Just leased the 2013 SV

[gotkwah]

I just leased the 2013 SV (base-no upgrades) last night. it had 4 miles on it (sales guy claimed it just came off the truck, cant see how he could be lying...)

when i got there he had it charging and it was almost full when i left. Its now down to about 65%. I am wondering how i should "condition" the new batt? do i treat it like a cell phone batt and do a couple of almost complete discharges/recharges? it definitely is still learning its range, b/c it started dropping fast then leveled out at 60miles for a little while during my drive home from the dealer.

thanks guys.

 

[surfingslovak]

Congrats! Please don't pay much attention to the guessometer (GOM), it has a very short memory. It won't hurt to charge and discharge the battery, but it's also not really necessary. If anything, it will help you to familiarize yourself the vehicle and its strengths and limitations. The battery controller will likely benefit from a full charge and relatively deep discharge from time to time, but Nissan has never said anything about this, and it may not be necessary.

 

[Petecomp1]

That's why we call it a "Guess-O-Meter". It jumps around a lot based on your current speed/conditions. Here is what my '13 SV GOM does during my daily trips:
SOC start Location -Avg speed-Distance GOM (at end of segment) Actual miles
100% -- Lv home - 35mph - 2 mi -- 114 -- 2
96% -- Enter freeway-65mph-10 mi -- 80 -- 12
89% -- Lv freeway - 30mph - 3 mi -- 90 -- 15
81% -- Rtn freeway - 65mph - 10 mi -- 72 -- 25
62% -- Arr home - 35mph - 2 mi -- 70 -- 27
With A/C or heater on, deduct 5 miles.
So you can see the freeway is the big GOM killer. I can do the same trip on 50 mph back road and come home with 80% and 90 miles GOM.
Now that I'm thoroughly familiar with the car I have learned to trade speed for miles on a routine basis. If I need more miles in town, I take the back roads. If I need to get there quickly, I use the freeway. My total trip never exceeds 50 miles and at worst case I've never come home with less than 30 miles GOM and 3 bars (about 35% SOC)
I have never done anything special to "condition" the battery and after 4 months it appears to have the exact same capacity as when new. Based on many hours of research on this I'd say the most important thing is to keep the battery at a lower SOC during any extended period of storage (i.e., not driving) the Leaf. I do always try to park it with a 80% or less SOC if not driving for a couple of days, especially in summer heat.

 

[gotkwah]

thanks guys.

ill drive it till it gets in the 20% charge range and then i can actually plug it in for trickle charge up to 28hrs (ill be out of town) should i set it to charge only to 80% at that point, or go to 100?

 

[gergg]

80%

 

[thankyouOB]

best battery advice:
avoid charging to 100%, as much as possible.
always charge to 80% -- 10 bars -- and add the last two bars close to the time of departure.
if you have L2, that means charging about an hour before you leave.

 

[gotkwah]

thanks guys.

any other advise for a brand new owner?

i am looking for some seat covers, i saw some mention of WetOkole. anything else out there a good fit? trying to keep costs down, but need to protect the light cloth interior to avoid charges at the end of the lease... also looking for good mats, ideally the heavy duty plastic ones for the front, at least.

lastly, where should i post to try and find out if anyone has a 2013 evseupgrade.com cord they want to part (trade) with?

 

[RonDawg]

any other advise for a brand new owner?

Many of us OVERinflate our tires. The S and SV (and all older Leafs) came from the factory with the Bridgestone Ecopias. Early Leafers have found that if they followed the manufacturer's tire pressure recommendation, the outside of the tires wore faster than the inside, as if it were UNDERinflated.

The maximum rated tire pressure molded on the sidewall of these Ecopias is 44 psi, but I think it rides a bit too harsh at that setting, so I went with the "Goldilocks" setting of 40 psi. Still a bit firm, but not as firm as 44 psi.

lastly, where should i post to try and find out if anyone has a 2013 evseupgrade.com cord they want to part (trade) with?

In the upper left corner click on "Board Index" then go to "Marketplace" then "Private For Sale/Want to Buy." That takes you to the private sales section of the forum, where you can find anything from individual parts and accessories to whole cars. Currently there is one upgraded EVSE for sale (posted less than a month ago). It's from a 2012 car but will still work with yours.

 

[gotkwah]

any other advise for a brand new owner?

lastly, where should i post to try and find out if anyone has a 2013 evseupgrade.com cord they want to part (trade) with?

In the upper left corner click on "Board Index" then go to "Marketplace" then "Private For Sale/Want to Buy." That takes you to the private sales section of the forum, where you can find anything from individual parts and accessories to whole cars. Currently there is one upgraded EVSE for sale (posted less than a month ago). It's from a 2012 car but will still work with yours.

thanks! i thought there was something different from the 2012 to the 2013 with the EVSE?


also, ideally what amp rating should my new outlet be? 30 or 40?

