Issues with Japanese Import Leafs in New Zealand

[Tinpotgeneral]

New Zealand is seeing a large influx of Japanese import used Nissan Leafs, mostly 2011's with very low mileages. Many dealers are getting on the bandwagon as these cars are relatively cheap (about 15k NZD landed, 20k retail). Working for a large car importer myself (although not in car importing) I decided I should get one and drive it to gain an understanding of them (and for green reasons).

I got a 2011 with 14000km on it as my new company car. But after only a few days I've noticed the range seems less than what I would expect, I seem to be getting only around 90km (55 miles) to a charge without using any accessories, driving on straight flat roads in 20 degrees Celsius conditions.

The battery condition meter is showing the full 12 bars, but on further investigation on this forum it seems that it may have been reset in Japan and the battery may be severely degraded? Another possibility is that I am using more energy for each Km travelled, due to some fault or setting on the car? I'm currently doing about 5.7km/Kw h. Anyone got any ideas?

I've ordered an OBDC connector and downloaded leaf spy to confirm this in the coming days. I'm wondering if this is going to be a big problem with these Japanese import leafs? and if there is any way for our agents in Japan to tell easily what the actual condition of the battery is?

 

[RonDawg]

Your agents in Japan need to buy their own OBDII adapters and an app such as LeafSpy. They can then report back to you what the battery condition is.

 

[cliff]

Even if the capacity gauge is correct, for a 2011 it would be probably be close to the 15% degradation.
This would mean about 17.8 to 17.9 kwh usable (usable meaning to car shut off). You did not say
what your cut off for 55 meant, it could be lining up to the read bars of the capacity gauge, the low
battery warning, the very low battery warning, turtle, or car shut off. your number of 5.7 km/kwh is
pretty low, when I was making my daily 40 mile round trip commute (mostly 60mph highway)
I was averaging 4.2 miles/kwh (6.8km/kwh) and would do better if going through the city. Be sure
and check your tire pressure, when I purchased new, my pressure was way below the listed 36psi,
I now use above this, and it makes a very noticeable difference . So for your 5.7 km/kwh, 55 miles
could be reasonable.

 

[Tinpotgeneral]

I haven't had a chance to check the battery with leaf spy yet, but I'm still running at 5.9km/Kw h. I put the car on the hoist this morning, wondering if the brakes were dragging or some other drag on the wheels issue, but they are completely free. My drive is mostly 60mph (100km) dead flat, few corners (Canterbury plains). A friend with an identical car driving in hilly windy conditions gets 7 to 8km/Kwh... So I'm at a bit of a loss. Tire pressure is 36 psi (was the first thing I checked). 12v accessory battery is at 12.2 volts (seems a little low) could this be my problem, any other suggestions for a noob?

 

[DaveEV]

Tire pressure is 36 psi (was the first thing I checked).

What kind of tires are on your LEAF? Can you switch wheels for a couple days with your friend to compare?

How low are you running the battery when you get to 55 miles?

 

[Tinpotgeneral]

Tire pressure is 36 psi (was the first thing I checked).

What kind of tires are on your LEAF? Can you switch wheels for a couple days with your friend to compare?

How low are you running the battery when you get to 55 miles?

Tyres are Dunlop ENASAVE Ec202 205/65/16 I assume they are the factory tyres, My friends lives about 1000km's away so not so much on the wheel swapping. He mentioned maybe wheel alignment, but the car drives straight as a die.

Ran it till I had about 25km left and had done about 65km at that point, I think somewhere around 3 bars remaining, I haven't let it get very flat yet. But I figure I should be getting at least 100km's? My battery condition meter is still at 12 bars and the car has only done 14000km's. Thanks

 

[2k1Toaster]

Those last 3 bars have lots of charge left. The Guess-O-Meter is just that, you can never just add the guess to actual and extrapolate. I would drive until it dies and report back. I assume wherever you are there is a wall outlet you can charge it up when it dies with an appropriate extension cord.

 

[Tinpotgeneral]

Those last 3 bars have lots of charge left. The Guess-O-Meter is just that, you can never just add the guess to actual and extrapolate. I would drive until it dies and report back. I assume wherever you are there is a wall outlet you can charge it up when it dies with an appropriate extension cord.

I suspect that the battery is probably ok, but how is the km per kw/h calculated, is this accurate? I would still seem to be using more power per km of driving than I should be? or am I just a paranoid new leaf owner?

