Q for people who have received warranty battery replacement.

2011 Leaf, 37K miles, Phoenix AZ

Battery dropped to 9 bars of capacity recently, and installed LEAF Spy Pro to understand the state of the battery. The state of the battery health was showing 69%. At that point I scheduled appointment with the dealer asking for a warranty battery replacement. The result was me being told it has to drop another bar in order for me to be eligible for warranty battery replacement.

So my questions:
1. Is what I was told correct? Does it need to be *way* below 70% in order to qualify for a replacement?

2. If I need to be below 70% to qualify and the 9th bar represents the spread from 72.5% capacity to 66.25%, shouldn't I be eligible *during* the 9th bar?
I understand that the data returned from LEAFspy is an estimate based on reverse engineering, but I also assume that Nissan can see at least what I see and what I'm seeing based on the data from the car is that the battery is below 70% capacity.

3. Has anyone successfully received a battery replacement while having 9 bars? From everything I've read on this forum about LEAFs in Phoenix, it's not a question of if, but of when. It seems awfully silly to me to play this game, especially if they are replacing them with reformulated packs that resist heat better. All they're really doing is putting off the inevitable and creating ill will.

I thank the crowd in advance for its wisdom.

To qualify for the capacity warranty, you must lose 4 capacity bars. The Amp hour reading is best to know how close that is. The fourth bar usually drops somewhere around 43.25 Ahr.
SOH is not capacity.

Unfortunately, particularly in the first couple of years of the Leaf, Nissan had a patent, trademark and copyright on that!

azh4x00r said:

All they're really doing is putting off the inevitable and creating ill will.

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azh4x00r said:

2011 Leaf, 37K miles, Phoenix AZ

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Your profile shows you bought the vehicle in October 2013, used I presume.
Patience, grasshopper.

As far as I know, no one has had the pack replaced @ 3 bars loss. The warranty is murky - it says "below 9 bars" which has been interpreted as 4 bars gone. But below 9 should be the next day after 9 bars loss because you are technically below 9 bars (it would be 8.99 bars remaining, etc.). In addition the warranty goes on to discuss "below 70%) which is reached between bars 9 and 8.

Because the wording is so vague you may be able to push to get it replaced, but honestly I wouldn't unless you are in danger of not making the warranty @ 8 bars. With 8 bars gone its an easy check and they replace without a hitch. If you try and force it, it would be a long battle.

I would just wait.

take your leaf to the paint shop and have them bake it for a bit to speed up the transition to the 8th bar if you are in the hurry...or repeatedly charge it on L3 :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

As long as you're still able to make your commute, why would you want to get the replacement early? Seems like you'd want to stretch it out as long as possible. Losing that 4th bar before you hit 5yr/60k miles is a certainty.

LTLFTcomposite said:

As long as you're still able to make your commute, why would you want to get the replacement early? Seems like you'd want to stretch it out as long as possible. Losing that 4th bar before you hit 5yr/60k miles is a certainty.

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I agree.

Based on what we know about the capacity bars, one has to get to: 100% - 15% - 6.25% - 6.25% - 6.25% = 66.25% for the warranty to kick in. Not "70%".

So far as to why the bar loss happens a bit below the calculated Ahr capacity of the battery for each bar, my guess is that it is due to hysteresis. Amp•hour readings fluctuate and my sense is that they have to be below the threshold for a substantial time before the capacity bar drops. Otherwise the CB would cycle off and on for an extended period of time before finally disappearing for good.