 

[RonDawg]

The 2013 EVSE's do look different (skinnier and taller) than the older ones but are fundamentally the same. Both are made by Panasonic and are considered high quality units.

The difference is that the 2013 models are upgradeable to a higher amperage than the older ones. If you have a Leaf with the faster On Board Charger (yours does) then it will charge the car faster. But if you will be charging overnight anyway, it doesn't really make a difference whether your car is done in 4 or 7 hours, unless you have a Time of Use Plan that makes it crucial for your charging to be done by a certain time. For example, if you get home at 2 AM and your rate spikes at 7 AM, you will want a charging system that ideally will charge faster so you don't charge at the higher rate. But if this does not apply to you, or you're not on your utility's TOU Plan, then it doesn't matter.

If you are installing a new 240 volt run from your panel, for future-proofing you will want to go with the highest capacity you can, keeping in mind your existing panel and drop (feed from the utility). For some folks, that means going with a 40 amp capability (allowing up to a 32 amp continuous draw), but on an older home with only a 100 amp service that could be an expensive upgrade, and a 20 amp circuit (16 amp continuous draw) may be more economically feasible.

 

[gotkwah]

If i am going to 240 charging then i will want to take advantage of the 6.6kw on board charge. especially since i might need to charge quickly during the day. sounds like i need to find a 2013 EVSE unit then.

I have a 4 yr old 200amp panel and meter service and all my major appliances are gas except for my double oven and central A/C (gas w/h, cooktop, dryer, furnace) so i should have no issue with a big circuit, but isnt the general rule that you only install the min amp breaker you need? so wouldnt a 35amp be sufficient? or do i need to go to 40?

 

[RonDawg]

Yes you should install the smallest breaker feasible for the load, but for a 30 amp load, you will need more than a 35 amp breaker, as you should not have a continuous load of more than 80%. So you would need a 37.5 amp breaker, but IIRC you can't get one in that size, the next size up is 40 amps.

BTW if you're going to have a dedicated 240 amp circuit installed where none existed before, consider getting a dedicated EVSE instead of upgrading your OEM. You can get a 30 amp Bosch PowerMax for as little as $600 if you don't mind having only an 18 foot cord. While twice the cost of an EVSE upgrade, you'll likely be spending more on the install than the equipment anyway so that extra $300 doesn't seem so bad.

The advantage of a dedicated 30 amp EVSE is that you can take full advantage of your Leaf's faster OBC. The EVSE Upgraded one only goes to IIRC 20 or so amps, as it only requires a 30 amp outlet (remember the 20% "cushion" I mentioned above). Plus when you return the Leaf at lease end, if you get a different BEV/PHEV, you still have a 240 volt EVSE to plug into.

 

[bradbissell]

Also note that there is a 30% federal tax credit if you install a hardwired evse. 30% is on total install cost + evse.

 

[RonDawg]

Also note that there is a 30% federal tax credit if you install a hardwired evse. 30% is on total install cost + evse.

Good to mention that. I also recall reading somewhere else here that this credit may not be renewed for 2014, so now's your chance.

Another thing:

when i got there he had it charging and it was almost full when i left. Its now down to about 65%. I am wondering how i should "condition" the new batt? do i treat it like a cell phone batt and do a couple of almost complete discharges/recharges?

Every now and then, you may want to charge to 100% and leave it plugged it for a few hours afterward to allow for cell balancing. This helps to maximize the battery usage.

But you have to balance that with the fact that we are in the middle of summer, and that you should not leave the car at 100% for long periods of time especially when it's warm. So do your charging overnight and if possible try to drive the car first thing in the morning. You don't need to go all the way to LBW, but just enough to ideally get the car to 10/12 charge bars or less. I do this on my day off and try to combine it with other errands.

The rest of the time, charge only to 80% unless your range needs for the day dictate a full charge, and if you do need to go to 100% try to use up some of that full charge as soon as you can.

 

[gotkwah]

30% tax credit would be nice. where can i find info on that? i had looked for tax credits on chargers prior to buying but didnt find any for 2013?

however, the advantage to the EVSEupgrade is that i can use it at both my office and home. I can install 240 plugs at both places relatively inexpensively. guessing my electrician will charge $50-75 install on each one plus the materials. Especially since i plan to have my electrician working on my office panel anyway for a couple other things...

i see the evseupgrade goes up to 30amp/5kw, so a full charge would be about 5 hrs instead of 4 on a 40amp? prob good enough for me.

thanks to everyone for all the advice

 

[RonDawg]

30% tax credit would be nice. where can i find info on that? i had looked for tax credits on chargers prior to buying but didnt find any for 2013?

http://www.chargepoint.com/taxcredit/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

however, the advantage to the EVSEupgrade is that i can use it at both my office and home. I can install 240 plugs at both places relatively inexpensively. guessing my electrician will charge $50-75 install on each one plus the materials. Especially since i plan to have my electrician working on my office panel anyway for a couple other things...

