"gas" Pedal get stuck and when braking it does not re-gen

[quoid9]

I am coming up on my one year "anniversary" of getting my Leaf and I had a "software update" back in March, and ever since I got that update I had this new problem.

The problem is that when you start driving the car and then let go of the accelerator, the car keeps going like you did not depress the pedal or still have the cruise control on, A- I have yet to use the cruise control on it and I am sure it is turned off, and B, not only the car keeps going after I released the pedal, depressing the brake - although slowing the car - will not re-generate the battery. Now, when the problem happens, the car keeps going but does not accelerate, but do not decelerate either, or if it does it barely do.
You know the feeling that when you depress the pedal, the car start coasting and re-gen/re-charge the battery, well that does not happens when I have that problem - The reason I know it does not re-gen is that the "DOT" meter display does not go backward, AND, since my commute is always the same, when the accelerator is in that stuck feeling, it take twice as much energy (miles) off the counter.

Sometimes the problem can last the entire commute (about 6-7 miles) sometimes it is only a couple of miles. I have not figure out how and why it suddenly go back to normal, but I now have a pattern where I can reproduce the problem almost 100% of the time.

I will make a video of that when I get a passenger that can "panned" out to see both the tachometer and my foot releasing the pedal to prove the issue.

I did go to the dealer and told them about it, but since they have been clueless from the start and still are, explaining that to them got them scratching their head and wondering what to do. Of course they could not address the problem right away - since the "Tech" dude only comes to my dealer once in a blue moon, so I have an appointment the next time the "tech" guy will be in, whenever that may be, but I was wondering if anyone else had that issue or have been experiencing similar issue since they call the Leaf back for a "software update"

Thanks

 

[Stewy13]

Regen isn't limited because of the battery level is it? Are you leaving with a full charge or 80%?

 

[derkraut]

Regen isn't limited because of the battery level is it? Are you leaving with a full charge or 80%?

I'm thinking the same thing.......regen will not operate when you drive off with 100% charge. Except you say that your commute is 7 miles or so? In that case, after 4-5 miles of driving, the regen should certainly be operating??? :?

 

[gbarry42]

Note the "bubbles" on the dashboard, and how the ones to the left are single circles instead of double. This is an indication of how much regen is available. This is a result of charging to 100%, something Nissan did in the software as a "favor" for us.

Also note how it feels like a stuck pedal, when really, it's just coasting. Most people mistake this for "unintended acceleration". (Physicists will tell us it's the same thing )

 

[smkettner]

Sounds like the issue repetes consistantly. I would be at the dealer.

 

[camasleaf]

Regen isn't limited because of the battery level is it? Are you leaving with a full charge or 80%?

I'm thinking the same thing.......regen will not operate when you drive off with 100% charge. Except you say that your commute is 7 miles or so? In that case, after 4-5 miles of driving, the regen should certainly be operating??? :?

I remember reading that the march upgrade was resetting the timers. It was 80% and now it charges at 100%, so no regen?

 

[UkrainianKozak]

Can we get more details?
Are you driving in regular or eco mode? if in D, do you feel the difference in Eco?
What is the charge when it happen? do you have all thin circles lighted for regen?
Can you switch to energy info screen? it has much more details about electricity consumption and does not have hysteresis of the bubbles... (I know the upgrade did something to how bubbles are displayed)
Also, when the car is not slowing down, are driving on absolutely level road (like a plateau) or it may have slight uphill/downhill tilt?

 

[kmp647]

DO you have any floor mats or carpets on the drivers floor that could interfere with the accell pedal ?

 

[rumpole]

not only the car keeps going after I released the pedal, depressing the brake - although slowing the car - will not re-generate the battery. Now, when the problem happens, the car keeps going but does not accelerate, but do not decelerate either, or if it does it barely do.

To me, it sounds like you're shifting into neutral, inadvertently. The behavior you describe is exactly what happens when I'm going downhill. I'll hold the puck over to the left about a second, and the car goes into neutral, with the dash showing an N. I then coast down hill to gain speed (all done safely, don't worry ). The gas pedal ("gas" is such a nice short word, I think it will stick around well into our collective EV future) then has no response. You can push it down as much as you like, it's dead, since it's electrically disconnected. I actually rest my foot on it. Regen gets turned off, too, so the bubble sits at rest, ie no regen, no accel. I do this to increase energy economy. It greatly increases the numerator and minimizes the denominator in mi/kWh.

When finished, you merely shift into D. (Easy, since it's just reconnecting a switch.) You can feel the regen come on a little, and the gas pedal responds. Going into ECO boosts the regen a bit more. The behavior in N sounds like what you're experiencing, although if you've been driving a year, so maybe that's not it....

 

[adric22]

To me, it sounds like driving on 100% charge. (as others have mentioned) This took me a while to get used to because the deceleration is much different when driving with 100% charge, especially if you are used to driving in ECO mode. Because when going down a hill, etc, when you let off the accelerator you normally expect the car to start slowing down some even if you haven't pressed the brake. You will definitely get the sensation of having to press the brake harder to slow the car. Or get the sensation that there is something wrong with the brakes.

However, if this is happening at lower states of charge, then something else may be going on.

 

[TomT]

My guess is that you had been using an 80% timer before. The update disables the charge timer and you then have to go back in to the Timers section on the display screen and turn if from off to on. At 100 percent charge you have no regen braking and the car will feel exactly as you described.

