New LEAF owner - 2013 SL - My Initial Questions

[Rmstone]

Hi all,

First, a quick thanks in advance. This is my post post and I am very glad there is a active community/forum for leaf owners. I'm am about 3 weeks in to owning a 2013 SL, with about 12k miles.

I live in Los Angeles and have 28 miles round trip commute on the 405. One of my main reasons for buying the Leaf is the HOV access, which saves me 8-10 minutes on each leg. I cannot charge at work, and occasionally have to dart around town during my work day to our retail location or warehouse. Non of those legs are more than 5 miles apart but traffic is heavy all day.

So far, I have not had the low battery warning. I've averaged 4.3m/kWh but would like to improve on that as get more familiar with the car. I reset that every morning. After the first day I've made a concerted effort to drive as conservatively as possible, mostly in B-ECO mode.

Here are my questions, in no particular particular:

1) What are your tips for driving up hill? About 3 miles of my commute is moderate to steep grade uphill at 15-25 mph.

2) What is the best way to coast downhill at slow-and-go speeds between 35-55 mph? I have about 6 miles of this and am usually at 2.5m/kWh at the peak of the hill and then up to 6.0m/kWh when I get to my office.

3) I've noticed that after my downhill coast, which is mostly flat, my average m/kWh continues to increase, almost as if the computer couldn't process the full regeneration in real time and continues updating that calculation over the subsequent 5-10 miles driven. Does this happen to anyone else?

4) does charging to 100% really degrade the battery?

Feel free to responds to any of all of these questions.

 

[desiv]

4) does charging to 100% really degrade the battery?

There are a few schools of thought around this one..
I think the 2 things we've learned that seem pretty well accepted are that:
-Charging to 100% and leaving it for an extended period of time without using it (days is the common thought) can cause problems with battery life.
-Charging to 100% and using it (not letting it sit for days at full) doesn't appear to damage the battery significantly.

Beyond that, it's dicey.
There are people who think deep-ish charge cycles (fairly low-ish, tho not too low) to full can actually help battery life (exercising the battery).
There are people who think that any 100% charging shortens the life, but to what extent?

The other thing that is apparently most important is the effect of heat on the battery (although the newer "Lizard" battery seems to be handling this much better with the anecdotal reports so far).
If your battery is already hot, charging can increase heat (especially QCs).

That being said, frequent QCs don't appear to be as damaging at initially thought, as long as the battery doesn't get too hot.

So, might charging to 100% hurt the battery? Possibly. In fact, all charging eventually decreases the battery's life.. ;-) But it doesn't appear to do so significantly.

At least, from what I've been able to gather. But I'm not an engineer / battery expert / physicist / chemist / <anything really useful in this field>. Just a Leaf owner.. ;-)

Enjoy!

desiv

 

[Rmstone]

thanks for the reply.

Do I have the newer "lizard" battery?

Does leaving my L2 plugged in after a charge (to either 80 or 100%) degrade the battery at all?

 

[desiv]

Do I have the newer "lizard" battery?

2013? Probably not, unless your battery was replaced with one before you got it..
They started them in the 15's (and supposedly some 14's maybe). Replaced batteries since they released the Lizard have been with the Lizard.

Does leaving my L2 plugged in after a charge (to either 80 or 100%) degrade the battery at all?

Not that I've heard (I do that myself).

desiv

 

[SteveInSeattle]

I would recommend that you charge to 80% if that provides enough capacity for your needs. Nissan eliminated the ability to specify 80% on the newest models-- but they did that to achieve a better EPA rating, not for valid engineering reasons. Beyond that I recommend just driving normally and not being concerned with squeezing the most efficiency (unless that is your source of gratification). My gratification comes from enjoying the continuous power band of the EV and enjoying brisk acceleration when able.

 

[desiv]

Nissan eliminated the ability to specify 80% on the newest models-- but they did that to achieve a better EPA rating, not for valid engineering reasons.

I've heard that mentioned, but I haven't heard that mentioned by "valid engineers".. ;-)

I'm sure that was part of their decision, as they are in business; but I think it's likely that actual statistics (which they gather with carwings) played into that decision as well..
I prefer to judge by the reports of the people who have been charging to 100% and not noticing any extra significant degradation.

But that's what opinions are all about.. ;-)

desiv