to come across first locally when an opportunity shows up on Craigslist or at local auctions.


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## hmincr (Jan 20, 2012)

I cut 2 cells off a 6S Volt module, of which there are 2 in a Volt pack, so I could make a 20S pack. You have to understand the balance lead location to avoid cutting through them at the same time, shorting them.

Yabert posted some impressive amp draws from his Volt pack, which exceeded the Volt ratings by quite a bit. Check for his posts.

electricmobile.ru, sorry for adding info to a hijack of your thread. The link you want is 
http:/www.car-part.com

There is usually 1 or more Chevy Volt packs listed in New York, Virginia, Maryland which are all within 150 miles or so from Port Elizabeth


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi Matej
A Volt pack consists of 7 modules of 12 and two modules of 6
(actually 12Sx3P and 6Sx3P)(2Kwhr and 1Kwhr)
It is very easy to use complete modules 

A module CAN be cut into smaller units BUT that is a LOT more difficult than using complete modules


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## mons2b (Nov 17, 2015)

Selection is the easy part. The hard part is finding someone in the USA willing to accept your foreign payment. NO one would accept my NZ credit card. NO one would accept a bank payment from outside the USA and NO one would accept my paypal. I even had a US based friend doing the ringing around. No one would budge. I had just about given up in frustration before Duncan saved me with a contact that would sell to me.


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## Matej (Dec 4, 2015)

More than likely, they did not wish to deal with shipping something that large internationally. Especially a battery, which is classified as dangerous material and is a pain to ship even within the country.
Interestingly enough, it is generally also a lot more expensive to ship things out of the US than into the US.

On the topic of shipping batteries, someone local is selling a 130V Volt module on Ebay that even comes in the original GM shipping container. I have never seen that before.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-Chevy-...-90-CELL-Li-ION-W-SHIPPING-CASE-/231950998845

I am very tempted to buy it but at the same time I have been leaning towards using Leaf modules.


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## mons2b (Nov 17, 2015)

Matej said:


> More than likely, they did not wish to deal with shipping something that large internationally. Especially a battery, which is classified as dangerous material and is a pain to ship even within the country.
> Interestingly enough, it is generally also a lot more expensive to ship things out of the US than into the US.
> 
> On the topic of shipping batteries, someone local is selling a 130V Volt module on Ebay that even comes in the original GM shipping container. I have never seen that before.
> ...


Nope that wasnt the case at all. I told all of them I wanted to transship to Longbeach CA. Someone else was handling the overseas part. It was all about the payment. No US card or US bank account no deal. A brick wall. Ebay sellers are usually more flexible but they ask more usually and are less common. Parts suppliers said no all accept for one place that Duncan knew. I must have tried 50 others.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Just a possible theory here

When I ask about payment I don't say "New Zealand" I just say "MasterCard" or "Visa"
They don't need to know which bank it is drawn on! 
Too much information sometimes just leads to confusion

I've bought quite a lot of stuff from the USA over the years


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## hmincr (Jan 20, 2012)

See my new post in Classifieds. I might also do International shipping.


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