"Dead" when left in driveway - battery?

[sp4rk]

Left my Leaf in my driveway for the past week. Temps around 20-35. When left battery had 55 odd miles.
Went to move the car this AM.
Battery had 45 miles.
But car will not go into R.
I have a yellow PS on the dash .. Power Steering? And an ominous RED Battery symbol.
12v Battery jump?
Why would the car not "last" on its own for a week?

 

[RegGuheert]

12v Battery jump?

Likely. Better yet, charge it to full. If you do not have a charger, then I recommend you leave the LEAF on for at least 10 hours to charge up the 12V battery. If you have a digital voltmeter, you should then turn off the LEAF, open the hood and let it sit for an hour or so. Then measure the voltage of the 12V battery. If it reads between 12.5V and 12.7V, you are probably O.K. If not, please post what you see.

Why would the car not "last" on its own for a week?

Because the LEAF does not do a great job maintaining the charge on the 12V battery and/or your battery has a bad cell. It *should* be O.K. for months, but you are not the first to experience this issue.

 

[sp4rk]

12v Battery jump?

Likely. Better yet, charge it to full. If you do not have a charger, then I recommend you leave the LEAF on for at least 10 hours to charge up the 12V battery. If you have a digital voltmeter, you should then turn off the LEAF, open the hood and let it sit for an hour or so. Then measure the voltage of the 12V battery. If it reads between 12.5V and 12.7V, you are probably O.K. If not, please post what you see.

Why would the car not "last" on its own for a week?

Because the LEAF does not do a great job maintaining the charge on the 12V battery and/or your battery has a bad cell. It *should* be O.K. for months, but you are not the first to experience this issue.

You're saying that the Lion batteries will charge the 12v battery?
And if I leave it on for 12 hours, I will have to leave the key in it.
Theft potential?
It is parked a foot off a public street. Then again, if it won't shift into R then they're not going to get very far!
Would I deplete the Lion battery down to turtle?

 

[RegGuheert]

You're saying that the Lion batteries will charge the 12v battery?

Yes. When the LEAF is in READY mode it charges the 12V battery from the Li-ion battery.

And if I leave it on for 12 hours, I will have to leave the key in it.

You do NOT need to leave the key in it. I recommend that you do NOT leave the key in it. Instead take the key with you and lock the doors.

Theft potential?

There is a theft potential. A LEAF in READY mode can be driven off. It will work until it is shut off.

It is parked a foot off a public street. Then again, if it won't shift into R then they're not going to get very far!

The 12V battery will be charged by doing this. The whole idea is that it WILL shift into R after a short while.

Would I deplete the Lion battery down to turtle?

No, unless you leave it on for a very long time.

Edit: I should correct my post by saying that you need to ensure that you turn off the climate control and other accessories or it will drain your Li-ion battery.

 

[sp4rk]

You're saying that the Lion batteries will charge the 12v battery?

Yes. When the LEAF is in READY mode it charges the 12V battery from the Li-ion battery.

And if I leave it on for 12 hours, I will have to leave the key in it.

You do NOT need to leave the key in it. I recommend that you do NOT leave the key in it. Instead take the key with you and lock the doors.

Theft potential?

There is a theft potential. A LEAF in READY mode can be driven off. It will work until it is shut off.

It is parked a foot off a public street. Then again, if it won't shift into R then they're not going to get very far!

The 12V battery will be charged by doing this. The whole idea is that it WILL shift into R after a short while.

Would I deplete the Lion battery down to turtle?

No, unless you leave it on for a very long time.

Sorry, one last Q. When you say READY mode, do you mean when I press the power button but the dash is not all lit up?
i.e. one press of the power button; or do I need to click it twice so it all lights up?

 

[thankyouOB]

it was unclear, at least to me, from your post if the car was fully dead; that is you couldnt get it to ready.

the LEAF is easy to jump. follow directions in the manual. it jump starts just like an ICE.
you can kill the 12v by leaving on the external lights. that is what happened to me one afternoon.
i assume you can also kill it by leaving on the overhead light and other auxiliaries that dont shut automatically.

you might try reading about it in the manual. it explains most of this stuff, too.

 

[RegGuheert]

Sorry, one last Q. When you say READY mode, do you mean when I press the power button but the dash is not all lit up?
i.e. one press of the power button; or do I need to click it twice so it all lights up?