 

[2k1Toaster]

I get 4-5 km/kWh. I have winter tires, live around mountains, and drive it like I stole it. When I drove it more economically it went up a bit more. But I would say your numbers aren't that bad.

300 Wh/mi is not unrealistic for normal driving. The Prius gets about 285 Wh/mi which when you invert and multiply to get km/kWh, is closer to your numbers.

You moat likely won't feel comfortable with the car until you know where it dies. I had mine a year before I was brave enough (or stupid enough) to drive waaaaay outside of range, rely on public charging, and barely making it home with all the warning beeps. That's when you realize just how much extra safety net is there after the car cries wolf.

 

[Tinpotgeneral]

I get 4-5 km/kWh. I have winter tires, live around mountains, and drive it like I stole it. When I drove it more economically it went up a bit more. But I would say your numbers aren't that bad.

300 Wh/mi is not unrealistic for normal driving. The Prius gets about 285 Wh/mi which when you invert and multiply to get km/kWh, is closer to your numbers.

You moat likely won't feel comfortable with the car until you know where it dies. I had mine a year before I was brave enough (or stupid enough) to drive waaaaay outside of range, rely on public charging, and barely making it home with all the warning beeps. That's when you realize just how much extra safety net is there after the car cries wolf.

One public charge station in the city... will drive around and around it one day soon to see how far I can get....

 

[dwl]

The range charts in these forums state 97 kph gets 6.3 km/kWh and 105 kph gets 5.8 km/kWh so if most of the travel is at these speeds the car seems about right consumption. Next step is Leaf Spy to get more accurate picture of battery and especially whether there are any weak cells which might reduce the available capacity at the lower charge levels. Getting comfortable with remaining capacity is a bit risky in the middle of the Canterbury plains

There may be others from https://www.facebook.com/groups/NZEVOwners/ or https://www.facebook.com/groups/ChristchurchEVGroup/ in your area who may be able to help if you want to borrow a OBD adapter and share notes. Higher speeds really do suck the range and this includes headwinds.

 

[Tinpotgeneral]

I get 4-5 km/kWh. I have winter tires, live around mountains, and drive it like I stole it. When I drove it more economically it went up a bit more. But I would say your numbers aren't that bad.

300 Wh/mi is not unrealistic for normal driving. The Prius gets about 285 Wh/mi which when you invert and multiply to get km/kWh, is closer to your numbers.

You moat likely won't feel comfortable with the car until you know where it dies. I had mine a year before I was brave enough (or stupid enough) to drive waaaaay outside of range, rely on public charging, and barely making it home with all the warning beeps. That's when you realize just how much extra safety net is there after the car cries wolf.

Well, drove it until low battery warning, 114.3 km total distance traveled, 7.1km/kWh, mostly at 90km/h no air-con or other accessories, have increased my tyre pressure to 40psi.

 

[2k1Toaster]

I get 4-5 km/kWh. I have winter tires, live around mountains, and drive it like I stole it. When I drove it more economically it went up a bit more. But I would say your numbers aren't that bad.

300 Wh/mi is not unrealistic for normal driving. The Prius gets about 285 Wh/mi which when you invert and multiply to get km/kWh, is closer to your numbers.

You moat likely won't feel comfortable with the car until you know where it dies. I had mine a year before I was brave enough (or stupid enough) to drive waaaaay outside of range, rely on public charging, and barely making it home with all the warning beeps. That's when you realize just how much extra safety net is there after the car cries wolf.

Well, drove it until low battery warning, 114.3 km total distance traveled, 7.1km/kWh, mostly at 90km/h no air-con or other accessories, have increased my tyre pressure to 40psi.

Which warning?

 

[Tinpotgeneral]

I get 4-5 km/kWh. I have winter tires, live around mountains, and drive it like I stole it. When I drove it more economically it went up a bit more. But I would say your numbers aren't that bad.

300 Wh/mi is not unrealistic for normal driving. The Prius gets about 285 Wh/mi which when you invert and multiply to get km/kWh, is closer to your numbers.

You moat likely won't feel comfortable with the car until you know where it dies. I had mine a year before I was brave enough (or stupid enough) to drive waaaaay outside of range, rely on public charging, and barely making it home with all the warning beeps. That's when you realize just how much extra safety net is there after the car cries wolf.

Well, drove it until low battery warning, 114.3 km total distance traveled, 7.1km/kWh, mostly at 90km/h no air-con or other accessories, have increased my tyre pressure to 40psi.

Which warning?

Very low battery warning.. three dashes no mileage left..