Battery temperature maxed out

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ArmyMutt64A

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2016
Messages
15
Location
Sandhills of NC
I dropped my 2016 Leaf off at the dealer and put it on the fast charger. It had about 12 miles left when I put it on the charger. While I was at dinner, someone removed it when it was about 98%. I started driving and noticed that the battery temperature gauge was at max temperature. I drove for a little over 30 minutes through a mixture of city and country roads and the gauge is still maxed. It's about 95*F right now here. Do I need to take it to the dealer to have it checked out?
 
Nope, it's normal. It will "cool" down to ambient in about 12 hours. Unfortunately, ambient sounds pretty hot right now.
 
derkraut said:
Yikes! I get concerned when mine gets up to over 80F
Same here. I'm ok with 6 bars but I prefer to see 5 bars of temp. 7 bars is just unpleasant ;-)
 
Mine is at 6 right now. Unfortunately, that's the norm in August around here (Metro Atlanta).

OP, sounds like you're in a hot environment as well. Best to avoid the QC on hot days as that heats things up even more. Also best to stay with your car if possible while you QC and get only what you need to get home, then L2 charge overnight. Quick charging to 98% is not productive because of the taper, although if your situation calls for it then it is what it is.
 
Just yesterday, the outside temp in my area was 96 degrees according to my car's thermometer. I drove it, added a few electrons near lunch time, to make sure I had enough power for the day and went about my business. I had a stop on the way home and lo and behold, 7 bars! When I first got the car, I had 7 bars of temp once or twice, but yesterday was the first time for me in a while. Looks like over the summer, I was always at 6 bars, but did manage to start one day this summer with 5 bars. As of August 1, my 2015 Leaf S had 91% SOH with 21000 miles.
 
I routinely see 8 bars this time of year, sometimes 9. It usually cools off to 6 or 7 overnight. I have done significant numbers of QCs in the last 2 or 3 months due to needing to make round trips across the Phoenix metro area. I don't remember ever hitting 12 temperature bars, but 11 is common if I need to let it charge from VLBW to almost full. I don't let it bother me because I bought the car to use (and save wear/tear from city driving on my other vehicles).
 
when you say temperature was maxed out.. meaning? How many bars??

I can imagine on a hot day and charging with QC, you could get 7-8 bars, and still be within normal..
 
I have a 2015 SV and twice my battery temperature has hit 9 bars. Both times were days when I did 2 DCFC within several hours of each other. The first time it was 93° F that day, and yesterday was the second time and it was only 86° F. I don't remember that happening with the 2012 Leaf I had but, there were a lot less DCFC locations then. Are other Leaf drivers experiencing this too?
 
powersurge said:
when you say temperature was maxed out.. meaning? How many bars??
Yep. OP's post is unclear.

https://web.archive.org/web/20160903061340/http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22134 is really hot! From http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=470139#p470139, that guy got it up to 12 temp bars.

TonyWilliams got his battery pretty hot during BC2BC ~3:10 into https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqd9qbvBoME.
 
Question, is it normal for a leaf to have the battery temperature bars maxed out while just level 2 charging? I took mine to the dealership and he said it's normal for degraded cells to cause that
 
Brommondi said:
Question, is it normal for a leaf to have the battery temperature bars maxed out while just level 2 charging? I took mine to the dealership and he said it's normal for degraded cells to cause that

Location? What year/model LEAF? How many miles? How many capacity bars remain? Specific driving and charging conditions prior to maxed temperature display?

L2 charging should not raise the battery temperature more than a few degrees (possibly 1 or 2 temperature bars). The only times I have ever pushed the battery temperrature into the red zone have been multiple DC quick charges and over 120 miles driven in one day in the summer in Phoenix.
 
Brommondi said:
Question, is it normal for a leaf to have the battery temperature bars maxed out while just level 2 charging? I took mine to the dealership and he said it's normal for degraded cells to cause that
What was the battery temperature before the charge began?
 
Battery temp is usually much more closely linked to the ambient temp than to L-1 or L-2 charging. The gauge can rise from 4 bars to 6 or even 7 bars in the course of a hot day, with the car parked in the shade and never driven.
 
as a reminder, the battery temp bars relate to actual temp like this:

Segments Degrees C (F). Temp difference
12----------60---------(140).........4.5F
11----------57.5-------(135.5)......4.5F
10----------55---------(131).........4.5F
9-----------52.5-------(126.5)......4.5F
8-----------50---------(122)........23.8F
7-----------36.8-------(98.2)......23.9F
6-----------23.5-------(74.3)......23.9F
5-----------10.3-------(50.5)......23.9F
4----------/ -3---------(26.6).......5.4F
3----------/ -6---------(21.2).......5.4F
2----------/ -9---------(15.8).......5.4F
1----------/-12--------(10.4).......5.4F
0----------/ -15---------(5).........5.4F

if you were getting the battery to 130F+ with just L2 charging, even with 95F outside, that sounds pretty extreme. I have never had battery temps go over ~100-110F with L2 charging even if it is 80-85F outside.

Marko
 
Temp bar data I've witnessed:
2-3 bar transition at -5C
3-4 bar transition at 5C
4-5 bar transition at 15C
5-6 bad transition at 25C
6-7 bar transition at 35C
7-8 bar transition at 40C

And it appears to me,
1-2 bar transition at -10C
8-9 bar transition at 45C
9-10 bar transition at 50C

NB! Limits are strictly Celsius based, not Fahrenheit!

To get to next bar, temperature of the most extreme sensor must go over transition temperature
for example 1 extra degree in case exterior temperature is far from transition temperature, or 2 if very far.
So if it is 20 outside, to get from 6 bars to 7 bars, one of the sensors must read around 36C.
It applies in reverse as well.

If exterior temp is close to battery temp, transition happens right when first sensor reaches limit value.
If exterior temp is way colder than battery temperature, transition to "less bars" happens sooner.

Gen1 Leafs without battery warmer appear to have different limits compared to 2014+, especially at low end.
Newer Leafs should never reach 0bars due to battery heater activation.
 
Kind of related question: What battery temp offers the longest range? For me it seems that I have the longest range with 5 bars and about 60 degrees outside temp. 6 bars is also not bad - not sure I've ever noticed more than 6 bars...

How about you?

Pete
 
Anything above 3 bars and under the Red zone should offer similar range. You might even get the same in the red, but I suspect the BMS reduces power slightly then to reduce heating.
 
Battery is very efficient at 5 bars. Anything higher usually means (without DC charging) that it is hot outside
and AC is used, which will slightly reduce range.
At 4 bars range is almost unaffected. At 3 bars it is reduced 5-10%.
 
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