2015 Lizard Leaf - No option to set charge to 80%

Greetings fellow Leafers!

First day in my shiny new Leaf. I want to start right, limiting the charge to 80%, but the option doesn't appear on my menu.

I tried zero emissions, nothing on the menu.
Settings, nothing.
No % battery, no long life options... nada.

Anyone else having this issue?

Thanks
David

Nissan took that option out...People have speculated it was done to raise the EPA mileage rating...

You can achieve roughly the same result by setting the timer end time so the charge is about 80% when you are ready to leave...More work, though...

We also found that with older leafs charging to 80% didn't actually do much of anything in the way of protecting battery life...

JeremyW said:

We also found that with older leafs charging to 80% didn't actually do much of anything in the way of protecting battery life...

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No, we haven't found that out. We don't have a good way to measure that. In super hot areas the heat swamped out all other factors. However, in more moderate climates I think it is likely to make a difference over time. How else to explain that I have 53.25 Ah capacity (and 11 capacity bars) after 39 months and almost 33,000 miles, while others in the L.A. or San Diego Area with similar age and mileage have substantially lower capacity remaining? Is it keeping the average SOC low? Driving much more efficiently? Lower depth of discharge? No QC? Less time in full sun (my Leaf gets 40 hours a week of full sun in hot San Fernando Valley)?

The jury is still out on this, but everything we know about the battery chemistry in the Leaf suggests that high temperatures are the main cause of capacity loss, but high SOC is a secondary (but not easily quantified) factor.

Ok ok, well while we don't know for sure, in places that the heat decimates these batteries, 80% charging has had little impact. In colder areas it may have an effect, but lower percentages probably have an even greater effect. If you leave the car for a while (like a trip out of town for a few weeks), leave the pack around 30-50% charged. There.

For the record, I do pretty much the opposite of Stoaty (flog it, only charge to 100%, park underground in a 85 degree garage, bring it to nine temp bars by multiple QC in a day...) and I'm at 52.2 Ah at 29,000 miles and 27 months. :shock:

But hey, I'm getting great use out of the car and I leased so....

JeremyW said:

For the record, I do pretty much the opposite of Stoaty (flog it, only charge to 100%, park underground in a 85 degree garage, bring it to nine temp bars by multiple QC in a day...) and I'm at 52.2 Ah at 29,000 miles and 27 months. :shock:

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Yes, fine for you since you leased, but you also made my point: you have fewer miles, a full 12 months less calendar aging, and one Ah less capacity than my Leaf (about 2% less capacity). If one cares about long term retention of capacity, 80% charging just before departure, keeping average SOC 30-50% when more capacity isn't needed, less depth of discharge and gentle driving will all (likely) slow capacity loss. Of course, each person has to decide whether it is worth it for them. I am on track to hit 70% capacity at 6.5 years of ownership, and I think it is likely I can beat that goal. Since my Leaf will be useful to me down to about 60% capacity, I figure 8-9 year life for my Leaf battery pack.

Randy said:

Nissan took that option out...People have speculated it was done to raise the EPA mileage rating...

You can achieve roughly the same result by setting the timer end time so the charge is about 80% when you are ready to leave...More work, though...

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Perfect, thanks for the answer... Not sure it makes sense with the Lizard, but less to manage, so I guess I will trust Nissan on this one as it is still technically their car. (Lease)

dsgnai said:

...so I guess I will trust Nissan on this one...

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Not me! I already did that once. But perhaps this is your first trust as well.

Stoaty said:

The jury is still out on this, but everything we know about the battery chemistry in the Leaf suggests that high temperatures are the main cause of capacity loss, but high SOC is a secondary (but not easily quantified) factor.

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That's true of the 2011-2012 LEAF battery. But do we know that of the different battery that has been used starting in Model Year 2013?

I've made this point before. There was extensive data collection and analysis done by members of this forum regarding the battery performance in 2011 and 2012s. But I've not see anything like that for 2013 and later LEAFs. We know that the battery was changed in some way in 2013 - unfortunately Nissan has been silent about any battery differences starting with 2013. But is it possible that 80% charging doesn't really help with the more recent LEAFs, explaining why Nissan dropped this as an option in 2014?

