Somebeach (Forum Supporter) said:
More power
https://openinverter.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf_Gen2_Board
I don't really understand how it works, but you can replace a computer board and increase the power beyond the stock 80kw. (up to140kw (or more?))
Questionable ICE analogy: with fuel injection, you have the injectors themselves and you have an ECU controlling the injectors. The injectors may be physically capable of flowing enough fuel to make XXXhp at 100% duty cycle. For 'reasons', say the factory ECU never runs the injectors above 85% duty cycle (or whatever). Some ECUs can be reprogrammed or tuned using software, but other ECUs are locked and you cannot do that. If you replace a locked factory ECU with an aftermarket ECU, then you can get more power while keeping the original injectors.
The inverter has a sorta-similar arrangement: half of the inverter does the actual power switching to generate the 3-phase AC for the motor, and the other half controls the 'switches'. There are physical limits on how much current or power the 'switches' can handle before the magic smoke escapes. Not surprisingly, factory controls are always set with a limit well below that.
The Leaf batteries do not have active cooling. In order to protect the batteries, the earlier Leaf inverter controls were set with an especially restrictive limit on current, resulting in the 80kW and 250-280Nm output. As the batteries improved and had larger capacity, later Leafs came with less restrictive inverters. A newer inverter can be swapped into an older Leaf for more power relatively easily (requires changing some wiring, a coolant hose, firmware, and an electronic adapter thingy). Yes, it does 'abuse' the older batteries, but probably not thermal runaway event level of abuse. The next limit on power is a fuse in the battery pack. 24kWh batteries max out at 90kW, beyond that you need to upgrade to a 40kWh battery.
The OpenInverter board replaces the entire "control" half of the Leaf inverter and therefore removes the factory limit on current. The OI board also adds input/output functions, so it is a VCU as well.
In addition to Resolve and Zombieverter, Thunderstruck/ Dilithium also has a VCU for the Leaf. https://www.thunderstruck-ev.com/dilithium-vcu.html
TLDR on VCUs: make sure to look at total system cost and features/functions, not just the cost of the VCU box itself.
The 2011-2012 Leaf looks the same as the 2013-2017 but uses a completely different motor+inverter.
The 2011-2012 motor does have some advantages, and definitely can be used as a donor, but overall I agree that the short answer seems to be "just look for a 2013+".
It's not only the batteries (and you can use other batteries anyway). More transmission and CV adapters are available for the 2013+. The Resolve VCU, OI board, and inverter swaps won't work on the 2011-2012. It is possible to mount the 2013+ inverter beside the motor rather than on top (although the 2011-2012 has a factory cable to make it easier).
