New-to Me 2011 Leaf

We purchased a used 2011 Leaf with @27,000 miles on it and picked it up ysterday. I've looked over the forum but don't see my questions completely answered.

1). This morning fully charged, says the range is 47 miles. It's about 30 degrees here (CT). Looks the car is "down" 2 bars. It had 1 owner so I'm thinking s/he didn't drive it much. Comments?

2). How much warranty would be left on the battery at this point?

3). Looks like the best way to take care of the remaining battery is to not "top off" if half or less has been used. And not to let it sit fully charged for days without driving it. Is that right? Any other suggestion?

I can see now that I should have done more research. I do like the way the car runs/handles, and my commute is 15 miles one way, so I'd hoped to use this car for driving to work. Worst case would be drive it 5 miles one way to the train instead of car the whole way.

Thanks in advance and apologies if these questions are addressed elsewhere on here.

Congrats on your new car.

You need to spend a little quality time with the manual. If you do not have the a paper copy a PDF can be downloaded.
Learn the meanings of the 3 (three!) meter gauges on the right side of the display:

Miles remaining -- a number
Battery capacity -- bars
Charge remaining -- bars

1. Yes for a 2 bar looser in cooler temps that isn't unreasonable but do yourself a favor and get LeafSpy with a OBD2 adapter, the GOM is really bad on the older Leafs, optimistic at first then gets very pessimistic on range, really really bad IMO.
2. Nothing, well other than the mostly useless 8 year defective warranty which doesn't cover gradual loss like your vehicle has more than likely suffered.
3. Yes, you can use the timer to setup a 80% charge option and if you need the range of 100% just push the timer override button, or at least thats what I do with my '12SL 2 bar looser, also try and avoid charging in hot temps.

30 miles should be doable in all but very cold temps, the heater on your '11(assuming it has the cold weather package) really sucks the juice and doesn't heat all that well to boot, it should be a great warmer weather car as the air should work quite well and doesn't take nearly as much power as the heater.
Personally I'd suggest a 16a L2 EVSE, they start ~$300 but will require a 240v outlet of at least 20a. Oh and if it doesn't already have the mod I'd strongly suggest getting a Tor heater switch. It's a relatively easy install and gives you the ability to turn off the power hungry heater, without the switch anytime it's cool out and you turn the climate control on the heater will come on as well, no way to manually turn it off without the switch.

Correction: there are 8 bars remaining. Uh, oh.

Bambam said:

We purchased a used 2011 Leaf with @27,000 miles on it and picked it up ysterday. I've looked over the forum but don't see my questions completely answered.

1). This morning fully charged, says the range is 47 miles. It's about 30 degrees here (CT). Looks the car is "down" 2 bars. It had 1 owner so I'm thinking s/he didn't drive it much. Comments?

2). How much warranty would be left on the battery at this point?

3). Looks like the best way to take care of the remaining battery is to not "top off" if half or less has been used. And not to let it sit fully charged for days without driving it. Is that right? Any other suggestion?

I can see now that I should have done more research. I do like the way the car runs/handles, and my commute is 15 miles one way, so I'd hoped to use this car for driving to work. Worst case would be drive it 5 miles one way to the train instead of car the whole way.

Thanks in advance and apologies if these questions are addressed elsewhere on here.

Click to expand...

Where are you at, roughly? Don't need an exact address, just put at least a state and ideally a town or city you are near into your profile. CT = Connecticut I guess. Please put in profile so people don't need to research you to find out where you live.

Any idea where your Leaf's earlier residence was? 8 bars lost sounds more like a hot climate (like TX or AZ or parts of CA) Leaf.

Climate matters a lot. The Leaf's battery will last longer in cool climates. Cold temporally reduces the capacity of the battery. Heat temporally increases capacity, but causes long term capacity loss.

1) The range number is a guess, and isn't very meaningful. Two bars down is about correct for Boston, which should be close to CT. Four bars down is someplace hot. 47 mile range is consistent with 3.6 miles per kWh AND 60% of battery capacity (four bars down).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wUko40EjfGRhRTNPOJvU1UzyZZZKuRvmCFEcj_hE_zs/edit#gid=0

Gives about 80% for Boston.. A better and more accurate answer can come from Leafspy.

http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/Leaf_Spy_Pro

Also see Tony's Leaf Range charts.

2) Probably none, unless the car sat on a dealer's lot for years. Find out the date of sale.


