2 years 12 bars

[Rat]

There have been so many threads and complaints from forum members about (apparently) losing one or more bars of range that I thought it would be useful to find out how many people have NOT lost a bar after two years. I've had my Leaf 2 years and 3 weeks and still have 12 bars when I charge to 100% (which isn't very often). I have the advantage of living in a moderate climate and rarely needing to QC (I think 6 times in all) as well as low mileage since I'm retired (11292 mi.) My experience with forums are that people are more likely to post if something is going wrong for them than if everything is fine, so I'd like to get a feel for whether my experience is pretty typical or the "losers" (just kidding - no offense meant) are more typical. Please weigh in with your experience.

 

[DeaneG]

I am at 22K miles and still have 12 bars. Turbo3's ELM327 app says my capacity is in the 90-93% range. No fast charges, and usually only an 80% daily charge before leaving in the morning.

 

[nosuchthing]

Seems that trouble starts at 30-40,000 miles. You'll get there, worry not.

In fact, I'd be curious to know who's got the highest mileage with all 12 range bars still intact.

Please post...

 

[cwerdna]

In fact, I'd be curious to know who's got the highest mileage with all 12 range bars still intact.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=12781" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is probably it. He didn't lose a capacity bar until 78,600 miles.

 

[Randy]

I'm at 20,500 miles at 2.5 years with all 12 bars. Getting the new software tomorrow....

 

[ColumbiaRiverGorge]

My signature line about says it all. In the winters I charge to 100% Mon-Fri. two times a day during the week and 80% on the weekends. In the summers I usually charge to 80% most of the time. At nights, I usually keep my batteries between 30-40%. I also love to QC whenever I feel like it. It is still free where I live.

 

[Stoaty]

I've had my Leaf 2 years and 3 weeks and still have 12 bars when I charge to 100% (which isn't very often).

You should have 12 (capacity) bars whether your Leaf is charged or not. Charging to 100% will always give you 12 (fuel) bars.

PS My Leaf just turned 2 a week ago, still has 12 capacity bars.

 

[AP1]

I've had mine for 2 years this August and still 12 bars, though admittedly my commute is short so my mileage is low. But I do agree that the ones who post the most are usually the more negative owners as is the case in most web blogs. I don't see how you could even think of buying a Leaf if you follow these postings regularly, yet Nissan is selling about 2,000 a month and several thousands are now on the road. It's a great car, and 8-10 years from now I'll decide on what course to follow battery wise and not demand a price for it now, which is totally unnecessary for most owners.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
I still plan to lease a Leaf. As you can see, I'm a regular here on this forum (not a "blog").

I sure as heck wouldn't buy a Leaf if I lived in a hot climate like Phoenix, knowing what we know today. Those w/very temperate climates (e.g. Seattle area or Trinidad, CA), modest range needs and who aren't too concerned w/depreciation are good candidates to buy.

 

[evnow]

In fact, I'd be curious to know who's got the highest mileage with all 12 range bars still intact.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=12781" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is probably it. He didn't lose a capacity bar until 78,600 miles.

Not just that - I don't think anyone else in the NW has lost a bar. If you are in arid South West what you say is probably correct.

 

[Stoaty]

Seems that trouble starts at 30-40,000 miles. You'll get there, worry not.

Actually, that is incorrect. "Trouble" starts at various mileage levels depending on the climate, calendar aging of the battery, amount of time spent at full charge, solar loading, and use of L3 charging. Climate is the primary determinant.

 

[JohnOver]

I've had mine 2 years and one day, driven 34,536 miles and I still have all 12 bars.

The LEAF Battery App says I have 92.6 %SOC (247 GIDS) when I've charged to 100%, which I do every week day.

 

[DannyAmes]

In the SF bay area.

