Capacity Loss on 2011-2012 LEAFs

[GregH]

I thought the shorter distance would be cooler. It was, but I still hit 113 battery temp.

113F corrected or from the battery app? If the battery app says 109F then it's really 113F.. If it says 113F well.. probably 117-118F (!!)

 

[planet4ever]

Just joined the 11 bar club and also received the software upgrade letter from Nissan. I rarely charge to 100% (just ask the NSA!) but today was one of those days. I had the 11 bars displayed for capacity, but 12 bars for my charge. Sweet! Like getting something for nothing. Seriously, this might be why Nissan announced a software upgrade?

I'm glad you're happy, but seriously, what you and Nissan are having is a failure to communicate. Those charge bars don't tell you how much electricity you have in the battery; instead they are a rough measure of how full it is. If your capacity was down to 8 bars and you charged to 100% you would still see 12 charge bars, because the battery would be as full as it could get. The other thing you would see, of course, is those charge bars melting away much faster than they used to as you drove.

Ray

 

[FairwoodRed]

GregH, Battery app.

 

[surfingslovak]

My long-term efficiency is 3.8 and I drive ¾ on the highway.

Thanks for sharing that! The increased number of cycles due to lower overall energy economy would explain about 10% of the discrepancy between your and TaylorSFGuys's odometer miles at the time of first bar loss. I would be curious to know if you parked your car in a garage. If so, how would you rate the temperature inside the garage relative to the ambient? Does the garage door get direct sun exposure?

 

[FairwoodRed]

The increased number of cycles due to lower overall energy economy would explain about 10% of the discrepancy between your and TaylorSFGuys's odometer miles at the time of first bar loss. I would be curious to know if you parked your car in a garage. If so, how would you rate the temperature inside the garage relative to the ambient? Does the garage door get direct sun exposure?

I do park in a Garage at night and in the summer, I guess that it is 10 degrees above ambient early in the morning, and just this week I’ve begun to wonder how much of an effect that would have. In winter, it tends to stay about 55-60 because it shares a ceiling and wall with living areas. The garage doors get no sun (north facing).

 

[turbo2ltr]

Lost bar #4 yesterday. 7/5/2013 @ 23167 miles.

Had an embarrassing moment the day before. Went to go pick up a client, a trip I normally would have been able to do no problem, but due to the "seasonal range loss" plus an extra 7 mile trip I had made earlier that day, there was no way I was making it back to the office. Had to take surface streets and stop for a QC with the client in the car.

Just for reference, I'm still on the very first firmware.

 

[KJD]

Lost bar #4 yesterday. 7/5/2013 @ 23167 miles.

Do you plan on filing a warranty claim soon ?

 

[sksingh]

Lost first bar in May 2013, lost second July6, 2013, within two months. Mileage is 27K. Range loss seems more than what the bar loss would indicate. Now I can barely make it to work and back. Not a good situation to be in.

 

[Stoaty]

113F corrected or from the battery app? If the battery app says 109F then it's really 113F.. If it says 113F well.. probably 117-118F (!!)

Greg, does the LeafDD report the temperature correctly with current firmware?

 

[mwalsh]

Lost bar #4 yesterday. 7/5/2013 @ 23167 miles.

So what kind of range are you now getting on a "full charge"?

You know what would be interesting...swapping your cells into another car to see what another LEAF's BMS thinks of them.

 

[LEAFfan]

Lost first bar in May 2013, lost second July6, 2013, within two months. Mileage is 27K. Range loss seems more than what the bar loss would indicate. Now I can barely make it to work and back. Not a good situation to be in.

That's exactly what I discovered when I lost a bar with the '11. Nissan says 15%, but mileage wise it was more like 20%. The second bar is supposed to be 6.25%, so I would say a 25%-26% loss after losing two bars.

 

[TomT]

My experience as well.

Lost first bar in May 2013, lost second July6, 2013, within two months. Mileage is 27K. Range loss seems more than what the bar loss would indicate. Now I can barely make it to work and back. Not a good situation to be in.

That's exactly what I discovered when I lost a bar with the '11. Nissan says 15%, but mileage wise it was more like 20%. The second bar is supposed to be 6.25%, so I would say a 25%-26% loss after losing two bars.

 

[DaveEV]

Lost bar #4 yesterday. 7/5/2013 @ 23167 miles.

