Capacity Loss on 2011-2012 LEAFs

[BradFoxUS]

I have Leaf 018330 and I am down to 9 capacity bars. I just reached 48K miles as well. Can anyone suggest stressors to put me down to that 8th bar to have a replacement under warranty? There's another Leaf, same age as mine, but with 2K less miles with the original pack but has all 10 capacity bars and he quick charges more than I do. I even park in a covered parking spot. Not sure why my capacity loss is so quick compared to his.

 

[keydiver]

An owner in my area received his 2012 Leaf the same week I did, but he was down to 8 bars after only 30,000 miles and a little over 3 years, whereas it took me until >40,000 miles and >4 years. The big difference is that he regularly drove his Leaf out on Route 95 at 70 mph for his commute, arriving home with a very low battery. So, he heated the battery up a lot more with fast driving, and cycled the battery much more deeply than me (I work from home and drive mostly local roads). When was your Leaf put into service? You have 12,000 miles to go, which is plenty to lose only one bar, but time may be your enemy. I recommend charging often to 100%, leaving it sit in the hot sun at 100%, and driving it hard and fast when you can.

 

[cwerdna]

I have Leaf 018330 and I am down to 9 capacity bars. I just reached 48K miles as well. Can anyone suggest stressors to put me down to that 8th bar to have a replacement under warranty? There's another Leaf, same age as mine, but with 2K less miles with the original pack but has all 10 capacity bars and he quick charges more than I do. I even park in a covered parking spot. Not sure why my capacity loss is so quick compared to his.

We currently have no idea where you are.

Can you update your location info via your user name in the upper right > User Control Panel > Profile tab? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

 

[BradFoxUS]

I have Leaf 018330 and I am down to 9 capacity bars. I just reached 48K miles as well. Can anyone suggest stressors to put me down to that 8th bar to have a replacement under warranty? There's another Leaf, same age as mine, but with 2K less miles with the original pack but has all 10 capacity bars and he quick charges more than I do. I even park in a covered parking spot. Not sure why my capacity loss is so quick compared to his.

We currently have no idea where you are.

Can you update your location info via your user name in the upper right > User Control Panel > Profile tab? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it.

Sorry about that. I added that information and properly linked my social accounts so I can be reached there as well! I'm not sure when my Leaf was originally put into service but it has a manufacture date of 1/12 stamped on the black panel in the driver's door jam. Once I can find my Carfax papers I'll know the original registration date. I do know based on the window sticker that it was originally delivered to Sheehy Nissan in Manassas, VA.

 

[BradFoxUS]

An owner in my area received his 2012 Leaf the same week I did, but he was down to 8 bars after only 30,000 miles and a little over 3 years, whereas it took me until >40,000 miles and >4 years. The big difference is that he regularly drove his Leaf out on Route 95 at 70 mph for his commute, arriving home with a very low battery. So, he heated the battery up a lot more with fast driving, and cycled the battery much more deeply than me (I work from home and drive mostly local roads). When was your Leaf put into service? You have 12,000 miles to go, which is plenty to lose only one bar, but time may be your enemy. I recommend charging often to 100%, leaving it sit in the hot sun at 100%, and driving it hard and fast when you can.

I always charge to 100% because when I bought my Leaf in January it only had 10 Cap bars plus we had a hard freeze and ice/snow for the next few months until mid March here on the Fort Bragg Army Base. I was using my heater and man does it sap energy. There are many DCFC Level 3 stations here as well that I use on a regular basis. I'll usually DC charge on the weekends on trips. It took 9 quick charges to heat my battery up until it was at 10 battery temp bars. Full power was capped at that point because we were running hot. Have been trying to drive and charge as much as possible to wear that last bar down. It only just dropped to 9 Cap bars 2 weeks ago.

 

[keydiver]

If your Leaf was only manufactured 01/12, you *should* have about 1 year to lose another bar. As long as you continue to charge and drive it hard like you are, my guess is you will lose the 4th bar on time. It took me 6 months (and only 4,000 miles) in south Florida heat to lose that last bar. You should really try to find the exact in-service date so you know the drop dead date.

 

[BradFoxUS]

If your Leaf was only manufactured 01/12, you *should* have about 1 year to lose another bar. As long as you continue to charge and drive it hard like you are, my guess is you will lose the 4th bar on time. It took me 6 months (and only 4,000 miles) in south Florida heat to lose that last bar. You should really try to find the exact in-service date so you know the drop dead date.

I see a first registration on June 16th 2012. Nice! I have plenty of time. I'm also averaging about 2,300 miles a month of driving. Once I got approval from the Army to install a ChargePoint Home station I've been driving much much more. I'm Leo excited that we qualified for a 90% tax credit for the installation and station costs from North Carolina and Fort Bragg is going to contact me soon about not metering the car consumption to my electric bill. I'm pretty excited.

 

[ChipsLeaf]

Just lost my third bar but won't lose the fourth in time for replacement under the battery warranty. :x I've been babying it parking and charging in the early morning hours in the shade.

 

[BradFoxUS]

Just lost my third bar but won't lose the fourth in time for replacement under the battery warranty. :x I've been babying it parking and charging in the early morning hours in the shade.

Has Nissan announced their battery lease to own program yet? That may be another option. Also, sometimes Nissan USA makes goodwill warranty exceptions when people are close enough to the expiration of their warranties. I would speak with Leaf care at least about it.

