charging strategies

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radarguy

Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
9
Just got my Leaf 10 days ago and I have a couple of questions on charging it. First, I live in Andover MN where it's very cold in the winter (minus 20F not unusual), mildly warm in the summer (80s). The car is garaged and the garage is heated in winter to 40F. The garage is not air-conditioned in the summer. Right now I'm using the L1 trickle charger that comes with the Leaf. I expect to have an L2 charger installed in the garage in a couple of weeks.

Should I NOT charge the car to 100% overnight as I have been doing on the trickle charger? What is a good target level? 80%?
How often should I deplete the batteries to 'turtle' to condition them?
Any recommendations for the L2 charging unit?

Also: why does using the Cruise Control drop the available mileage by 6 to 7 percent, but using the headlights, seat warmers, and just about every other accessory have no affect on available mileage?

Is the NissanConnectEV worth the trouble of getting it working?

I have done a bit of searching on these questions but have not found any definitive answers (lousy search engine?).

Thanks for any assistance with these questions.

Kevin (radarguy)
 
radarguy said:
Should I NOT charge the car to 100% overnight as I have been doing on the trickle charger?

Charging to 100% just before departure is unlikely to be a problem. What you don't want to do is leave the battery at near 100% for a long period of time.


radarguy said:
What is a good target level? 80%?

How much charge to you use in a day?

This will vary some with season, winter is likely higher than summer. I've used different targets in different ways in the past.

My current plan is to: plug in to charge for a hour (6kWh) if the battery is below 50%. So the battery is usually between 50% and 80%. A timer is setup for 3AM to 4AM to automate the actual charge.
Before long trips, charge to 100%. Once a week or so. I do this in the morning before departure, often with the app "LEAF Manager", or by walking to the garage and pushing the timer override button.


radarguy said:
How often should I deplete the batteries to 'turtle' to condition them?

Never. Spending time with the battery below VLBW is probably as harmful as time at 100%. Moderation.


radarguy said:
why does using the Cruise Control drop the available mileage by 6 to 7 percent, but using the headlights, seat warmers, and just about every other accessory have no affect on available mileage?

Ignore the GOM most of the time.


radarguy said:
Is the NissanConnectEV worth the trouble of getting it working?

That's the official app? I use LEAF Manager. This is worth it for me, but not for others. The preheat function is nice when the car is cold, and the usual passenger isn't very tolerant of cold. Ditto for monitoring a public charge while you are not close by. I use it sometimes to start a charge so I don't need to walk to garage, but I could easily live without that.
 
The idea that the battery pack must be "conditioned" is a combination of two bits of incorrect info: leftover practices from older battery types that might benefit from this, and the notion that the BMS needs to "read" the pack all the way down to virtually zero charge to know what the capacity is. They tell you to do the same thing with cell phone batteries, and that's also BS that will simply shorten battery life. You can drive it down to the FIRST Low Battery Warning at about 19% (not the second one) just once, and that will give the BMS enough data. Even if you never get that low the readings will be close enough.
 
LeftieBiker said:
The idea that the battery pack must be "conditioned" is a combination of two bits of incorrect info: leftover practices from older battery types that might benefit from this, and the notion that the BMS needs to "read" the pack all the way down to virtually zero charge to know what the capacity is. They tell you to do the same thing with cell phone batteries, and that's also BS that will simply shorten battery life. You can drive it down to the FIRST Low Battery Warning at about 19% (not the second one) just once, and that will give the BMS enough data. Even if you never get that low the readings will be close enough.
Yes I did the planned turtle just once on a used Leaf(4yrs old missing 2 bars) because I didn't know how the previous owner charged the battery, after that I'm just using it :) It's missing 3 bars now so it frequently gets to LBW and occasionally VLBW but it's not planned.
 
LeftieBiker, Jjeff and WetEV,

Thanks for the replies. I got a lot of useful information from you all.

I use about half a full charge on a typical day. I've been leaving the trickle charger on all night, but sometimes it's only 92%, give or take, by the time I drive it off in the morning.

Once I get the Level 2 charger, I'll have to learn to use the timer effectively.

I'm also going to check out the Leaf Manager app.

btw, what's GOM mean?

Thanks all,

Kevin
 
The range estimator is commonly called the "Guess O Meter" because of its inaccuracy. It is generally only accurate when you need it least, at the end of a trip. The % state of charge display is the best range tool you have, assuming it's a 2013 or newer. The "charger", BTW, is built into the car. The cable that supplies it with power is called the "Charging Cable" or "EVSE".
 
You need to get EV Connect set up and working to use any remote features. Whether you use the EV Connect app on your phone or an alternative app such as Leaf Manager, it still depends upon an active EV Connect account on Nissan's servers and the associated settings in the car's navigation unit so you must get it set up and working to use remote climate control, etc.
 
I think I saw your white LEAF at the Andover YMCA on a Sunday. I have a 2016 SV that I bought the last day of October 2017.
If we can find a way to meet up, I might have answers to your questions. You could also see my L2 charger setup, and I can give you info on Connexus time of day metering.

Bob
 
LeftieBiker said:
The range estimator is commonly called the "Guess O Meter" because of its inaccuracy. It is generally only accurate when you need it least, at the end of a trip.
That was certainly true for the 2011 and 2012 LEAFs that I had. For whatever reason though, I've noticed that the 'remaining range' display in the 2016 30kWh LEAF I drive now is much better. I'd almost go so far as to say it verges on reliable. If I clear a trip odometer to zero at the outset of a journey, drive a good while (40 or so reasonably level miles), and then add the trip odo reading to the GOM reading, the sum tends to be very close to whatever the original GOM reading was.
 
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