Lifting the Leaf On a Shop Jack & Installing Winter Tires

                No special concerns lifting the vehicle, find hard points in the frame like anything else, as long as you are not pinching a wire or lifting from the battery pack. Here is a picture of a Leaf in our shop while our tech practices swapping out its modular components.

               As you see the Leaf is lifted via the outer unibody frame like any other vehicle. Under that skid plate at the back is the battery pack. The armored shell around it is built to withstand a highway collision and actually gives the frame of the leaf the majority of its rigidity. So in theory it looks like you probably could lift or brace it from the battery pack but at the same time let’s not try it.

               The one thing of note is that the all season tires currently on the Leaf are specialty “Economy” tires targeted at taking rolling resistance out of the equation. Winter tires are the polar opposite as their main trait is a softer "stickier" compound so at below zero temperatures it wont be rock solid. Depending on the specific tire this will affect your range accordingly just like with a gasoline vehicle. Just be ready for this and closely monitor the impact on your range and Km/kWh. After three days of use the “Guess-O-Meter” will more accurately reflect the real world range with them installed. Only other thoughts on that note are to put off installing the winter tires until the average temperature is around 8-10 degrees when their compound won’t be as “sticky”. This will both prolong the life of the tires and not waste range as running tires above their recommended temperature will have a similar effect to having them severely under-inflated.