What does the 12 volt battery power?

[gschettl]

Which of the Leaf's systems are powered by the 12 volt lead acid battery? It would be nice to know if I can run my heated seats & steering wheel without affecting my range.
Also is there any dashboard indication showing when the 12 volt battery is being charged by the main Lithium battery?
Does the 12 volt battery get charged with every plug-in?

Thanks,
Gary
Jordan, Minnesota

 

[EVDRIVER]

The battery is charged as needed by the car, plugged in or not. Heated seats and steering wheel use little relative power, look at your energy screen when you turn them on.

 

[garygid]

The 12 volt system powers essentially everything except the high-voltage heating element,
the actual power to move the car, and the power to charge and operate the 12 volt system.

When the car is ON, the 12 volt system is powered by the DC-to-DC converter, which
also charges the 12v battery. When the car is off, the 12v battery powers the 12 volt
system, since the DC-to-DC converter is not working.

So, any power you use when not plugged in will reduce the range, at least slightly.
However, the reduction is often only slight, or in the "noise" and not really noticeable.

 

[davewill]

Which of the Leaf's systems are powered by the 12 volt lead acid battery? It would be nice to know if I can run my heated seats & steering wheel without affecting my range.
Also is there any dashboard indication showing when the 12 volt battery is being charged by the main Lithium battery?
Does the 12 volt battery get charged with every plug-in? ...

To the best of my knowledge, the only systems that AREN'T run from the 12v system are the main traction motor, the air conditioner, and the heater. The fans, vent control, and logic portion of the climate control ARE run from 12v. I'm sure someone will pop up with some other system that's run from the traction battery, but that's close. The seat and steering wheel heaters are 12v.

The 12v battery is charged whenever the car is in "Ready" mode, or the car is actually charging the main battery. The car will also do a "maintenance" charge of the 12v battery if the car is left off and unplugged for 5 days. Unfortunately, if you leave the car plugged in for a long period of time, it will NOT charge the 12v battery and will eventually need to be jumped.