Can someone explain the battery longevity issue

[AndyH]

The battery's gonna degrade some if we never drive it. It's gonna degrade more if we abuse it. If we follow Nissan's instructions and keep L3 charging to a minimum, only charge to 80% if that works for us, don't keep topping-off the charge, and don't use this for racing, we'll minimize the rate of decay from 'moving violations' and get the most life from the pack we can.

The battery pack is warranted for 60% of capacity after 8 years.

Can you document this please? I've been thru the owners manual, service manuals, the text I received from Nissan when I ordered, and other docs we have on the site and cannot find a single capacity guarantee. I did, however, find this:

• F. Exclusions and Limitations to Nissan New Vehicle Limited Warranty
Your Nissan LEAF comes with a Nissan LEAF New Vehicle Limited Warranty. The warranty includes a number of specific conditions, exclusions and limitations. Unique to the Nissan LEAF is battery capacity, which is not covered. Lithium ion battery capacity loss over time is normal and expected.

That assumes it hasn't been "abused" in the ways you're talking about, it only covers 1000 cycles, and it doesn't seem to matter much if the charging is done to 80% or 100%. A TMS might help but generally the warranty suggest that the pack will degrade by 4% to 5% a year.

That may be why Nissan has in so many words suggested that leasing is preferable to buying.

At this point I'll simply agree to disagree - I hope you don't mind. Since I don't know the rest of the info I need to positively chart the performance of the cells in the car, I've reached the end of my analysis rope. I simply don't think there's a chance that Nissan filled the pack with 500-1000 cycle cheap Chinese lithium - because that's the type of behavior you're suggesting. I will be buying my Leaf and already have the battery monitor assembled. We can reconnect in 5 years and revisit this if you care to.

Andy

 

[SteveInSeattle]

Can you point to anything specific that suggests that Nissan is favoring leasing?