No, I mean press the brake pedal and push the button once. You should see the green car with a bidirectional arrow. The car must be unplugged in order to get into ready mode.

Please note my edit above: You need to turn off the climate control and other accessories to ensure you do not drain the Li-ion battery.

 

[sp4rk]

Sorry, one last Q. When you say READY mode, do you mean when I press the power button but the dash is not all lit up?
i.e. one press of the power button; or do I need to click it twice so it all lights up?

No, I mean press the brake pedal and push the button once. You should see the green car with a bidirectional arrow. The car must be unplugged in order to get into ready mode.

Please note my edit above: You need to turn off the climate control and other accessories to ensure you do not drain the Li-ion battery.

Brilliant!
I actually had to click power twice to get the bidirectional green thing.
But with only this amount if time, I noticed the red battery icon was gone - tried shifting it into R and it worked.
Guess I now need to park it in the garage, charge it up and put a 12v charger on the 12v battery on medium for a few hours?

 

[RegGuheert]

Brilliant!
I actually had to click power twice to get the bidirectional green thing.
But with only this amount if time, I noticed the red battery icon was gone - tried shifting it into R and it worked.

Congratulations!

Guess I now need to park it in the garage, charge it up and put a 12v charger on the 12v battery on medium for a few hours?

The 12V battery will also be charged while the Li-ion battery charges, so you should get three or four hours of charge onto your 12V battery just by charging the main battery. But if your 12V battery was very low it takes many more than four hours to fully recharge it, which is important to ensure the battery lasts a long time. You can finish the charge either with a charger or using the approach I gave. Good luck!

Edit: BTW, be careful if you are using a battery "charger" rather than a maintainer. You can easily overcharge your battery if you are not careful. Certainly use the lower-current (e.g. 2A) setting and monitor the battery voltage while it charges. I wouldn't let it get above about 13.5V with an external charger. Charging with the LEAF will avoid the need to worry about an overcharge. It is more apt to undercharge the battery, but not if you give it a good long time to finish.

 

[sp4rk]

Hey ... don't congratulate me! You deserve it. and THANKS! Where would we be without this resource.

And to re-inspire confidence in EV's!

 

[RegGuheert]

Hey ... don't congratulate me! You deserve it. and THANKS!

You are welcome!

Where would we be without this resource.

I really don't know! I've learned so much about the LEAF and EVs in general from this forum that I wonder how owners who do not know about this resource manage with these cars!

 

[Deleted member 3147]

Left my Leaf in my driveway for the past week. Temps around 20-35. When left battery had 55 odd miles.
Went to move the car this AM.
Battery had 45 miles.
But car will not go into R.
I have a yellow PS on the dash .. Power Steering? And an ominous RED Battery symbol.
12v Battery jump?
Why would the car not "last" on its own for a week?

Honestly, it sounds like you didn't press the brake while pressing the power button but instead pressed the power button twice. This puts the car in "On" mode instead of "Ready" mode and the dash display will be exactly like you describe! It will, also, prevent you from going into Drive or Reverse.

I suspect that nothing was wrong with the car!

 

[sp4rk]

Left my Leaf in my driveway for the past week. Temps around 20-35. When left battery had 55 odd miles.
Went to move the car this AM.
Battery had 45 miles.
But car will not go into R.
I have a yellow PS on the dash .. Power Steering? And an ominous RED Battery symbol.
12v Battery jump?
Why would the car not "last" on its own for a week?

Honestly, it sounds like you didn't press the brake while pressing the power button but instead pressed the power button twice. This puts the car in "On" mode instead of "Ready" mode and the dash display will be exactly like you describe! It will, also, prevent you from going into Drive or Reverse.

I suspect that nothing was wrong with the car!

Maybe ... I have been wrong before. Never again. BUT, seriously ... then why did I have a red battery icon ...

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

I think Doxy may be right. I had a similar experience in my first week. Was waiting to pick up at school, had shut it off, but put it in "on" by pressing button twice, no brake, to play with radio and carwings, turned heat on too. When kid came, couldn't put it in gear at all, and had red 12v battery and PS lights. Panic, a little, why PS? Hadn't studied manual fully, so did my first instinct, shut it off and restarted, foot on brake, voila!, ready mode, all fixed, no problem, drove off.

Read in manual later that can't run heat in "on" mode, has to be in "ready". But probably just tried to drive in ON, so didn't work. No problem since.