80% Charge is less than it was

Hi Everyone,
I did a search and looked through the first 10 pages here, but didn't see this issue-forgive me if I missed it (and please direct me to the post). We purchased a used (2012) Leaf with all 12 capacity bars still showing at 22000 miles in February. I had read that it was best to charge to 80%, so I have been doing that. The charge curve would show 10 bars "filled", and I would show a range of 77 miles in eco mode when I started out in the morning. Recently (about the last 3 weeks) the 80% charge setting has been showing only 9 bars "filled" and giving me a 67 mile range on the GOM. I don't have leaf spy or anything, and I assumed I was getting ready to "lose" a bar of capacity. But I needed to drive into downtown, so I went ahead & charged to 100% about a week ago, and it charged all the way (all 12 bars "filled" & 83 miles on the GOM). Any thoughts on what might be going on?
Also, since I bought it used (from an independent dealer) is there an easy way for me to know when it should go into the dealership for the 36 month battery check?
Thanks very much for any help!

Forget the stupid GOM. It's worthless as an indicator of battery capacity.

Go get Leafspy Lite (to try things out), an OBD2 dongle and a cheap pre-paid Android phone if you don't already have one. (There is an iOS version of LeafSpy but I haven't tried it.) If your setup works, then go for a paid version of LeafSpy, possibly Pro.

9 bars at 80% charge is in fact thought to be a sign of the looming first capacity bar loss.

Valdemar said:

9 bars at 80% charge is in fact thought to be a sign of the looming first capacity bar loss.

Click to expand...

Yes, and sometimes it goes back to 10 bars again, possibly related to the temperature when you are charging. I lost my first bar at 23,500 miles.

Separately, on when to do the battery check, any Nissan Dealer should be able to look up the history. But you could look inside the driver door plaque to see when it was manufactured, assume it was sold a few months after that to estimate the original purchase date, then the annual battery check.

lkkms2 said:

Valdemar said:

9 bars at 80% charge is in fact thought to be a sign of the looming first capacity bar loss.

Click to expand...

Yes, and sometimes it goes back to 10 bars again, possibly related to the temperature when you are charging. I lost my first bar at 23,500 miles.

Separately, on when to do the battery check, any Nissan Dealer should be able to look up the history. But you could look inside the driver door plaque to see when it was manufactured, assume it was sold a few months after that to estimate the original purchase date, then the annual battery check.

Click to expand...

My '12 also shows this behavior as my first 'bar' is already borderline gone at 31.6K miles; one thing that's interesting though is that I 100% charge on the weekends or when I expect to need more range and when going back to 80% charge the 'bar' comes back ... go figure? It's rare for me to ever need the full range on 100% charge (weekday R/T commute is only 30 miles) so even when I start losing more 'bars' it shouldn't be an issue for quite awhile.

cwerdna said:

Go get Leafspy Lite (to try things out), an OBD2 dongle and a cheap pre-paid Android phone if you don't already have one. (There is an iOS version of LeafSpy but I haven't tried it.)

Click to expand...

LeafSpy for iOS is $19.95, but if all you care about is how much capacity your battery has left, LeafStat is $9.95.

lkkms2 said:

Valdemar said:

9 bars at 80% charge is in fact thought to be a sign of the looming first capacity bar loss.

Click to expand...

Yes, and sometimes it goes back to 10 bars again, possibly related to the temperature when you are charging. I lost my first bar at 23,500 miles.

Click to expand...

At the end of last summer, I was getting the 9 bars at 80% symptom as well. But oddly enough, during the winter months it was again going up to 10 bars, and now occasionally drops back down to 9 bars as the weather has gotten hot.

As per the data in my sig line I am expecting to lose a bar before the end of the year. I have only started using LeafStat last month, but despite unusually warm (for June) weather I haven't seen any drop in that time. If anything my capacity has gone slightly up.

Thanks for your responses! I'm not particularly tech-savvy, and the leaf spy seemed pretty complicated, but I do have an android phone, so maybe I'll try it. I mostly make short trips from my house (I work from home) and if I do have to drive any distance there are many many charging stations up here in the PNW, so I haven't been worried (I haven't seen the VLBW yet ).
Thanks again!

Just to muddy the waters, my 2013 SV started charging to 79% instead of 80% about a year after I got it. It has not, however <knocks on wood!> lost a bar in over a year since, and always charges to exactly (within one percent) 79% - never 80 or 78. No, I don't have LeafSpy.

To update-My car did lose the first bar, I think it happened a couple of days ago but I noticed tonight. Mystery solved :|