How many have changed brake pads? At what mileage? Record?

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mbender

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 21, 2013
Messages
824
Location
The Great California Delta, and environs
To me, almost as much fun &or challenge it is maximizing efficiency and range, is seeing how little I can use the friction brakes (within reason and safety). Granted, my driving habits have changed since becoming a "LeAFer" :), but in the seven months I've had my 2015, I swear I've worn the brakes less than a month's worth in my previous ICE.

In any case, I'm curious: how many LEAFers here have replaced brake pads due to wear? At what mileage? And also, for those with significant miles who have not yet bought new pads, how many miles do you have? I'm looking for a "record"... any guesses what a realistic maximum distance might be? Chime in with your thoughts and numbers!
 
mwalsh said:
epic said:
with regen I don't see why the pads ever need changed...


...until you loose most of your regen due to battery degradation, and find yourself on the brakes WAY more than when you first got your car.
I've only lost one bar . . . . just past 40k . . . . how many bars down does regen lessen, generally - because at 50k miles now - I'm still breaking 95% on regen
 
I can't say ion the Leaf, we have 12,000 and they are fine. Our VW diesel we went 100,000 on the fronts and 115,000 on the rears.
 
How can you tell when you are on regen vs friction? I thought friction cut over automatically...

I'm a very light brake user - i.e. I tend to coast up to stops and plan my stops whenever possible (not to the degree of having folks lined up behind me...). I wonder how much friction braking I'm doing.

Although I do know that when at 100% charge the regen basically disappears - I try to minimize my 100% charges for this reason.
 
Slow1 said:
Although I do know that when at 100% charge the regen basically disappears - I try to minimize my 100% charges for this reason.

True...except when you start losing a lot of capacity bars. Not only does it inherently reduce regen, but you typically charge to 100% just to get as much range as possible (I know I do). The good news is I'm only months (hopefully) away from a new battery pack, at which point I'll go back to much better range and 80% charging.
 
mwalsh said:
epic said:
with regen I don't see why the pads ever need changed...


...until you loose most of your regen due to battery degradation, and find yourself on the brakes WAY more than when you first got your car.

I'm confused as to why you would lose regen with a degraded battery? I get that you'd charge to 100% and thus you wouldn't get full regen until you get down to something like 91%, but why would it effect it at other percentages? A degraded battery should simply mean that you don't have the same maximum capacity, why would it matter under normal driving?
 
I'd be surprised if any LEAF, anywhere, has replaced brake pads out of necessity other than by result of collision damage.
 
tkdbrusco said:
I'm confused as to why you would lose regen with a degraded battery? I get that you'd charge to 100% and thus you wouldn't get full regen until you get down to something like 91%, but why would it effect it at other percentages? A degraded battery should simply mean that you don't have the same maximum capacity, why would it matter under normal driving?

Don't ask me, I'm not an engineer. I just know it does.
 
mwalsh said:
tkdbrusco said:
I'm confused as to why you would lose regen with a degraded battery? I get that you'd charge to 100% and thus you wouldn't get full regen until you get down to something like 91%, but why would it effect it at other percentages? A degraded battery should simply mean that you don't have the same maximum capacity, why would it matter under normal driving?

Don't ask me, I'm not an engineer. I just know it does.
Max regen hits 30kW, so unless someone has a video to prove that a degraded battery can't regen back at this level under 80% charge, I would say the information is incorrect.
 
knightmb said:
Max regen hits 30kW, so unless someone has a video to prove that a degraded battery can't regen back at this level under 80% charge, I would say the information is incorrect.

Stop talking out of your arse. I live with this every frickin' day.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=17229" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13977" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=14807" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=18726" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=17581" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=11294" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
tkdbrusco said:
mwalsh said:
...until you loose most of your regen due to battery degradation, and find yourself on the brakes WAY more than when you first got your car.

I'm confused as to why you would lose regen with a degraded battery? I get that you'd charge to 100% and thus you wouldn't get full regen until you get down to something like 91%, but why would it effect it at other percentages? A degraded battery should simply mean that you don't have the same maximum capacity, why would it matter under normal driving?

As the cells degrade their internal resistance rises. Internal resistance is one of the factors that determines the maximum acceptable charge rate. Consider regen to be a form of fast-charging. As the internal resistance increases and the overall capacity decreases, the maximum charge rate will decrease. The computer adjusts the regen parameters to match this reality.
 
Nubo said:
As the cells degrade their internal resistance rises. Internal resistance is one of the factors that determines the maximum acceptable charge rate. Consider regen to be a form of fast-charging. As the internal resistance increases and the overall capacity decreases, the maximum charge rate will decrease. The computer adjusts the regen parameters to match this reality.

So then is it correct to assume that the same effect will affect DCQC? i.e. as batteries age/degrade the maximum DCQC rate will decrease?
 
mwalsh said:
knightmb said:
Max regen hits 30kW, so unless someone has a video to prove that a degraded battery can't regen back at this level under 80% charge, I would say the information is incorrect.

Stop taking out of your arse. I live with this every frickin' day.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=17229" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=13977" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=14807" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=18726" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=17581" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=11294" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Which one of those proved your point, I didn't read any that did?
 
mwalsh said:
knightmb said:
Which one of those proved your point, I didn't read any that did?

I've got absolutely nothing to prove to you even if they don't. And congrats, you just made the ignore list.
Odd hostility for a simple question? But for others reading this, those topics referenced by mwalsh were talking about cold weather degrading the regen ability but the question asked was if a degraded battery gets degraded regen. The answer is, it depends on the conditions and environment surrounding the reduced regen. Some note that older models have reduced regen via software and newer models do not.

tkdbrusco said:
I'm confused as to why you would lose regen with a degraded battery? I get that you'd charge to 100% and thus you wouldn't get full regen until you get down to something like 91%, but why would it effect it at other percentages? A degraded battery should simply mean that you don't have the same maximum capacity, why would it matter under normal driving?
To better answer your question, the max regen the car can produce is 30kW, but how much is fed back into the battery depends on factors such as state of charge, battery temperature, software version for model year and just plain physics. A degraded battery that can put out 80kW of power to drive the car can certainly accept 30kW back in for a recharge. How much for how long, depends on the earlier mentioned variables and not the physics of the battery provided the battery is not damaged in some way.
 
Well to answer the original question I am at 36 months, 28,887 miles, and just had my annual inspection & battery check performed. My front brakes were at 6mm, and the rear brakes were at 7mm which is just about halfway worn. The service advisor cautioned me that I should keep an eye on them, but I think it will be fine. I have a lot of stop and go traffic with the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel everyday and such, and base traffic going in to Naval Station Norfolk. So my brakes will not be representative of the majority, but most likely accelerated wear.
 
I made a point of monitoring my regen tonight. Three bubbles worth is about 15kW, and this is the most I can achieve right now under optimal circumstances. Four bubbles (which I could only get tonight with mechanical assistance) looks like it will give about 20kW worth. I've only seen this twice in the last two months; it looks like it will be as much as my car will get, period; and several factors need to be just right to even get there. Those factors are outlined here:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=14807&p=415896#p415896" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No video "proof" will be forthcoming. If you chose not to believe, I'm more than willing to leave you with your own delusions.
 
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