Newbie - Help - Covid - Leaf only gets 40mi - need to drive to work

[cgott42]

Hi:
I have had my Leaf since July 2013. I love the car, and it works perfect for me - 50.3 mi. round trip commute to work. However during Covid I haven't driven it much at all (maybe 20 mi/ WEEK! - all very local).
Now my employer is demanding that we come back to the office.
I notice that when I drive the car after a charge - it says I have about 50 mi. , and then after driving 10 miles it'll say that I have have 20 miles left - but still show 75% of the bars.
(a) I don't want for the battery to die on (and have to get towed) but I want to know how many miles I can get - if I can get 55 mi to work w/typical highway driving
(B) if not - what can I do ? Can I get a new battery? Is it worth it?

thx

 

[LeftieBiker]

There are two possible issues here. First, the range estimator (aka "Guess O Meter") is infamous for acting much as you describe. However, if you aren't doing any extreme driving like hot-rodding or climbing large hills at highway speed, it is also possible that you have one or more cells in the battery that have gotten weak, and are triggering the big changes in range estimation. If this is the case, then the bad news is that one or more bad cells can drastically shorten the range, because the car can only go as far as the weakest cells allow. Once the voltage of even one cell drops into the low voltage 'danger zone' the battery management system has to slow, then shut the car down.

Now for the possible good news: if the above scenario is the case, then you may be eligible for a free replacement battery, covered under the 8 year (I'm not sure of the mileage limit in this case - it's either 80k miles or 100k miles. I think it's 80k.) battery defect warranty. Are you seeing any warning lights on the dash as you get low on charge? Has the car ever slowed down by itself?

 

[alozzy]

You'll need to get a OBD2 dongle and an app named LeafSpy for a definitive answer as to whether you have weak cells. Lots of existing info on these forums on how to use LeafSpy and what dongles work properly with the app.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKbWOkbX-CY

 

[SageBrush]

What was the LEAF like a year ago ? It just seems odd that the battery would change dramatically in a year.

Have you checked the tyre pressures, and excluded wheel rubbing ?

 

[knightmb]

Hi:
I have had my Leaf since 2014. I love the card, and it works perfect for me - approx. 55 mi round trip commute to work. However during Covid I haven't driven it much at all (maybe 20 mi/ WEEK! - all very local).
Now my employer is demanding that we come back to the office.
I notice that when I drive the car after a charge - it says I have about 50 mi. , and then after driving 10 miles it'll say that I have have 20 miles left - but still show 75% of the bars.
(a) I don't want for the battery to die on (and have to get towed) but I want to know how many miles I can get - if I can get 55 mi to work w/typical highway driving
(B) if not - what can I do ? Can I get a new battery? Is it worth it?

thx

Unless you left the Leaf at 100% SOC during those long gaps in time and provided your battery has not had some kind of issue, it might simply be time to do a full gentle discharge and re-charge to get the battery better calibrated to the pack capacity and avoid making the GOM go crazy with range estimates.

A) Do you have access to a nearby L2/L1 EVSE for charging (home, public charging, etc.)? This is the best way to check if the battery capacity has really gone down that much or the computer is just way out of calibration. You can safety drive around to run out the mileage as much as possible, then circle around your charging station / home until you hit turtle mode so can you limp back to the charging station and see how many miles you got using the mileage trip. This is about the most you can do without getting more technical with LeafSpy.

B) You will get many opinions on this, but because getting salvage packs are so difficult for those kind of upgrades (because everyone wants one to upgrade their Gen 1 Leaf), you might better off selling your Leaf and using that as a down payment to try to get a gently used Gen 2 Leaf since any of them will have twice the range of your Gen 1 Leaf. That can also be a little difficult as the used market has greatly inflated the prices of the used Leaf. Then if you do find a good deal, you have to wonder why it is a good deal and be sure you run down a good checklist of stuff to watch out for if someone is trying to sell a lemon with unspoken issues that need to be fixed.

