90 degrees every day and 65 at night. Question

Hi folks. Although I often read that high temperatures are hard on leaf batteries I wonder what people consider hot.

We live in a fairly warm valley where 33 degree days (90 ish Fahrenheit) and 18 degree evenings (68 degree nights). I seldom but sometimes see 7 temp bars and once saw 8 after a couple fast charges in one day. These conditions are normal for us about three months of the year. Curious on everyone's take on long term effects for our 2016 SV under these kind of conditions. Manufactured April 16 if that means anything. We have to fast charge once or twice per week.
Looks like we will be putting about 8000 km per year on it if our averages continue. It has been 100 percent reliable since we bought it new.

Thanks for your comments.

John and Angela.

This has been covered. Short answer: no consensus, but it's the majority opinion that 6 bars or less is ok, 7 is marginal, and 8 is Hot. There is a wide temp range within the bars, so I use terms like 'low 6', 'high 6', etc. If it were me I'd avoid 8 bars like the plague when possible, especially since the 2016 30kwh pack seems less than great in maintaining SOH (capacity).

Thanks Leftie. I was hoping you would chime in. I asked a similar question before but it was more battery temp specific as opposed to ambient temperature. I am lucky that I can park in the shade mist of the time but if the ambient air is 32 degrees I kinda doubt that it makes much difference if it is in the shade or not. Really I don't know. Anyway. Thanks again.

John and Angela.

You have a little hot weather in the Okanagan Valley, but nothing like Phoenix. I would not worry about periodically reaching 7 bars and hitting 8 after QC since your battery gets a chance to cool off overnight. I am lucky if my battery gets down to 7 bars after sitting overnight this time of year. If you have not noticed significant loss of range with the Smart in your climate, I doubt that you will have issues with the Leaf. You got it to drive so enjoy it and don't worry too much.

GerryAZ said:

You have a little hot weather in the Okanagan Valley, but nothing like Phoenix. I would not worry about periodically reaching 7 bars and hitting 8 after QC since your battery gets a chance to cool off overnight. I am lucky if my battery gets down to 7 bars after sitting overnight this time of year. If you have not noticed significant loss of range with the Smart in your climate, I doubt that you will have issues with the Leaf. You got it to drive so enjoy it and don't worry too much.

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Yah I suppose you are right. We have lost about 4 percent on the smart cars range after two years. Great car. But it has active battery cooling so probably a little more tolerant to heat.

Thanks for your input.

I did not realize the Smart has active cooling. How does the system work? How cool does it keep the battery? Smart users that I have talked to here in Phoenix are happy with them.

GerryAZ said:

I did not realize the Smart has active cooling. How does the system work? How cool does it keep the battery? Smart users that I have talked to here in Phoenix are happy with them.

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Gerry I'm one of these guys that doesn't understand near as much about my cars as I should. I love driving both of them although I lean towards the smart car convertible for obvious reasons...especially on warm sunny days. It is good for about 120 km with maybe 20 or so in reserve depending on where and how you drive of course. Straight highway don't count on that much but around here that's not an issue. I know it has active cooling but can't tell you much more than that.

Thanks for the response.

John.

I agree with Leftie's post, although the car is bought and OP is treating it well .... so I see no reason to worry over what cannot be changed .
My (perhaps useless) impression is that a typical late year 24 kWh LEAF would do very well long term in this climate. Time will tell how the 30 kWh packs behave.

Incidentally, Our Colorado summer temps sound about the same, perhaps a little cooler at night. The battery temp meter has mostly been 6 bars with dips into 5 bars when the daytime is mid 80sF (about 30C). I'm not sure about the difference OP sees. Perhaps Nissan changed the scale ? The last time I checked the car with LeafSpy in early July the battery was in the mid 70sF. We do try to keep the car in the shade and off hot asphalt.

What is your pack temp "reading" on a typical morning? I find that temps near 70F will cool the pack eventually, but not quickly. That requires low sixties or cooler.

LeftieBiker said:

What is your pack temp "reading" on a typical morning? I find that temps near 70F will cool the pack eventually, but not quickly. That requires low sixties or cooler.

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Well, on days that it drops down to the low 60's (like 15 degrees celcius) I see 5 bars. Not really common in July and August though. I don't have leaf spy so can't tell you the batt temp. If it's in the garage it doesn't drop to 5 very often in the summer but outside there is usually a breeze here so.... Angela usually gets home first and gets the garage.

Mine is usually at 5 bars to start the day in Summer, but if it's hot (80+F) the ambient temp alone will raise it to a 'low 6' by evening.

I record information before each charge and before driving after charging. My latest book started on 4/16/2017 with 38497 miles. The odometer was at 45045 miles and the dash showed 8 temperature bars when I parked at 8:00 pm on 8/4. The battery was down to 5 temperature bars only 4 times. It was as high as 9 bars from driving with L2 charging and as high as 11 bars after DCQC. Maximum motor power is limited when battery temperature gets to 11 bars. The car will still keep up with freeway traffic, but acceleration is slow when power is limited. It still has 11 capacity bars at 45045 miles and almost 30 months of use in Phoenix.

If the 30 kWh battery handles heat as well as the 2015 "lizard" battery, John and Angela should get many years of use in their climate.

GerryAZ said:

If the 30 kWh battery handles heat as well as the 2015 "lizard" battery, John and Angela should get many years of use in their climate.

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From http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=23606, it appears to not be. There are already reports of 1 and 2 bar losers on '16 30 kWh Leafs.