Firmware update glitches

[MarkBC]

I had read here how many people had problems after the firmware update but it's 1 year after my purchase so I had to bring it in, I figure, to keep the warranty valid. The car was giving me messages to take it in.

I expressed my hesitation to the service guy, noting how other people have had operating problems after the update, and their range gets reduced. But, it was mandatory apparently.

As expected, my range has been cut. I am not sure if this has been done to 1) protect the batteries from extreme charges at either the high or low end, or 2) to hide any one-bar loss that may be coming in the future. I figure I have about 15-20 km less range now than when I bought the car, and most of that has come as a result of the firmware update. I had not lost any bars before, since I live in a cool climate.

Of course, the computer systems were reset and I was annoyed to see that the irritating start-up chime was back enabled. I now cannot turn it off. Have they disabled the kill switch for this? Does it use the same speakers as the stereo? If it has its own dedicated speaker I will cut the wire, since it gets so annoying after a while.

Also, the clock seems to be on 24 hour mode, even though it's not set for it.

Has anyone else experienced these issues, and have advice?

I also noticed that they scratched the paint a little bit on the fender by one of the wheels when they rotated the tires. Maybe I can go in and demand a bottle of blue touch-up paint, although it's been 3 days going on 4 now since the service.

 

[mwalsh]

All I can say at this point is that I feel for you on all points. Please contact Nissan about the reduced range issue. It may be a new version of the update that is causing problems, since you're now the third person reporting such with updates that have just taken place.

A range test might be a good idea to figure out if it's your imagination or not, especially if you've done one before. Choose a route you know well and compare what you would normally have with what you have now. If you had an "old bars" car, you should have been able to make 6+ miles per fuel bar. The remapped bars should give you 4-4.5 miles per bar, maybe 5 if your energy conservation skills are good. This, of course, assumes temperate climates, no climate control, and relatively flat terrain to work with. When you get to LBW on that last red bar, you've got the remnants of that bar, plus 1.5 hidden bars. You should be able to make approximately 13 miles off what remains. But please download and refer to Tony Williams' range chart, and consider being in your own neighborhood when you get down that far.

 

[MarkBC]

It might be worthwhile for me to officially report the reduced range to the service department now so that it's on record. Is there anywhere else I can report it?

I actually just did your suggested test today. I drove 100 km to my mom's house, a route I regularly drive. I was in eco mode, drove very conservatively, and of course had no heat on in the cold weather. It is a nice, relatively flat slow highway -- ideal for energy conservation. I had only charged to 11 bars at the start and I was down to 1 bar when I arrived. Before the update, I could arrive with 3 or 4 bars remaining from a full charge. So I have lost at least 1 bar. I definitely noticed that the bars went down faster today than they used to.

That works out to 100 km for 10 bars, or 10 km / bar, or 6.2 miles / bar. There is a bit of leeway in this number, because who knows where exactly on that 11th bar I started driving and where on the 1st bar I finished.

 

[mwalsh]

Ah, but there is the rub. You now have the "two" (essentially 1.5) bars hidden. So you still have roughly the same number of bars, you just can't see two of them now. Especially since you started out with 11. No, the only real way to see if you've got actual range loss is take it from fully charged down to LBW, VLBW, or Turtle and see if the mileage you get corresponds to Tony's range chart when the variables are taken into account.

Where are you? I assume with your user name you're in BC Canada? Here in the US we have a 1-866 number we can call for LEAF support. If you're bound and determined that something is wrong, I would call the Canadian equivalent and open a case rather than calling the dealer.

 

[MarkBC]

So that means I still have the range, it's just hidden ...

I was wondering if they took the range off the upper limit to charging (in which case I wouldn't be able to charge the batteries as high as before), or if it was taken off the low end to make you think you are running out of charge faster than you actually are, so as to keep you from running them down too much. In the case of the former, then my range actually has been reduced because the battery would not actually be brought to full charge. In the case of the latter, then I do have the range available, I just now have more range hidden below the last bar than I used to, which means I can push it below LBW knowing that I have the capacity.

 

[mwalsh]

So that means I still have the range, it's just hidden ...

I was wondering if they took the range off the upper limit to charging (in which case I wouldn't be able to charge the batteries as high as before), or if it was taken off the low end to make you think you are running out of charge faster than you actually are, so as to keep you from running them down too much. In the case of the former, then my range actually has been reduced because the battery would not actually be brought to full charge. In the case of the latter, then I do have the range available, I just now have more range hidden below the last bar than I used to, which means I can push it below LBW knowing that I have the capacity.

Exactly. Unfortunately, it means we almost have to relearn our vehicles.

Now, I have had actual losses since the update, which seem to be tied to them replacing the LBC (battery controller) hardware. Looks like they may have "bricked" mine when they tried to update it. Any indication you may also have had this happen? Immediately after the new controller was installed, I was down 8-10 miles on my true range, and I'm currently going through the somewhat arduous process of trying to teach the new controller what the capacity of my pack should be.

 

[GerryAZ]

MarkBC,
Your car is newer than mine and mine came with the "new bars" firmware that Mwalsh refers to. When you do a range test and keep driving below the last bar, stay close to charging facilities because you may not see much more hidden capacity than before the update. You should get about 7 miles (11 km) after the first low battery warning before the very low battery warning. The distance from VLBW to power limited (turtle) mode will probably be a little less than 7 miles. It may take a deep discharge followed by a full charge for the computers to relearn your battery capacity.

I had the recall software update (causes the chime when opening door without being in Park) and did not see a change in range, although the GOM (guess-o-meter) or in Nissan terms the distance-to-empty meter changed. As far as I can tell, none of the software updates my car has received have changed the maximum charge or minimum discharge levels allowed. I suggest that you formally report your reduced range to Nissan North America and to your dealer.

Mwalsh,
I have been following your update issue in the other thread and feel for you having to relearn the meaning of the state of charge bars.

Gerry