 

[cgott42]

I haven't done any crazy driving.v pretty much between 2-10mi/day
I did try once to let it get to the turtle crawl and then I think it it said 50 mi after I charged it at home
I have a Fixd OBD scanner - will that work with Leafspy?

 

[Nubo]

The only way to be sure is to drive it. Just stay close to home.

 

[cgott42]

I can't find my Fixd and I need to get the car resolved for work - so I bought leafspy and ordered a new ODB for leaf (scheduled to arrive tomorrow) - I'll post my results

 

[SageBrush]

I can't find my Fixd and I need to get the car resolved for work - so I bought leafspy and ordered a new ODB for leaf (scheduled to arrive tomorrow) - I'll post my results

Post the cell voltage histogram at a SoC below 30%

 

[cgott42]

I bought a scanner and leafspy. I’ve attached screenshots after the car charges overinight. The dash board say 50 miles and 12 bars but probably gives me max 40mi. I see the leafspy seems to say more than 44miles - but I think that's very optimistic. I’m going to drive 10-15 later today. So we’ll see how many bars are left. Please let me know what if the readings provide helpful info as I don’t know what they mean

(I'm not sure how to upload the pics, here are the icloud links):
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0XQPfKCyLbnoGOZb4jiiRI4UQ
https://share.icloud.com/photos/08OluYLipCZJc0Gkx320Je-ug
https://share.icloud.com/photos/09XFsnLKW4WdXMe7veqOJ_wmQ
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0XpJGM7rP0Vvnzuq8LCYyrXLA
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0_Hi-8KBtmqQnao7VwpyLysyg#Chestnut_Ridge

 

[SageBrush]

Short answer:
Inflate your tyres !!!
Nothing you can fix with the battery

Longer answer:
Inflate your tyres !!!

You do not show a weak cell, but the SoC is too high to be positive. Repeat with SoC < 30%
You have about 14 kWh capacity in the best case. That is worth about 14*4 = 56 miles of total driving range for the typical driver, perhaps 14*5.5 = 70 miles for a careful driver in good conditions with properly inflated tyres and not using any cabin heating or cooling

--Summary:
I doubt anything has changed much in your LEAF this past year except the tyre pressure.
Check your tyre pressures at least once a month as the winter progresses and it gets colder.

 

[cgott42]

Thanks, and I'll inflate and repost leafspy readingings after I drain the battery (probably won't be until later this weekend)

 

[LeftieBiker]

Your photo of the dash gauge appears to show that you are down four capacity bars. That is likely the problem. What year is the Leaf? I'm guessing that it was manufactured before April of 2013, and thus has the terrible Gen I "Canary" battery. If this is the case then I'm afraid that your only option is a battery swap of some sort.

I'm afraid that you have been confusing the "Charge" bars with the Capacity bars. The car will always charge to 12 bars, even as the little capacity bars just to the right of the large charge bars go away. You have 8 of those left. If the car were still under the capacity warranty that would be good news. As it is, I doubt that this is the case.

 

[knightmb]

Once you get LeafSpy working and can read the cell voltages, capacity left, etc. I would suggest a gentle complete discharge to try and balance the cells as best as possible to be able to squeeze out as much capacity as possible when the battery hits the below 5% SOC. You have less capacity than my 2013 had before I traded it in, which is surprising, but can be worked with. At this point, you will have to avoid using the GOM for your mental range estimates and rely more on LeafSpy readings. It will help with any range anxiety this would cause using the GOM.

As was already said, check your tires, check what the max cold PSI they can handle. Remember, you are going for maximum range, not maximum comfort
Inflate those tires to 42 PSI if they max at 44 PSI. If the tires are actual Eco tires, they should max at +50 PSI. In that case, inflate your tires to 44 PSI.
Next you need to learn how to maximize power efficiency with your climate control systems. Look at the back of your Leaf and on the lower, right hand side, does it have any letters like "S, SV, or SL" on the back? We need to figure out if you have a heat-pump or just plain resistivity heating in the Leaf.

14 kWh of capacity is a tough budget for a 55 mile round trip, but it can be possible provided you take some planning ahead of time for these work trips, we will all be more than happy to offer advice as you can already tell from the responses in this topic.

