Question to 2013/14 drivers from a 2012 driver.

Well I took a 2014 Leaf S for a test drive yesterday. My Volt lease is coming due in a few months, and my 2012 Leaf lease is about a year out from ending so trying to figure out what I want to go with next...

One of the confusing things I noticed on the 14' was that even though it was discharged below 80% the estimated charge time on 6kw and 3kw were the same? In my mind it would charge twice as fast on 6kw but maybe I am missing something. Is that normal though even if it is between 70-80% SOC? I would be really bummed to get a new Leaf with a 6kw charger to have it still charge from my drive in 5 and a half hours.

For the SV/SL guys did Nissan get rid of the annoying Carwings "OK" everytime I go to drive the car? They only had that S on the lot and since it has a base radio without Carwings obviously I couldn't see that. I did a search on here and found all the threads of people complaining about it, but never one of whether it went away or not.. However I don't see any threads started by 13/14 owners so I would assume they did remove it.

Looking forward to see what this year brings. I am going to at least wait until the 2015MY is announced hopefully with the heat tolerant battery. However if the 15 isn't much different may just snatch up a 14', but the dealer had no answers for the above questions. Thanks for any help.

Ok message is pops up once every 30 days

Battery charge time slows down as battery gets fuller

Thanks. That is fantastic about the screen message.. Real bummer about the 6kw charger. Guess I will save my money then and drop plans to get a 30 amp EVSE and upgrade the wiring. I figured it slowed down similar to the DCFC due to heat at the top end. I figured on a 30 amp EVSE though that this slowdown would occur in the low to mid 90% region. Wouldn't have expected it to be the same from 70% or so.

I wouldn't expect the times to be the same at L-2. L-1 times *would* be the same, though. The estimator for charge time is not accurate.

for my '14 S with quickcharge option, the 3K and 6K times are not the same. Maybe the car you drove did not have the 6K charge ability installed? I'm not sure, but I think the 6K charge is part of the quickcharge option.

Even with the 3kw charger the charging time estimate is usually quite a bit off (it always takes less time).

I plugged my '13 SV in the other day, with 51% SOC showing on the dash. Two hours later, we pulled out of the garage with 100% showing, but one of the dash lights was still blinking, I assume that it was equalizing or something. Using a Schneider L2, 30-amp EVSE.

Phatcat73 said:

Ok message is pops up once every 30 days

Battery charge time slows down as battery gets fuller

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Yep on both.

Roadburner440 said:

Thanks. That is fantastic about the screen message.. Real bummer about the 6kw charger. Guess I will save my money then and drop plans to get a 30 amp EVSE and upgrade the wiring. I figured it slowed down similar to the DCFC due to heat at the top end. I figured on a 30 amp EVSE though that this slowdown would occur in the low to mid 90% region. Wouldn't have expected it to be the same from 70% or so.

Click to expand...

For me, from monitoring Chargepoint graphs when charging my car at work, if I charge only to 80%, it's drawing pretty much at full power the whole time ~5.8 to 6.0 kW @ 208 volts, then the power is abruptly cut. There's no noticeable taper/slowdown. If there is, it seems to be only 0.1 to 0.2 kW or so. It's unclear if it's some sort of taper, slowing down to keep the OBC from overheating or due to voltage fluctuations at work.

If charging to 100%, there is a tapering somewhere past the 80% mark (not sure when exactly) then it'll hit 0 and there will be some bounces before it stops completely. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=338038#p338038" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

As for the dash display's time estimates, yes, as you get closer to 100%, the 6 kW and 3 kW are closer or sometimes the same. As you're further from 100%, they're further apart.

At work, I've observed '11 and '12 Leafs (have the front fender marker lights, unlike the '13+ Leafs) pulling ~3.7 kW @ 208 volts. Chevy Volts seem to pull ~3.1 kW. My Leaf on those same EVSEs pulls ~5.8 to 6.0 kW.

jdunmyer said:

I plugged my '13 SV in the other day, with 51% SOC showing on the dash. Two hours later, we pulled out of the garage with 100% showing, but one of the dash lights was still blinking, I assume that it was equalizing or something. Using a Schneider L2, 30-amp EVSE.

Click to expand...

Which lights were on and which was blinking? Without knowing that, all we can do is guess.

Seeley said:

I'm not sure, but I think the 6K charge is part of the quickcharge option.

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It is. On the S trim level, the "charge package" includes the 6 kW on-board charger and the CHAdeMO (DC FC) port. If it was a '13+ S trim and it had no CHAdeMO port, it also didn't have the 6 kW OBC, only a 3.3 kW OBC.

Oh yeah, if the OP didn't know, supposedly Nissan removed the charge to 80% setting on the '14 Leafs. :roll: (Long story, see http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15526" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://insideevs.com/2014-nissan-leaf-mostly-unchanged-as-range-technically-moves-up-to-84-miles/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false.