Is there any real evidence the 2015's are Lizard Leafs in the first place?

It really bugs me they don't have this option either. Our Leaf is the primary vehicle for my wife so I like to keep it charge to around 80% just in case something comes up. Just call it 'Mountain Mode' (indicating it's more to allow full regenerating rather than reducing range) or something and make it optional. The EPA didn't count the 80% option into their mileage rating until it became the default option.

Bicster said:

Is there any real evidence the 2015's are Lizard Leafs in the first place?

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Yes:

http://insideevs.com/breaking-nissan-prices-leaf-battery-replacement-5499-new-packs-heat-durable/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We have a 2014 and it doesn't have an 80% option. This actually causes a little bit of inconvenience. We don't use the LEAF for commuting so the remaining charge left when we park it at night may vary. Thus, we have to leave it off the timer and then plug it in from one to a few hours before we want to leave. However, on the plus side, we drive in ECO and "B" and the claim of 84 miles per charge is right on what our experience has been.

My 2015 only really ever charges to 94% SOC via Leaf Info app, but it states 100% on dash, not sure if this is on purpose to avoid 100% charge.

briankwest said:

My 2015 only really ever charges to 94% SOC via Leaf Info app, but it states 100% on dash, not sure if this is on purpose to avoid 100% charge.

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The 94% SOC is the real SOC, the maximum the Leaf allows to avoid shortening battery life.
The 100% from the Leaf is on a scale where the maximum allowable charge is set to 100% and the minimum allowable charge is set to 0.

Stoaty said:

JeremyW said:

For the record, I do pretty much the opposite of Stoaty (flog it, only charge to 100%, park underground in a 85 degree garage, bring it to nine temp bars by multiple QC in a day...) and I'm at 52.2 Ah at 29,000 miles and 27 months. :shock:

Click to expand...

Yes, fine for you since you leased, but you also made my point: you have fewer miles, a full 12 months less calendar aging, and one Ah less capacity than my Leaf (about 2% less capacity).

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Touche! I charge to 80% whenever I don't need the extra range and believe this will remain one of those "hidden treasures" of the original Leafs (along with the ability to defeat the VSP, etc.).

A better solution would be to just allow the driver to punch in an arbitrary number, say 50% or 72% or whatever that they want to charge to. So if they want 80%, then they just select 80%. This way the EPA couldn't really pick any particular setting to say they will base the range ratings off of.

adric22 said:

A better solution would be to just allow the driver to punch in an arbitrary number, say 50% or 72% or whatever that they want to charge to. So if they want 80%, then they just select 80%. This way the EPA couldn't really pick any particular setting to say they will base the range ratings off of.

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Or, given that Nissan has backed itself into a corner here, make an "80% charge button" a dealer-installed accessory in one of the available switch blanks.

Similar to when the gen 2 Prius came out and many of us early owners were adding the EV Mode button that the Japanese cars had. It's just software and a switch, but if it's a dealer accessory the EPA doesn't have any say in the matter.

Welcome to Tesla!

adric22 said:

A better solution would be to just allow the driver to punch in an arbitrary number, say 50% or 72% or whatever that they want to charge to. So if they want 80%, then they just select 80%. This way the EPA couldn't really pick any particular setting to say they will base the range ratings off of.

Click to expand...

Stoaty said:

No, we haven't found that out. Lower depth of discharge? No QC? Less time in full sun (my Leaf gets 40 hours a week of full sun in hot San Fernando Valley)?

The jury is still out on this, but everything we know about the battery chemistry in the Leaf suggests that high temperatures are the main cause of capacity loss, but high SOC is a secondary (but not easily quantified) factor.

Click to expand...

Well I live in the same exact area as you do, last week my battery never got below 40* for the ENTIRE week and I lost my first bar at 55.5ah and 15.6k miles.

And if anybody knows me, I've been METICULOUS about keeping the cells at 3.8 to 3.85v everynight and its still dropping like crazy. I don't have CHAdeMO so it's never seen a QC cycle in its life... never has sat at 80% or even 100% for very long.

It's crap chemistry, pure and simple that is ruined by heat.

I agree with Tom... Hello Tesla.

P.S. Even Kia got it right :lol: