How Long Have You Had A Leaf?

[DaveinOlyWA]

Darn! I got mine with 6 year financing...

Could that mean that I will need to replace the battery BEFORE I finish paying for it???

that is up to you. hard to say without a LOT more info

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Darn! I got mine with 6 year financing...

Could that mean that I will need to replace the battery BEFORE I finish paying for it???

Seeing that you're on Long Island, your battery will probably be about "end of life" (70%) at the 6 year mark. However, whether you replace it depends on your own needs. Does a 50-mile EV work for you? If so, just keep driving. If not, I wouldn't replace with another 24kWh battery; I would be looking for a new EV with a much larger battery.

 

[palmermd]

Five years, two months and 2 days. 92,091 miles.

ditto with just under 40k miles.

Nice! You are Serial No. 795?

Yes, 795.

Technically I got the leaf one day after you, but I did go attempt to pick it up on the 30th.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=3139&p=74569#p74569

And here she is on the 29th when I got to see her before they did the dealer prep work.
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2213&p=74229#p74229

 

[powersurge]

Hey guys....

I have my plans made about the car when the battery starts getting low.

I just thought it was funny that people report changing their batteries after 4-5 years. I still have the original 12v battery in my 2006 ford escape.

My plan is the following... right now my longest drive is about a 50 mile round trip. I can charge at home and near work for a LONG time. Even when the car has only 20-30 miles range, my wife will drive it for errands, since she stays home and does 10-15 miles daily.

My plan is to milk the sucker (battery) down to the dregs, and then worry about it in about 8-10 years. hopefully.

 

[geos56us]

I've had my 2011 SL for about 3-1/2 years now (since 2/23/13). I've only have just over 14,000 miles on it but have lost 3 battery capacity bars. I'm hoping that I will lose the 4th bar by August before it reaches the end of the 5 year battery degradation warranty. From a 100% charge with all city driving, the low battery warning comes on at less than 40 miles now, so the car is becoming more and more useless as time goes on. If I could turn back time, I definitely would not have bought the Leaf. Fortunately I still have 2 (old) ICE vehicles which I am driving more and more these days. Been thinking about getting rid of all 3 cars and getting a new one. I can say that my next car will definitely NOT be a pure electric. Perhaps the new Volt or back to an ICE vehicle. LOVE the new Audi A4!

 

[JimSouCal]

...My plan is to milk the sucker (battery) down to the dregs, and then worry about it in about 8-10 years. hopefully.

+1 Kind of like some of us do with laptop batteries maybe...? More time near a cord--thankfully there seems to be lots of wires around indicating electricity.

 

[jkline]

I've owned my 2012 sv for a month now. Generally happy with the car and as long as I can drive 40 miles on a charge I'll keep using it. What I didn't expect is how highway driving at 65/70 mph drains the battery. As an experiment, I drove to a nearby town on a back road and returned via the highway. My battery went from 100% to 90% driving 15 miles at 42mph; 90% to 25% after 15 miles at 70mph.

If I had to commute at those speeds, the Leaf wouldn't work for me.

 

[jjeff]

I've owned my 2012 sv for a month now. Generally happy with the car and as long as I can drive 40 miles on a charge I'll keep using it. What I didn't expect is how highway driving at 65/70 mph drains the battery. As an experiment, I drove to a nearby town on a back road and returned via the highway. My battery went from 100% to 90% driving 15 miles at 42mph; 90% to 25% after 15 miles at 70mph.

If I had to commute at those speeds, the Leaf wouldn't work for me.

Wow thats terrible! How many bars are you missing? On my 2 bar missing '12 I can regularly get ~30 miles on 50% doing 70mph the whole way(about 60 mile RT) not using the heat. I generally like to charge at my destination for ~1hr at 240v/16a so I'm not coming home empty. In your case your using ~65% for 15 miles wouldn't be even a 30 mile RT :? I take it your using LeafSpy or some other dongle to read your SOC? as the '12s lack the SOC display.

 

[jkline]

Hi JJef,

I have 11 bars and checked SOC using carwings online. Leafspy gives my battery a 82% SOH.

Needless to say, I have been impressed with my sub 60mph performance: What the guessometer says it pretty much what I'm going to get. However over 60mph was a shocker: so much so I'm wondering if there is something wrong.

Today for example: car was charged to 80%. I drove 12 miles with a/c on, 35mph and the car is at 50% charge now.

 

[Reddy]

I've had my 2011 SL for about 3-1/2 years now (since 2/23/13). I've only have just over 14,000 miles on it but have lost 3 battery capacity bars. I'm hoping that I will lose the 4th bar by August before it reaches the end of the 5 year battery degradation warranty. From a 100% charge with all city driving, the low battery warning comes on at less than 40 miles now, so the car is becoming more and more useless as time goes on. If I could turn back time, I definitely would not have bought the Leaf. Fortunately I still have 2 (old) ICE vehicles which I am driving more and more these days. Been thinking about getting rid of all 3 cars and getting a new one. I can say that my next car will definitely NOT be a pure electric. Perhaps the new Volt or back to an ICE vehicle. LOVE the new Audi A4!