I bought a scanner and leafspy. I’ve attached screenshots after the car charges overinight. The dash board say 50 miles and 12 bars but probably gives me max 40mi. I see the leafspy seems to say more than 44miles - but I think that's very optimistic. I’m going to drive 10-15 later today. So we’ll see how many bars are left. Please let me know what if the readings provide helpful info as I don’t know what they mean

(I'm not sure how to upload the pics, here are the icloud links):
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0XQPfKCyLbnoGOZb4jiiRI4UQ
https://share.icloud.com/photos/08OluYLipCZJc0Gkx320Je-ug
https://share.icloud.com/photos/09XFsnLKW4WdXMe7veqOJ_wmQ
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0XpJGM7rP0Vvnzuq8LCYyrXLA
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0_Hi-8KBtmqQnao7VwpyLysyg#Chestnut_Ridge

 

[LeftieBiker]

I'll link my Tips & Tricks document here, as most of them have to deal with increasing range.

https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=23297&p=482154

We can't give specific recommendations on using the heater yet, as that depends on what year/sub-generation the car is. Generally, use the heat as little as possible, and the seat and steering wheel heaters as much as possible. Preheat the car before driving, to increase your comfort while allowing less use of the cabin heater. If you drive a pre-2013 Leaf, then you need to add a "Heater Off" switch. The 2013+ Leafs already have one, along with a better heating system.

 

[SageBrush]

I'll link my Tips & Tricks document here, as most of them have to deal with increasing range.

https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=23297&p=482154

We can't give specific recommendations on using the heater yet, as that depends on what year/sub-generation the car is. Generally, use the heat as little as possible, and the seat and steering wheel heaters as much as possible. Preheat the car before driving, to increase your comfort while allowing less use of the cabin heater. If you drive a pre-2013 Leaf, then you need to add a "Heater Off" switch. The 2013+ Leafs already have one, along with a better heating system.

I'd also think about getting a battery heated vest since cabin heating is pretty much out of the question. No reason not to be nice and comfy during a leisurely drive to work.

 

[alozzy]

An SOH of 62%, not good news. No wonder the OP's range sucks. Looks like a rare case of a BMS reset, or the OP doesn't know the difference between capacity bars and the SOC bars.

 

[alozzy]

Just noticed the OP included a photo of the capacity bars - all 8 of them :-(

Feel bad for him/her, but clearly a purchasing decision was made before the OP understood what to look for when assessing battery health.

Based on the VIN, it appears to be a 2013

 

[LeftieBiker]

I'd also think about getting a battery heated vest since cabin heating is pretty much out of the question. No reason not to be nice and comfy during a leisurely drive to work.

A 12 volt heated blanket is even better. I used to use one when my Winter commute pushed the boundaries of my 2013's range. You can drape it down over your legs as well.

I hope that this is a 2013 SV, and not an S, for the heat pump. At least it doesn't have that terrible 'water heater' heating system.

 

[cgott42]

thanks for the responses/help
Today's Drive
I filled up my tires (except one which I could only fill part way - I'll need to refill that)
I just drove 14.6 mi (local) and the dashboard says 56% - based on that - total mileage would be ~33 miles (=14.6/(1- 0.56)
The Leafspy reading (after the drive today) see links below says 23.3 miles left until 5% --> ~38mi (= 23.3 + 14.6)
All told 40 miles would be optimistic, perhaps 50 miles possible if I drive 45 mph consistent

Next Steps
I'll drain the battery all of the way (might take me a week), and then you can tell me what to do - perhaps that could add another 10 mi to make the commute feasible
I can drive without the heat on (can look into a heated vest to wear if nec.) - can use phone radio to if necessary.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0urvL_01S1U5ck5rkyYIz5BmA
https://share.icloud.com/photos/05Xt35Ihj_VEH4_qUZcqpn8oQ
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0QW229WjVXdilmn8t2Nm2K3BQ
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0A430KvDkk1h3O6GpRNrYZMFg