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Of course, and nobody has said anything to the contrary. At the same time, if you believe that faulty sensors and software can cause up to 30% range loss, then run with that theory. It should be easy to prove.Luft said:I think that battery capacity is the most likely answer but it's not the only possible answer.
Thank you for explaining that, we wouldn't have known otherwise. As mentioned above, it's been suggested to collect voltage readings from the cars in addition to Gids and other parameters. This was done, and we can see that cars that hit turtle mode had pack voltages in the 300 to 320 V range. This is roughly in line with what owners unaffected by range loss were reporting from their vehicles. This is also something that Jack got wrong. While he might not have had the full picture, the test was certainly not based on "bars and turtles".Luft said:The LEAF has electronics that is designed to provide an on board computer information about the battery pack's state of charge. If those electronics are giving erroneous information, that could effect the range. The LEAF is programmed to go into turtle mode and completely shut down to protect the battery pack if the state of charge falls too low. If the electronics (not the software) erroneously put low state of charge information onto the CAN bus the LEAF's on board computer may react and shut down the vehicle when in reality the battery still contains a significant amount of charge.
Voltages are measured through a separate sensor, and although a voltage reading can have an error, much like a temperature reading, there is no modification or interpretation that must be done through software. There were people suggesting that a voltage sensor error could cause variation in range, and while that's true, it won't explain something of the magnitude we observed.
Nissan is using voltages as a source of truth to correct any misestimates and errors that the software might cause, and if they are not able to measure something so fundamental correctly, then the Leaf has a big problem. Fortunately, it could be as simple as replacing a $20 sensor, which was a solution offered by another well-meaning unaffected owner who happens to live in a cold climate.
I'm glad too, whatever the reason, and wish that they would make it a priority to acquiesce the most affected and frustrated owners.Luft said:I'm glad that Nissan is taking some cars back. They may be doing so just to avoid bad PR or they may have reversed their position and agree with the battery capacity theory.
You realize that Nissan measured battery performance in a bench test at Casa Grande and shared the results with some of the owners, don't you? Red500 (Azdre/opossum) tested at 85% by Nissan, and was at 82.5% capacity during the range test. White 626 (Ticktock) tested at 87% by Nissan, and 87.5% during the range test. This information is on the Wiki as well (thank you, Stoaty).Luft said:Personally I hope that they are right about it being faulty electronics rather than an overly heat sensitive battery pack.
Exactly.cwedrna said:Sure, but then if this were the case, why hasn't Nissan come forward with this? Why did they buyback cars instead of fixing this problem or announcing that they would have a fix for this?
Nissan has pretty much confirmed that a large drop in pack capacity should be expected in the first year. What they offered as an explanation is that the loss should level off, and the battery will hold its capacity and meet the projected life cycle performance.cwedrna said:And then there are the statements by Nissan such as the Andy Palmer video at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=10257" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
There was a number of people from colder climes that criticized the test, those associated with it, and the affected owners. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, I can guarantee you that the test was conducted thoughtfully and with a high degree of accuracy considering the circumstances. It should also not come as a surprise that owners experiencing 15% range loss or more after less than 1 1/2 of ownership feel uneasy about Nissan's projections of 80% original range after five years (76% for Phoenix).