Just for reference, I'm still on the very first firmware.

Bummer - any plans on getting the latest firmware update and/or taking Nissan up on their capacity warranty? Don't recall if you leased or not - if not your best option is to drive the current battery as long as possible...

Lost first bar in May 2013, lost second July6, 2013, within two months. Mileage is 27K. Range loss seems more than what the bar loss would indicate. Now I can barely make it to work and back. Not a good situation to be in.

Similar question - do you have the latest battery firmware update or plan on getting it?

 

[jspearman]

I was driving home in my Volt and spotted a young couple pushing their Nissan Leaf out of traffic in 100+ degree heat . Normally I don't stop for these sorts of things since my back is not the best, but I felt dutybound to my fellow electrocitizens. They've only had it three weeks and the wife wasn't fully aware of the GOM's deficiencies, nor were they aware of Leaf troubles in Phoenix.

 

[mwalsh]

I was driving home in my Volt and spotted a young couple pushing their Nissan Leaf out of traffic in 100+ degree heat . Normally I don't stop for these sorts of things since my back is not the best, but I felt dutybound to my fellow electrocitizens. They've only had it three weeks and the wife wasn't fully aware of the GOM's deficiencies, nor were they aware of Leaf troubles in Phoenix.

Oh, bloody hell. That's terrible. Glad nobody filmed it and put it on YouTube!

 

[cwerdna]

I was driving home in my Volt and spotted a young couple pushing their Nissan Leaf out of traffic in 100+ degree heat . Normally I don't stop for these sorts of things since my back is not the best, but I felt dutybound to my fellow electrocitizens. They've only had it three weeks and the wife wasn't fully aware of the GOM's deficiencies, nor were they aware of Leaf troubles in Phoenix.

Sigh... Nissan better make the Leaf lease only in Phoenix and hot climates along w/disclosing projected degradation for at least those areas. I sure hope this folks are leasing.

I wish salespeople would better educate people on the GOM. I suspect they're not educating buyers on the % SoC gauge and all the LBW, VLBW, turtle, etc. behavior either.

 

[derkraut]

I was driving home in my Volt and spotted a young couple pushing their Nissan Leaf out of traffic in 100+ degree heat . Normally I don't stop for these sorts of things since my back is not the best, but I felt dutybound to my fellow electrocitizens. They've only had it three weeks and the wife wasn't fully aware of the GOM's deficiencies, nor were they aware of Leaf troubles in Phoenix.

Yes, a sad situation; but I wonder...did the driver hear the LBW warning? How about the VLB warning? Plenty of time to pull off at the next exit and call service.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
I wonder if they had an S trim level. IIRC, those have no voice (no audible?) warnings when reaching any of the LBW states.

 

[turbo2ltr]

Lost bar #4 yesterday. 7/5/2013 @ 23167 miles.

So what kind of range are you now getting on a "full charge"?

You know what would be interesting...swapping your cells into another car to see what another LEAF's BMS thinks of them.

I have no idea what my actual range is. I normally don't have range issues so I simply don't pay attention. I can tell you that the GOM shows around 65 miles on 100% charge in eco. But I know that's not really saying much. I may be a little too cautious when things get low. But when I get down to 3 bars and I'm no where near my destination, I get some range anxiety. Could have I peddled it to my office? maybe. But the last thing I wanted to do is get stuck with a client in the car.

I put my route into google and it said I did 41 miles from 100% to when I got to the fast charger. In reality,it was probably close to 45, and 25 were highway miles doing 60-63mph. I had hit the low battery warning shortly before getting to the fast charger, and had about 19 miles on the GOM. I think the DCFC said I was at around 25% soc. I charged to 60% and and I don't think it took more than 10 min.

I average about 4.1miles/kwh according to the dash.

 

[planet4ever]

I wonder if they had an S trim level. IIRC, those have no voice (no audible?) warnings when reaching any of the LBW states.

Right, no voice, not even any beeps. You do get a yellow triangle in the eyebrow, a fuel pump light (I forget the color), a flashing GOM, and a Trip Computer pop up that says low battery. I'm still confused about any VLBW signals. I have seen the GOM go to three flashing dashes, and somewhat later the new SOC% go to dashes, but I have yet to see a "very low" pop up.

Ray