Leaf Spy and battery 12 volt readings

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Phatcat73

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 8, 2013
Messages
481
Location
Buffalo Grove, Il
Folks. I'm experiencing a dead 12V battery every few days, requiring a jump Start. I've noticed on my leaf spy pro app that while in motion my 12V fluctuates between 12.5 and 13.5V.

Is this what others are seeing while car is in motion? I would expect 14 V.
 
Watch the battery voltage while not in drive. My bad battery showed 11.9V and 14.1 to 12.8 with the traction battery inverter charging. Sadly, the dealer saw my ham radio and blamed it. It was not until several days later when I had to be towed to Stadium Nissan that they replaced the battery.
 
My LEAF did the same thing. I got a new battery for free from Nissan, 2 years 8 months in service, 4 months left on the warranty.
 
Keep in mind that the 12V reading that the ELM supplies is not necessarily accurate.

I have one ELM which matches my volt-meter and another which is low by about 0.6V.

On my car at least, it reads 14.4V when the car first turns on, then settles down to 13.0V after a few minutes.
 
12v battery voltage while driving means nothing re the battery's health. Here is a simple battery test:

You can get a rough idea of a battery’s sulfation by monitoring voltages as shown below:

100% charge – 12.7 volts
75% charge – 12.4 volts
50% charge – 12.2 volts
25% charge – 12.0 volts
Discharged – 11.9 volts

One way to get a read on your battery’s life expectancy is to fully charge the battery. Next remove all loads from the battery, let it sit for 24 hours and then measure its voltage. If it reads something like 12.4 volts, it’s losing its charge too quickly – a clear sign that this battery is near or at the end of its service life.
 
Thanks. That's the info I was looking for. Normal ice cars keep the battery at 14 while running. Good to know the leaf behaves differently. I'm on battery #2 and just purchased a trickle charger. Ironically this started after a PDM upgrade.
 
There is a separate thread on this. My MY2013 LEAF had a bad battery and the dealer replaced it free of charge. I think there was a bad batch.
 
drees said:
On my car at least, it reads 14.4V when the car first turns on, then settles down to 13.0V after a few minutes.
This is why people complain about the halogen high-beams. There's a considerable effect on light ouput for an incandescent bulb when the voltage is reduced. The high-beam bulbs in the car are well-suited to the task but it appears they are being under-driven about 10% compared to other cars.

Here are some curves that describe the general effect of voltage vs. brightness and bulb life. The bad news is at 90% of normal voltage the bulbs may only be putting out about 70% the normal amount of light. The good news is your high-beams should last a good long time :p

lamplife.gif
 
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