Get driving that 2011 Leaf like you stole it! High acceleration/deceleration, charge to 100% with the fastest time you can (DCQC if possible), drain it as low as possible, keep it at the highest temperature possible, full sun next to a white reflecting surface, etc. Rinse and repeat several times a day, but DON'T exceed 59,999 mi or 5 years by even a single day or mile! Get that new battery and you will be smiling!

 

[ColumbiaRiverGorge]

Just about ready to lose bar #4. Hopefully only 18 more months until my Tesla model 3 arrives. I'll be close to a 30 mile range Leaf by then.

 

[Reddy]

Just about ready to lose bar #4. Hopefully only 18 more months until my Tesla model 3 arrives. I'll be close to a 30 mile range Leaf by then.

How did you do that in the Gorge? Too many quick charges? Lots of trips up/down the mountain for skiing/hiking? Are you over 100 kmi? That's a pretty steep drop for our area.

 

[ColumbiaRiverGorge]

Most of my quick charges are under 80%. I think the LEAF sitting in the heat of The Dalles during the work week cooked the battery, even though it cools down in Hood River at nights. I have about 85,000 miles on the car. I have 2000' of elevation gain, Columbia gorge headwinds, drive it 55-70 mph each day.

 

[joeriv]

2 1/2 years, just turned 13,000 miles. No trouble except for air conditioner fitting done under warranty. Normally charge to 80%, went to 100% maybe a dozen times, same with QC. Getting 4.7 mi/kwhr.

 

[Nfuzzy]

Just a month and a half shy of 2 years now. Love it. Last I checked still at 99% SOH. 21.5k miles.

99%SOH :? do you mean it still charges to 99% or are you talking SOH? If SOH what is your charging routine? 99% SOH seems extremely high for all but a brand new Leaf, I mean I think I baby my Leaf(which is basically the same year and mileage as yours) and my SOH last I checked was 88% and I use the 80% charge option almost all the time and only occasionally top to 100% to balance the cells or if I have a 70+ mile day planned. Like you I also live in a cooler climate, most of the time 4 temp bars with 5 in the summer, I'm jealous if your SOH is 99%

Didn't see this question until now. Yes I did mean SOH. For the first 8 months I charged on L1 to 70-90% (had to game it with end time, but horribly inaccurate). Then I got my L2 so now I just charge to 100% every other day. I set the end timer to just before I leave in the morning. I haven't checked it with leafspy in several months now so it is possible it has dropped. No noticeable drop in range based on my daily commute though. I still do the 27 miles on 26% SOC.
You mentioned using 80% charge though so you must have an older model year. The 15's seem to be holding up better from what I've gleaned here.

 

[Staque]

jjeff, my 2013 SV showed 100% SOH for three years.

Then, between April and today it dropped to 94%.

SOH is a weird thing, and seems very unpredictable.

 

[LeafMuranoDriver]

14 months, just under 10k miles. Still have 99% SOH but all of the other stats are lower than my best.

 

[jjeff]

Just a month and a half shy of 2 years now. Love it. Last I checked still at 99% SOH. 21.5k miles.

99%SOH :? do you mean it still charges to 99% or are you talking SOH? If SOH what is your charging routine? 99% SOH seems extremely high for all but a brand new Leaf, I mean I think I baby my Leaf(which is basically the same year and mileage as yours) and my SOH last I checked was 88% and I use the 80% charge option almost all the time and only occasionally top to 100% to balance the cells or if I have a 70+ mile day planned. Like you I also live in a cooler climate, most of the time 4 temp bars with 5 in the summer, I'm jealous if your SOH is 99%

Didn't see this question until now. Yes I did mean SOH. For the first 8 months I charged on L1 to 70-90% (had to game it with end time, but horribly inaccurate). Then I got my L2 so now I just charge to 100% every other day. I set the end timer to just before I leave in the morning. I haven't checked it with leafspy in several months now so it is possible it has dropped. No noticeable drop in range based on my daily commute though. I still do the 27 miles on 26% SOC.
You mentioned using 80% charge though so you must have an older model year. The 15's seem to be holding up better from what I've gleaned here.

Yes I have a '13 S(and also newly acquired '12 SL). Event though my SOH shows in the upper 80s on the '13 I still get what I consider excellent range for a Leaf. I really had a lot of driving to do today so I charged to 100% and my GOM showed 90 miles. At about the 1/2 way point I was able to charge for 1/2hr @ ~200v @ 19a and when I got home I had driven 100 miles(much @ ~70mph) and still had 12% showing which made me very happy. I'd have never made it with my '12 SL, it's missing 2 bars and I figure it's range is at least 20 miles less than my '13.
I also mostly use the 80% option on my '12 but must use the timer to access that feature, with my '13 if I set it to 80% it only charges to 80% either using timer or instant charge.

 

[Deleted member 19104]

9 hours...

2011 SL with 55K miles and 8 bars. Will be confirming battery replacement this week.

 

[Beefjerkie]

Just passed my 6 month mark with my little leaf, and enjoying every drive it still! Only 4k miles with mine since my drive for each day is about ~20 miles, perfect for the EV life!

I have had my moment last week with the battery didnt even know what percent it was at, but still did not trigger turtle mode.

I want to trigger it, but at the same time I don't but some day I am sure I will!