And having to unstow, plug in, unplug, and re-stow the OEM EVSE gets old very quickly. If you have to plug in at work using the OEM EVSE, a dedicated EVSE at home cuts the number of times you have to do this by half.

However, if work is willing to provide a 240 volt outlet, but not install a 240 volt EVSE, consider getting both a dedicated EVSE and upgrading the OEM one. Your tax credit from installing a hard-wired one at home will likely pay for the latter.

Also, do you have a 240 volt circuit in your garage already, in an area near where you would like to place the charging station? If not, running that line is where the bulk of your installation costs are going to come from.

i see the evseupgrade goes up to 30amp/5kw, so a full charge would be about 5 hrs instead of 4 on a 40amp? prob good enough for me.

No, the EVSE upgraded ones only go to 20 amps/5 kW. It says it requires a 30 amp outlet, though if you can find a 25 amp one I don't see why that wouldn't work. Your Leaf can charge at up to 6 kW so you will need something bigger than 20 amps to take full advantage of that.

 

[LeftieBiker]

First, read the manual. You have to do this - at least the parts that apply to the car itself. If you don't want to know how to use the stereo, that's your decision. It's a long manual, but the car isn't exactly "intuitive" so read it.

Second, don't treat the battery like it has to be "conditioned." Treat it like it has to be cared for: don't run it below 20%, and only charge to 100% right before you use it, and only when you actually need 100%. Also, 95% is better than 100% if it's all you need. Whenever possible, charge to 80%. It is no problem at all to leave it at 50% or so (or 80%), just keep in mind how much charge you will need, and plan for it to have more than that amount when you use it. Think of both ends of the charge range as being "Red Zones" that you should avoid, with 20% being the low end and 100% being the high end.

 

[gotkwah]

ok, thanks for all the advice guys.

i am going to try living with just the trickle charge for a little and see how it goes for me. If i see i need something more, i will explore options then (evseupgrade vs. hardwired charge station)

about charging the battery. if i set the charge to max at 80%, there is no harm in leaving it plugged in for an extended periods of time, right? for example, if it only needs 16hrs to get to 80% on trickle, can i leave it plugged in when i will be out of town for 28-30hrs? just want to be sure.

also, we are expecting a lot of rain over the next several days, is there any issue with leaving the evse outside and hooked up during lots of rain?

 

[planet4ever]

about charging the battery. if i set the charge to max at 80%, there is no harm in leaving it plugged in for an extended periods of time, right? for example, if it only needs 16hrs to get to 80% on trickle, can i leave it plugged in when i will be out of town for 28-30hrs? just want to be sure.

also, we are expecting a lot of rain over the next several days, is there any issue with leaving the evse outside and hooked up during lots of rain?

No problem with the rain. And no problem leaving it plugged in a day or two, but don't leave it plugged in for a week or more. It's not a problem with the traction battery, but it can be rough on your 12v battery. It turns out the car won't keep the 12v charged while the traction battery is plugged in but not charging. Some people seem to get lucky, but quite a few have come back from vacations to a totally dead 12v battery. It's not a complete disaster, because it can be jumped, assuming you are in a situation where you can do that. But safer to leave the car unplugged (the traction battery will be good for months) or connect a battery tender to the 12v.

Ray

 

[Klayfish]

Piggy backing onto this thread. My first commute to work with the LEAF today. 25 miles each way. Left home with ROM saying 76 miles, got here with it saying 52, I think I'm at 7 bars.

I know it's not optimal to charge to 100%. However, I'm a bit concerned that 80% may not be enough for my commute, especially if I need to run the A/C or heat. I'm getting a plug installed at work, compliments of the town I work in, which is awesome. That should make my concern a moot point. However, I always like to plan for worst case...if the plug in the garage breaks, etc...and be prepared to have to go 50 miles round trip if needed. That said, how much of a "cushion" do you leave yourself? i.e. how many miles or bars do you plan to arrive home with? I don't want to always charge to 100%, so that I'm taking good care of the battery, but I'd be nervous if 80% charge only left me with 5 miles when I got home...wouldn't be fun driving the last 10 miles with the low battery warning going off.