I am coming up on my one year "anniversary" of getting my Leaf and I had a "software update" back in March, and ever since I got that update I had this new problem.

 

[gbarry42]

And the big fat hint is that you have 12 bars in the morning, and not 10. Also, the guess-o-meter will be showing larger guesses "Disabling" the timers doesn't mean they've been removed, it just means they got turned off. You just need to turn them back on.

 

[quoid9]

Stewy13
Regardless of the battery being charged fully or not, the problem occurs every time. I am not worry about the regen not regen-ing when you have a full battery, It is really about the not coating/accelerator stuck feeling.

Regardless of the battery being charged fully or not, the car should still coast when I release the pedal? Right?

 

[TomT]

The difference in feel when you release the throttle pedal is dramatically different at 100 percent charge (12 bars) than at 80 percent (10 bars) and below. Even more-so when you are in ECO rather than D mode... At roughly 80 percent and below, regen kicks in when you release the pedal and it definitely will not coast.

Regardless of the battery being charged fully or not, the car should still coast when I release the pedal? Right?

 

[quoid9]

UkrainianKozak

Are you driving in regular or eco mode?
Both mode will produce the same problem

if in D, do you feel the difference in Eco?
yes I do feel a difference between D and Eco (if that is what your are asking)

What is the charge when it happen?
Will happen at any charge level, as long as you have charge it for at least an hour

do you have all thin circles lighted for regen?
there is no regen happening when the problem happens, in fact the dot stay in the middle even if I press on the brakes

Can you switch to energy info screen?
Yes I did and the screen seems to be inacurate, since when I get that accelretor stucked feeling, the status show that I am regen-ing when I am cleary not (i am not coasting...) I am stock at the same speed

it has much more details about electricity consumption and does not have hysteresis of the bubbles... (I know the upgrade did something to how bubbles are displayed)
Also, when the car is not slowing down, are driving on absolutely level road (like a plateau) or it may have slight uphill/downhill tilt?
happens on a plateau and even when I am up hill, car is barely slowing down


kmp647

No obstruction whatsoever near the pedal

rumpole

Nope not shifting into N -neutral, I am familiar with the N state.

 

[quoid9]

Guy's tell me I am not the only one with that problem???

Here is how to reproduce it EVERY time on my car:

- trickle charge the car for more than an hour
- get on the road in Eco mode, the minute you depress the pedal, the car does not coast, keep the same speed, dot or NOT goint to the left (regen), brake will not slow the car as fast as if the problem does not occurs, pressing the brake will not regen either.

It is happening sometimes when I charge with the 240V, but EVERY time when I trickle charge...

 

[garygid]

Yes, the only person to report this.

How do you get out of this mode to slow down or stop?

 

[gbarry42]

Doing regen takes energy; this slows the car down. This is what all the "perpetual motion" folks keep missing. So, lack of regen equals that strange coasting feeling. Post a picture of your dashboard when this is happening.

I found an example on flickr.

Note the circles to the left are "different". Also that the charge level is beyond 10 bars.
Photo credit: "Major Nelson"

 

[UkrainianKozak]

You know what, I might experience something like you described...
But to me it did not feel like cruise control maintaining speed, just reduced brake power because of no regen.
To me it was kind of subtle but very noticeable, and I had exact feeling, that brake pressure was regulated assuming regen will be supplementing it, but regen did not happen.

It happened only twice when I was noticing it, always when it was a bit cold (30-40F), and BEFORE the software upgrade, but I mostly charge on L2.
When that was happening some of the regen OUTER circles (not regen dots) was not lit, but not all of it, but regen was considerably affected for some reason, and friction was not compensating adequately or not at all.

Another thing that might be happening to you, if that happens right after you leave...
Do you have a different routines when you trickle charge vs L2?
I had weird brake problems when brake assist was not engaging...
Basically when you open your door leaf primes brake system or something, which takes something like 5-10 seconds or something like it, and if you don't drive in ~5 mins Leaf disengages the system, so if you open the door, wait for 5-10 minutes then press brake pedal and press the power button, the system will try to prime itself when brake pedal is pressed, and it'll fail to do it properly (You can even feel some metal clunking in brake pedal at that time), so you will have diminished brake power until you press brake few times.
I went to dealer with that, and they have Nissan engineers to investigate, but at the end they said that it works as expected, "it's just how Nissan electrically assisted brakes work"

In any case, if it is not initial priming of the brakes, and you can consistently reproduce it, bring it to a dealer and ask for technician to drive with you.

Guy's tell me I am not the only one with that problem???

Here is how to reproduce it EVERY time on my car:

- trickle charge the car for more than an hour
- get on the road in Eco mode, the minute you depress the pedal, the car does not coast, keep the same speed, dot or NOT goint to the left (regen), brake will not slow the car as fast as if the problem does not occurs, pressing the brake will not regen either.

It is happening sometimes when I charge with the 240V, but EVERY time when I trickle charge...

 

[carphen]

My similar experience to this is charging to 80%, neither hot nor cold, and heading downhill from home, - the regen does not always "work", so I'm going downhill on friction brakes, and if I try "pumping" or lifting off and re-applying, it often comes back, and stays on while I am pressing the brakes. It does seem to work a bit better at lesser charge. My sense is that it is "sticky", and can be loosened by accelerating (briefly, going downhill!)

The no-regen at 100% charge is a dis-incentive to leaving my house full, as I have to ride the brakes down a 1300 ft 3 mile hill.