I have what may be a unique experience with the 2013 low capacity issue.
I just purchased a 2013 SL this month (december 2013), and it has had issues since the very first day it came off the lot. To add, the VIN door sticker says 03/13 (march 2013) and I bought the car in December. Nissan is not able (or unwilling) to tell me where the car was between March and September! I got the leaf new with 260 miles, and was already having problems within 100 miles of that. I have since driven about 500 miles just to chart how the car is performing. Here are two examples on a day with air temperature of about 60F, I drove 37.3 miles at mostly 75 mph for 2.9 mi/kWh and the SOC went from 79% to 8%. But at 2.9, I should have been able to go about 43 miles. This seems about 15% short (or maybe 13% short with an adjustment for temperature, but I would think that at the power I was draining, the battery would have been warmer than even 70F). On another day, I drove 63.7 in-town miles at 4.6 mi/kWh and the SOC went from 79% to 5%. This also seems about 10-15% short. The day that I took ownership of the car it gave the EV System Warning Light and Turtle mode even though it was fully charged. At one point on that first day of ownership before I starting keeping detailed records, the car only drove 28 miles with 45% SOC at a very steady 43 mph!!! (some other details are that it was 20F, negligible wind, uphill a net 200 feet but not that much in the way of hills, and I used no climate control). I don't know the mi/kWh for that trip, but it should have been around 5.
I just ordered the OBDII device, so I'll be able to give an Ah measurement as soon as I get the car back from the dealer who is investigating my issues. But I do have 12000 miles of experience in a 2013 SV, and this car is clearly different.
But here is a REALLY important detail about all this. Where was this car for the 6 or 9 months between manufacture and sale??? Nissan says this is not relevant as I purchased a new car and all 'new' means is not previously owned and no 'significant' repairs. The representative I spoke with said that the condition and location of the battery during those 9 months are irrelevant to the car being NEW. The rep gave all kinds of analogies that were essentially buyer-beware, New means only 'not previously owned'. To all of us who understand battery degradation, this is absurd. The car could have sat at 100% in full sun, in a hot climate all that time. Or maybe it was driven to turtle, and sat at turtle for 9 months which would probably be worse. But seriously, I can't believe that Nissan would really hold that the condition and state of the battery for 9 months is completely irrelevant to the drive train of the car being NEW. If they haven't already done this, they need to issue mandatory guidance to dealers as to the storage condition of Leafs prior to sale.
added: This car came from the Baltimore-DC market. I specifically bought it there because the market was robust there. I live 200 miles away where I may be the only leaf driver in the county.
I just purchased a 2013 SL this month (december 2013), and it has had issues since the very first day it came off the lot. To add, the VIN door sticker says 03/13 (march 2013) and I bought the car in December. Nissan is not able (or unwilling) to tell me where the car was between March and September! I got the leaf new with 260 miles, and was already having problems within 100 miles of that. I have since driven about 500 miles just to chart how the car is performing. Here are two examples on a day with air temperature of about 60F, I drove 37.3 miles at mostly 75 mph for 2.9 mi/kWh and the SOC went from 79% to 8%. But at 2.9, I should have been able to go about 43 miles. This seems about 15% short (or maybe 13% short with an adjustment for temperature, but I would think that at the power I was draining, the battery would have been warmer than even 70F). On another day, I drove 63.7 in-town miles at 4.6 mi/kWh and the SOC went from 79% to 5%. This also seems about 10-15% short. The day that I took ownership of the car it gave the EV System Warning Light and Turtle mode even though it was fully charged. At one point on that first day of ownership before I starting keeping detailed records, the car only drove 28 miles with 45% SOC at a very steady 43 mph!!! (some other details are that it was 20F, negligible wind, uphill a net 200 feet but not that much in the way of hills, and I used no climate control). I don't know the mi/kWh for that trip, but it should have been around 5.
I just ordered the OBDII device, so I'll be able to give an Ah measurement as soon as I get the car back from the dealer who is investigating my issues. But I do have 12000 miles of experience in a 2013 SV, and this car is clearly different.
But here is a REALLY important detail about all this. Where was this car for the 6 or 9 months between manufacture and sale??? Nissan says this is not relevant as I purchased a new car and all 'new' means is not previously owned and no 'significant' repairs. The representative I spoke with said that the condition and location of the battery during those 9 months are irrelevant to the car being NEW. The rep gave all kinds of analogies that were essentially buyer-beware, New means only 'not previously owned'. To all of us who understand battery degradation, this is absurd. The car could have sat at 100% in full sun, in a hot climate all that time. Or maybe it was driven to turtle, and sat at turtle for 9 months which would probably be worse. But seriously, I can't believe that Nissan would really hold that the condition and state of the battery for 9 months is completely irrelevant to the drive train of the car being NEW. If they haven't already done this, they need to issue mandatory guidance to dealers as to the storage condition of Leafs prior to sale.
added: This car came from the Baltimore-DC market. I specifically bought it there because the market was robust there. I live 200 miles away where I may be the only leaf driver in the county.
