LeafSpy for Niro EV? (Yes!)

T

Texas Niro EV

Active Member
I'm trading in my Nissan Leaf for a Niro EV. One thing I found really useful on the Leaf was LeafSpy. Does anybody know if there is anything like LeafSpy available for the Niro EV yet?
 
Jay47 said:
What do these apps do?
Click to expand...

Here is the feature set from the LeafSpy Google Play store:

Information displayed by Leaf Spy Lite & Leaf Spy:

* 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
 
Domenick’s comment is accurate but doesn’t really explain what good LeafSpy is. Let me tell you a few things I used the app for. The feature that was probably the most useful was that it told me exactly what the capacity of the battery was at any given time.

I found this ability to read actual capacity extremely useful on long trips. LeafSpy also has a calculator built in that uses capacity to calculate range based on a user input Watts/mile. I used this feature to tell what Watts/mile I had to achieve to make it to my next charging stop.

The Guess-O-Meter on the 2018 Leaf was extremely unreliable. Using LeafSpy I was able to calculate my range much more accurately. The GOM in Niro EV so far appears vastly more accurate than the Leaf GOM.

LeafSpy has several graphing functions. The graph I reviewed the most was the fast charging graph. This graph superimposed charging speed, battery capacity and battery temperature.

This graph gave me a very accurate picture of how fast charging was increasing battery temperature. The 2018 Leaf has a real bad problem where fast charging caused the battery to overheat resulting in much slower charge rates on subsequent fast charges. This slow charging caused by battery overheating on the 2018 Leaf frustrated me on longer trips many times and is one of the main reasons I abandoned the Leaf and picked up the Niro EV.
 
Texas Niro EV said:
Domenick’s comment is accurate but doesn’t really explain what good LeafSpy is. Let me tell you a few things I used the app for. The feature that was probably the most useful was that it told me exactly what the capacity of the battery was at any given time.

I found this ability to read actual capacity extremely useful on long trips. LeafSpy also has a calculator built in that uses capacity to calculate range based on a user input Watts/mile. I used this feature to tell what Watts/mile I had to achieve to make it to my next charging stop.

The Guess-O-Meter on the 2018 Leaf was extremely unreliable. Using LeafSpy I was able to calculate my range much more accurately. The GOM in Niro EV so far appears vastly more accurate than the Leaf GOM.

LeafSpy has several graphing functions. The graph I reviewed the most was the fast charging graph. This graph superimposed charging speed, battery capacity and battery temperature.

This graph gave me a very accurate picture of how fast charging was increasing battery temperature. The 2018 Leaf has a real bad problem where fast charging caused the battery to overheat resulting in much slower charge rates on subsequent fast charges. This slow charging caused by battery overheating on the 2018 Leaf frustrated me on longer trips many times and is one of the main reasons I abandoned the Leaf and picked up the Niro EV.
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Thanks for that, @Texas Niro EV. It's great to have members with ownership experience here sharing their knowledge.
 
I too used LeafSpy when I had a Leaf. More recently, I've used MyGreenVolt for my Volt (which was similar). It's all very interesting and useful information. The nice thing about both of these apps is that they were pre-configured for their respective vehicles. I've just purchased Torque Pro, downloaded and installed the custom PID's for the Niro (thanks for the suggestion wizziwig).

Torque Pro seems like a very powerful app, but there are SO MANY options. Anyone have some thoughts on which of the many new custom gauges available are the most useful to setup and use?

So far, I've added the State of Health, Max Deterioration Cell No., State of Charge Display, State of Charge BMS, Aux Batt State of Charge, Average Battery Temperature gauges.
 
You've covered the most relevant ones. I use digital displays for most of them and adjusted them to display 2 decimal digits for better precision.

I also have CED and CEC displayed. CED shows you how many kWh you've discharged from the battery. CEC shows you how many kWh you've charged into the battery - this includes both from the charge port and from regenerative braking. Both values are over the lifetime of the vehicle. If you record these values before/after a trip, you can get a rough idea of your net efficiency. If you have a usage meter on your charger, you can also compare power consumed at the wall vs. power actually delivered into the battery. You'll find 120V is very inefficient - often only about 85% makes it into battery. 240V can be as high as 95+%.

A = "CED End of Trip" - "CED Start of Trip" = kWh consumed during trip.
B = "CEC End of Trip" - "CEC Start of Trip" = kWh of above consumed energy that was returned back to battery via regen.
Net energy consumed for trip = A - B
Net efficiency = trip miles / (A-B) = kWh/mile. This should come close to value calculated by trip computer.

Looking at net energy consumed and net change in displayed % SOC, you can also calculate your approximate usable battery capacity. I usually get about 66-67 kWh. Slightly higher than the advertised 64 kWh.
 
Thank you for the additional info. I'm a bit new to Torque Pro, as mentioned above. I was able to figure out how to download and install the original custom PID's, but now that they're installed, is there a preferred method to uninstalling them and replacing them with these newer PID's?
 
Robert Lewis said:
Thank you for the additional info. I'm a bit new to Torque Pro, as mentioned above. I was able to figure out how to download and install the original custom PID's, but now that they're installed, is there a preferred method to uninstalling them and replacing them with these newer PID's?
Click to expand...

Download each of the 3 files by clicking on:

... -> View File -> Raw , then "save as" in your browser and replace the original files. After that, you import them again same as you did before. They will automatically replace all the PIDs that had the same names with corrected formulas applied. Don't need to edit any of your displays.

This update just fixes the display of average cell voltage and adds two additional voltage sensors for the 2 missing cells (cell 97 and cell 98). If you don't care about those changes, you can keep using the original files.
 
Thank you for the info. I wasn't sure if I needed to completely wipe the data, uninstall and start over, or if I could just replace to PID files and re-import.
 

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Thank you! BTW, in the picture you sent, it appears you have 3 layers of aftermarket floor coverings happening there. What's the scoop?
 
TandM said:
I use Torque and OBDLinx MX+ with my Niro EV. The OBD port is to the left of the steering wheel about midway down the lower dash. I am attaching a picture in which you can see it in the top left corner (though I wasn't focusing on the OBD but rather my floor mats) and here is a link to the OBD Device that I purchased on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JFRFJG6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Click to expand...
Can ABRP sync with this device? Just curious; I know you use ABRP from your previous posts...
 
MartyDow said:
Thank you! BTW, in the picture you sent, it appears you have 3 layers of aftermarket floor coverings happening there. What's the scoop?
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No layers, just one all weather mat. I ordered from Tux Mat and so far I am loving them. I have only had them about a week though so no word yet on the long term durability.
MartyDow said:
Can ABRP sync with this device? Just curious; I know you use ABRP from your previous posts...
Click to expand...
I can run ABRP and Torque on the same time on my phone if that is what you are asking. I do give them information on occasion using the OBD and Torque as a go between (we had the first Niro EV in Ohio (and still have one of the very few here as we have to leave state to buy them) so sharing my real world driving results can help with the dataset).
 
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