On the '13 Leaf SV and SL, you could limit its charge to 80% via both the timers and via a "long life mode" setting on the nav screen that was separate from the timers. I hear the latter didn't exist on the '11 and '12s.

jdunmyer wrote:
I plugged my '13 SV in the other day, with 51% SOC showing on the dash. Two hours later, we pulled out of the garage with 100% showing, but one of the dash lights was still blinking, I assume that it was equalizing or something. Using a Schneider L2, 30-amp EVSE.

Which lights were on and which was blinking? Without knowing that, all we can do is guess.

Click to expand...

IIRC, the LH light was blinking (as viewed from the driver's seat). I didn't pay a lot of attention at the time, and didn't really think it'd be showing 100% SOC after only a couple of hours.

What do those lights show? I thought that the RH light would be blinking when the SOC was low, then the center, then the LH light would blink as SOC approached 100%. Will have to re-read the manual, I guess.

^^^
Re-read the manual. There's a bit more to it than what you've stated.

From what you've described, it could've either been in the ~67 to 100% phase (if 2 lights were lit + driver's side light was blinking), charging the 12 volt or been doing pre-heat or pre-cool (if only the driver's side light was lit).

BTW, for the OP, some more data points. My dash display is showing 51% SoC. Below are its charge time estimates:

To 80% Charge:
240V 6kW 1:30
240V 3kW 2:30
120V 7:00 <-- sometimes this is wrong for 80%, I've posted about this before. Just a minute or two ago, it was showing 11:00, which is WAY off.

To 100% Charge:
240V 6kW 3:30
240V 3kW 5:00
120V 12:30

This is the one we drove: http://www.hallnissanofchesapeake.com/new-cars/2014-nissan-leaf-4dr-hb-s-v1548902/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . Which now has 31 miles on it instead of 6. :mrgreen: It had the DCFC port which means it had the 6kw charger installed. I am guessing maybe because they leave it hitched up the charger, or I needed to get it closer to 50% like one of the other guys was saying. At 50% SOC an hour makes a difference I suppose. Not really sure what I was expecting to see out of it really.

Good data on Chargepoint though. 5.8-6kwh is pretty respectable. Guess I will have to start shopping for a charger after all. Don't really need to charge faster but if I do upgrade be darn right I am going to use it.

As a side note since there are quite a few of you now are the Bose system and Around View Monitor any good? Not a super picky audiophile type, but my stock speakers in the 12' have a bit of static and such at higher volumes. The AVM I think just looks pretty cool, and having the button there would save me from having to crack the door to see if I am in the lines, and put it in reverse to get the backup cam to come on to make sure I'm in the spot far enough (lazy and poor parking I know). Cause I really doubt I will ever see a SL here unless I order one like I did with mine. Cause just like yesterday they wanted me to take the S home bad even though they knew all I wanted was a quote to extend the warranty out to the end of my lease term for the 39 months/39,000mi. Also to get clarification on the "Early Lease Termination Fee." Which if any of you were wondering there is no extra fee. Just pay the rest of your payments, the disposition fee, wear and tear, and hand the keys over.

Here's another data point (from some pics I have):
Dash display was showing 22% SoC. Below are its charge time estimates:

To 80% Charge:
240V 6kW 2:30
240V 3kW 4:30
120V 14:00

To 100% Charge:
240V 6kW 4:30
240V 3kW 6:00
120V 19:30

Re: Bose stereo and AVM, I'm enjoying the Bose stereo even though I am NOT a fan of Bose. I did listen to the stock SV and SL stereo briefly (should be the same as the only stereo on the '11s and '12s) vs. the Bose and felt the Bose was (not surprisingly) better. The S trim has a different 4-speaker stereo than the 6-speaker base stereo on the '13+ SV and SL. So, if you take the S, it will likely be a step down in sound quality vs. what you have now.

As for AVM, I LOVE it! It's great stuff. IMHO, it was worth it, esp. if it might help prevent me getting curb rash on my wheels. Push the camera button until you see the right side view.

To me, the AVM was worth it.

My initial thoughts about the QC + LED package (on the SV) were that it was a waste of money, due to the poor DC FC infrastructure in the Bay Area (too few reasonably priced DC FCs (NOT a fan of $5/session unreliable Blink DC FCs), not enough DC FCs in the right places, lines at some free ones + inconsiderate drivers). Now that I've used my DC FC port 7 times (had my car since end of July 2013).... my thoughts are beginning to change on that. It's now more borderline "worth it", to me.

I didn't want the SL as I don't care for leather and certainly didn't care to pay more for the stuff on the SL. I don't like black interiors for the Leaf either. It looks very depressing. So, SV it was. I had to get them to do a dealer swap in order to get the light interior, an exterior color I wanted + option packages I wanted.

Nissan should really have another interior color choice that's sort of a darker beige or grey, but not black. I felt the grey interior of my former 02 Maxima GXE was totally fine and not so light that it'd look dirty easily.