 

[LEAFfan]

There have been so many threads and complaints from forum members about (apparently) losing one or more bars of range that I thought it would be useful to find out how many people have NOT lost a bar after two years. I've had my Leaf 2 years and 3 weeks and still have 12 bars when I charge to 100% (which isn't very often). I have the advantage of living in a moderate climate and rarely needing to QC (I think 6 times in all) as well as low mileage since I'm retired (11292 mi.) My experience with forums are that people are more likely to post if something is going wrong for them than if everything is fine, so I'd like to get a feel for whether my experience is pretty typical or the "losers" (just kidding - no offense meant) are more typical. Please weigh in with your experience.

You may have 12 CBs, but that doesn't mean you aren't about to lose one. Someone could have just lost a bar and be at almost the same capacity as someone like you still with 12 CBs. The most accurate measurements we have right now seem to be the AH from the LB App and other various meters, and the % Gids from the Gid meter. So when you get the LB App working or one of those other meters, or a Gid meter please post those readings then you will pretty much know which car is doing the best. Otherwise, saying you still have 12 bars doesn't mean a whole lot.

 

[palmermd]

In fact, I'd be curious to know who's got the highest mileage with all 12 range bars still intact.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=12781" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is probably it. He didn't lose a capacity bar until 78,600 miles.

Not just that - I don't think anyone else in the NW has lost a bar. If you are in arid South West what you say is probably correct.

I don't think aridity has much to do with it, but it is startling the difference between the northwest and southwest with regard to battery life.

oh, and I still have 12 capacity bars and rarely charge to 12 fuel bars, and currently showing 59.2Ah on the LB app. It was 60.6 just a few weeks ago, so the recent heat here seems to be making a big difference. (I've only had the app a few weeks and never had any other meters on it since new).

 

[cwerdna]

I don't think aridity has much to do with it, but it is startling the difference between the northwest and southwest with regard to battery life.

Yep. I doubt humidity or lack of plays much of a factor, if any.

I mentioned Trinidad, CA as someone listed that as their location. I didn't know where the heck it was and had to look it up. Once I saw, I was amazed (but not surprised) at the average temps at http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USCA1160" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Contrast that with http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USAZ0166" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=215907#p215907" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=289178#p289178" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, for Phoenix.

 

[DaveEV]

A few weeks over 2 years, 19.7k miles, 100% charge this morning yielded 245 GID and 57.85 Ah. Nearly exactly 3 months ago I had 260 GIDs 100% 214 GID 80%. Hard to believe that the GID reading is down almost 6% in 3 months in this coastal climate. Not all that surprisingly, Stoaty's LEAF Battery Degradation Model is nearly exactly in-line with real life measurements.

Nearly always charged to 80% - charged to 100% typically 2-3 times on average. Have only QCd 3 times, never seen more than 6 TBs.

At this rate I expect to be down a bar by the end of summer. If not - it will be next spring once it starts warming up. Given how much I baby the car I didn't expect to be down 15% until 4 years at the soonest and I really expected to do significantly better than the 20% at 5 years and 30% at 8 Nissan gives as guidelines.

 

[adric22]

I saw this thread this morning. What a coincidence. I lost my first bar this morning after 2 years and 2 months. When I started the car up this morning and saw that my heart kind of sank a little bit. I realize logically the car has pretty much the same range it had yesterday and the day before, but somehow it seems less psychologically. I suspect the reason is because my wife has been driving it the last 3 months and she charges to 100% deep discharges it almost every day. I had been driving it nearly the whole first 2 years and I charged to 80% and it was rare that I drove more than 10 miles between charges. So, I guess i'm out of the 12-bar club now. Although, I still need to get that software update that Nissan recently announced. It may be possible I could get my bar back. (although I doubt it)

One irritating thing about missing that bar is that it is more difficult to judge the state-of-charge bars since the capacity bars always acted sort of like a contrast so that we could see where the top of the SOC meter was.

 

[EatsShootsandLeafs]

My guess is the substantial majority of 24 month lease Leafs will still have 12 bars.

We make a lot of noise about those who've lost capacity above norm.

 

[Stanton]

It's all about the combination of "heat*miles=bars": more of the former means less of the latter to experience a bar loss, but eventually one or the other will get you. :x