u/Cora-VIVNE-EVbattery

This is a question we've been receiving more and more from Nissan Leaf owners, especially as sodium-ion battery technology continues to attract attention.

In this video, we explain why we currently don't use sodium-ion cells for Nissan Leaf battery upgrades — and the answer is more complicated than simply changing one type of battery cell for another.

The Nissan Leaf's entire high-voltage system was designed around NMC lithium-ion batteries. The voltage platform, BMS, charging system, motor controller, and vehicle control strategy are all designed to work together.

Sodium-ion cells operate at a different voltage range, and the original Leaf BMS was not designed to manage their different charging and discharging characteristics.

So why can't we simply add more cells to compensate for the lower voltage?

And what would actually happen if we tried to use sodium-ion cells with the original Leaf BMS?

We explain all of that in this video.

At the same time, we don't believe sodium-ion batteries are a bad technology. Quite the opposite — we believe they have great potential, especially for energy storage applications.

VIVNE is closely following the development of sodium-ion technology and exploring how it could be used in future energy storage products.

For Nissan Leaf upgrades, however, high-quality NMC cells remain the most mature, reliable, and balanced solution at this stage.

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions.

If you're considering installing the battery yourself, I think this video could be really helpful. This lear owner completed the installation at home and documented the entire process, including detailed testing and LeafSpy data. I think it's a great reference for anyone planning a DIY installation.

I often see Leaf owners asking how to use LeafSpy, so I made a complete step-by-step tutorial, hope it helps.

Can VIVNE build a bigger battery for the BMW i3?

Absolutely.

The reason we currently offer a 45kWh battery is not because we can't build a larger one. It's because we carefully balanced structural strength, battery weight, safety margin, and long-term reliability.

A larger-capacity battery is possible, but it may require compromises in some of these areas.

So we'd like to hear from BMW i3 owners:

Would you choose more range if it meant making some compromises in weight, structure, or safety margin?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments👇