openinverter forum

Hi folks

Looking to build a series hybrid tractor for the purposes of a tractor pull competition.

The nissan leaf gen2 powertrain looks like it would be suitable for the generator head portion. Assuming efficiency is identical as is in normal operating, I would be getting 93.5% efficiency out of it at the 3600RPM and 68nm of torque my motor can produce (based on EM61 efficiency curve).

But would I be able to configure it for this? What voltage will it produce? Would it be more or less efficient, or even possible to use a 3 phase bridge rectifier in place of the inverter?

Thank you!

Run a openinverter replacement board and you can set regen, voltage, current, etc

Bratitude wrote: ↑Tue Jun 03, 2025 4:42 am Run a openinverter replacement board and you can set regen, voltage, current, etc

Thanks for the reply, I missed the notification.

Do you know what the limits are for the regen? Also, when you say I can set the voltage, what is the range?

Does anyone know of someone who has used a setup like this? I need it to be able to regen 25.4kw(68nm)@3600RPM.

There has been a leaf motor with OI board used as a generator on the forum, you'll have to look it up. The range with the OI board is anything I think. I've spun mine on the bench at around 50V

Good report on efficiency, it shows on page 12 your requirements of rpm and nm is possible. You for a rule of thumb roughly mirror it to negative for generation.

https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files ... 2013_o.pdf

Thanks for the answers. My last main concern is that I don't know how the inverter and openinverter board will behave without a DC power source to power it up. Will it be able to power up just from spinning the leaf motor?

No you'll need 12v to fire up the logic, there's no connection between HV and LV systems in these things.

Zieg wrote: ↑Fri Jun 06, 2025 8:53 pm No you'll need 12v to fire up the logic, there's no connection between HV and LV systems in these things.

Perfect, that's what I was hoping to hear. I think that's all I need to know for now, but when I actually get this project started I will undoubtedly have more questions. Thank you everyone for your help.