Range and battery for 2011 Leaf

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Patrtic

Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2019
Messages
10
Location
Los Angeles
I tested a 2011 Leaf that can go for 80 miles full charge, can I safely say that it has had battery replacement? It has 12 bars.

thanks,

Patrtic

addendum: it includes about 80% of freeway at 55-70 m/h L.A. traffic. Today: 59C temp.
 
Thanks for your reply. I have the car for 5 days now. The dealer allows me 1 week to test, so that's reassuring. I am excited to join the Leafer club.
 
Patrtic said:
Thanks for your reply. I have the car for 5 days now. The dealer allows me 1 week to test, so that's reassuring. I am excited to join the Leafer club.
So, you actually drove the aforementioned vehicle 80+ miles on a single full charge?

Would be a good idea to get a Carfax and/or Autocheck to see where it resided and what work was done on it.

How much is this car going for? Does it have a CHAdeMO inlet (larger port on the left)?

Can you update your location info via your user name in the upper right > User Control Panel > Profile tab? That way, we don't need to ask in future posts/threads or do sleuthing to deduce it. (Yes, I currently know you're in LA.)

What are your daily driving needs in terms of miles? How much city vs. highway? Will you have the ability to charge at your home or work/destinations?
 
Just checking if my location has been updated? Yes, I drove the car on one charge today. The initial mile range on the display was 95 miles after fully charged overnight. It does have a CHADeMO outlet. My daily drive is about 30 miles total, but I occassionally go to LAX which is a total of 55 miles round trip. The car is going for mid-7k, it drives well but has 60k+ miles. The car tires appears new. Is there other maintenance issues I need to look for? Also, I plan to trickle charge nightly as it fits my schedule and mileage range. Is there any problem with that? thanks.
 
No problem with level 1 charging, as long as the wiring and outlet are sound and unloaded. The early Leafs have poor heating systems, but that will be a minimal issue for you. You may want to invest in a heater On/Off switch, to stop the heater from running in cool weather and lowering your range. Make sure the car charges normally at both L-2 stations and DC Fast Charge stations.
 
Patrtic said:
Thanks for the suggestions. Is there a link or instruction how to install of on/off switch for the heater?

To cut to the chase, this is exactly what you need: http://betterev.tabetalt.no/Produkt/nissan-leaf-heater-controller-kit-v2#
I consider it to be one of the most essential "add-ons" for 2011/2012 Leafs. Brilliant design...very cost-effective...very easy to install.
 
Test the heater while you are still "test driving". It takes a little time for the hot water tank to heat up, but it should blow really warm air from the vents and you should see 3 to 5 kW for climate control use on the energy display of the navigation screen. If the heater does not blow hot air, have the dealer repair it before final purchase because repairs can be expensive (not a common problem, but there have been a few failures). Also, test the A/C if ambient temperatures allow because repairs are expensive (again not common problem on 2011 and 2012, but possible).

I also highly recommend the heater cut off switch kit. I needed to disable heat in my 2011 even in my climate so I made my own temporary modification and was about to order the plug-and-play kit when my 2011 met its demise. One thing you will find is that the heat can come on under certain conditions with A/C use so the cut off switch will be useful all year. I really liked my 2011 SL and miss some of the features it had that the newer one does not. You may find that you drive it more than planned so you may decide to get L2 charging at home in the future, but L1 is fine as long as the entire receptacle circuit is in good condition and there is no other load.
 
GerryAZ said:
Test the heater while you are still "test driving". It takes a little time for the hot water tank to heat up, but it should blow really warm air from the vents and you should see 3 to 5 kW for climate control use on the energy display of the navigation screen. If the heater does not blow hot air, have the dealer repair it before final purchase because repairs can be expensive (not a common problem, but there have been a few failures). Also, test the A/C if ambient temperatures allow because repairs are expensive (again not common problem on 2011 and 2012, but possible).
Great advice about testing the heater and AC.

Here are two example threads I found about the crazy expensive to repair crap heater:
https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=21175
https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=23190
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=23975 -- he ended up getting a blown fuse inside another box (not the heater itself) fixed for less: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=23190&p=516491&hilit=fuse#p516491 http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=21508&p=494855&hilit=fuse#p494855
 
I am looking into this but just want to make sure that I understand the problem. Without a on/off button, the car will consume more battery in the summer? If so, how this happen? Thanks.
 
Under certain moderate temperature A/C operating conditions, the controller will turn on the water heater so it can blend warmer air with cold air. I never understood why because the controller can vary the speed of the compressor to produce less cold air.
 
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