 

[Stanton]

Almost 7 weeks and no Battery

Wait until this summer: that may be the average wait time. Like I said before, the line will be around the block...

 

[Stanton]

Has Nissan announced their battery lease to own program yet?

That program never saw the light of day (thankfully).

Also, sometimes Nissan USA makes goodwill warranty exceptions when people are close enough to the expiration of their warranties. I would speak with Leaf care at least about it.

While this may be true for other (warranty) items, it has not been the case where the battery pack is concerned. Nissan was essentially forced into the battery capacity warranty, and they stick by the terms agreed to in court.

 

[TomT]

Yep, I made the 4BL warranty club by only 17 miles and was told that if I had gone over by even one I'd be SOL! This despite the fact that we all know that Leaf odometer is quite fast...

While this may be true for other (warranty) items, it has not been the case where the battery pack is concerned. Nissan was essentially forced into the battery capacity warranty, and they stick by the terms agreed to in court.

 

[RonDawg]

Has Nissan announced their battery lease to own program yet?

That program never saw the light of day (thankfully).

Yup. Brad should search for the thread here about the proposed battery leasing option. I don't think anybody at Nissan ever came back to that thread once they saw the sh--storm that erupted. :lol:

Also, sometimes Nissan USA makes goodwill warranty exceptions when people are close enough to the expiration of their warranties. I would speak with Leaf care at least about it.

There is a case here where someone was initially denied a warranty battery exchange because their car rolled into the dealership with 60,002 miles on the odometer. He eventually got it exchanged, but it was hardly "goodwill."

 

[BradFoxUS]

Will driving the Leaf through unfavorable road conditions be an issue to battery warranty coverage? The on board GPS took me through a route that was very difficult to get through. There was only deep mud and clay and no way to turn around. The road just vanished and I had mud scooped up in the front bumper lip and enough mud splashed up the front and sides that it was on my hood and windshield.

This was so muddy and wet that I wouldn't even take my Suzuki 4x4 there. I was so scared, but luckily I had enough momentum to slide along on the belly pans without damage or getting stuck. I was extremely lucky today, and this will be the last time I use the Nissan navigation. I cleaned the car the best I could and you can't see any dirt or such in the wheel wells but hopefully the underbelly is fine. Nothing is hanging or pulled off but never know.

 

[abasile]

Will driving the Leaf through unfavorable road conditions be an issue to battery warranty coverage?

The battery is in a sealed box, so I don't see how this would be an issue.

 

[RonDawg]

I was extremely lucky today, and this will be the last time I use the Nissan navigation.

There are many stories of people driving into lakes, off cliffs, etc. who were overly reliant on other nav systems, not just the ones in Nissans. I got burned a couple of months ago when I typed in my hotel's address into Apple Maps, and it took me to the back side of the hotel. Only problem was that the hotel was located in a hilly area and I was staring at it from 20 feet below, with no access from the street that Apple Maps led me to. The hotel was on a major street so there was no reason for the strange detour.

It's why you don't blindly rely on GPS navigation systems, and if it doesn't look right to trust your instincts over the GPS' instructions.

 

[dhanson865]

Will driving the Leaf through unfavorable road conditions be an issue to battery warranty coverage?

Watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxL4LVgdP7E#t=17

Laugh about it and worry no more.

As in mud and water aren't an issue. If you didn't dent or puncture the pack you are fine.

 

[BradFoxUS]

I was extremely lucky today, and this will be the last time I use the Nissan navigation.

There are many stories of people driving into lakes, off cliffs, etc. who were overly reliant on other nav systems, not just the ones in Nissans. I got burned a couple of months ago when I typed in my hotel's address into Apple Maps, and it took me to the back side of the hotel. Only problem was that the hotel was located in a hilly area and I was staring at it from 20 feet below, with no access from the street that Apple Maps led me to. The hotel was on a major street so there was no reason for the strange detour.

It's why you don't blindly rely on GPS navigation systems, and if it doesn't look right to trust your instincts over the GPS' instructions.

Difference was that I wasn't driving blind. The navi unit took me on a road that ended, but had no signs saying no outlet, dead end, etc. It just went into a dirt path which was fine then suddenly it was nothing but mud, clay, and sand. I'm just glad I didn't get stuck. I have the awesome smooth underbelly to thank for that.

 

[Valdemar]

I once found myself in the middle of nowhere on a muddy road with deep tracks in rural Russia that was marked as a regional highway of sorts on a map printed in 1971. It was circa 1995 when it happened. They just forgot to build it. Up until this day I'm surprised I was able to make it to my destination 10 miles away on an overloaded Lada with bold tires. Point being, GPS or not, if you drive in an unfamiliar environment be ready to be stuck.

 

[RonDawg]

It's why you don't blindly rely on GPS navigation systems, and if it doesn't look right to trust your instincts over the GPS' instructions.

Difference was that I wasn't driving blind. The navi unit took me on a road that ended, but had no signs saying no outlet, dead end, etc. It just went into a dirt path which was fine then suddenly it was nothing but mud, clay, and sand.

My point is you are blaming the Leaf's nav system for something that another brand of GPS might have also done, and that you shouldn't have continued further once it turned to dirt and especially a low-traction surface without stopping to verify it some other way.