3) Charge on a timer so that the charge finishes an hour or less before you leave. Preheat the car in the winter on a timer.

Take the train in the winter, or mod the car to get more range in winter. Add insulation to the heating system. Mod the climate system so you can have the fan on without the heat.

My guess is that the car can likely do 30 miles in summer for some years more, depending mostly on speed. Winter, you might need to take the train on the very cold days if not now, then soon. When depends on things not known, such as how fast you drive, how much heat you use, if you can preheat the car in the morning on L2 or on L1, what kind of parking you have at work, and so on. Or if there is reliable charging near or at work.

One other issue. Some 2011's I think came with a cold weather package including a battery heater, and some didn't.

Speed, the faster you go the more energy per mile. Heat takes energy from the battery, no waste engine heat.

Congratulations. Getting into a warm car on a winter's morning is very nice. Not stopping at gas stations will be nice. Quiet and smooth drive will be nice. I hope you enjoy the car.

1. Do you mean fully charged to 100% or 80%? You need to do a range test from 100% to Low Battery Warning (LBW) or even Very Low Battery Warning (VLBW). At 100% reset a trip meter and also the miles/KWH meter. Run it like you would commuting but make sure you are near home or a public charging station when you get down to the last 20 miles. In the cold your heater will drain your battery fast but if you can use just the seat heater and steering wheel heater you will have better range.

2. The 5 year/60,000 mile battery capacity warranty starts on the original purchase date and is probably expired.

3. If you need to charge to 100% to make your commute (probably), set it up to be done about when you are ready to leave. On days that you do not need the full range, just charge to 80% or don't bother charging at all.

Use plugshare to figure out what public charging opportunities are available. Set up a login profile so you can see more information about home chargers that people are willing to share.

My 2011 doesn't have seat or wheel heater, and I don't think that came in till 13? Could be wrong on that. We keep three car blankets in the back seat and so don't ever use the heater in winter.

I think you'll do fine in the winter, like has been mentioned, you'll have to experiment with the range that you get over your commute. You'll also have to devote some time to learn how to use LEAF Spy (I'd advise the Pro version). I think the key is getting comfortable with your average Kw/mi and then gaining some confidence in the measurement done by Leaf Spy.

For charging, yes, install something at your home that allows you to just plug in when you park. Install the Plug Share app on your device and get a few charge cards. The charging between 20% and 80% most of the time is a strategy for being kind to new battery packs. I suspect that as the battery ages, it might be less of an advantage, but I don't know that's the case. At any rate, you'll discover that the car as a charge timing menu that allows you to set it at 80% maximum. If that gives you a useable range, you might as well use it.

Let us know how you're doing!

Man, a 2011 that's off warranty for capacity and has lost 8 bars - what a shame. I suggest you get aftermarket seat heaters for at least the front seats, the heater Off switch already mentioned, block the grille in Winter, and do the range test already suggested. Note that driving slower has a big positive effect on range. If you paid little enough for the car it might be worth considering spending another $6k on it next year to get 80 miles of range (in Summer).

Thanks, all.

Yes, the car was in Texas.

I'll keep you posted. I appreciate all the interesting information here. Thanks for freely sharing your knowledge and experience.

Check your leaf's in service date, there is a slight chance the battery may still be under warranty depending on when it was first sold.

Nissan LEAF Customer Support: 1-877-664-2738 (1-877-NO-GAS-EV)

Foschas said:

Check your leaf's in service date, there is a slight chance the battery may still be under warranty depending on when it was first sold.

Nissan LEAF Customer Support: 1-877-664-2738 (1-877-NO-GAS-EV)

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Thanks, done. Good until July 2017. Taking it to a dealer tomorrow to have it checked. Case is open. Fingers crossed!

Bambam said:

Foschas said:

Check your leaf's in service date, there is a slight chance the battery may still be under warranty depending on when it was first sold.

Nissan LEAF Customer Support: 1-877-664-2738 (1-877-NO-GAS-EV)

Click to expand...

Thanks, done. Good until July 2017. Taking it to a dealer tomorrow to have it checked. Case is open. Fingers crossed!

Click to expand...

Looks like someone may have just got lucky :mrgreen:

Yes, we all should have mentioned that possibility! It's just easier to subtract 2011 from 2017, I guess.

Left us hanging there didn't you..….? Did Nissan give you a new battery?