Better to leave fully charged or partial charge during vaca

We'll be leaving our Leaf for about 3 weeks. Is it better to leave the car fully charged or partially charged while we're gone?

srtidd said:

We'll be leaving our Leaf for about 3 weeks. Is it better to leave the car fully charged or partially charged while we're gone?

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Charge to 50% and leave the car UNPLUGGED!!!

Then, put the 12 volt on a battery tender like this one, or you likely will come home to a dead 12 volt.

http://batterytender.com/battery-tender-plus-12v-at-1-25a.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hi,

Excellent question. I left my car for 16 days in the garage with an 80% charge. Not connected to charger.
No issues when I returned from vacation. still roughly 80% charge on the car when I fired it up. nothing dead.

Car is a 2013, and only 2 months old though...

Edit: after reading the expert responses, next time, I'll leave it at 50% charge.

You should always avoid leaving the car fully charged for any long period of time.
After reaching 100% its best to start driving with in hours if possible and thus plan your charging patterns accordingly. Because of the Lithium chemistry developed and employed in the Leaf when you charge it fully and not use the charge right away the pack will start to degrade and further degrade directly proportional with the heat so if its a hot day and your at 100% and the Leaf is not used for days on end you are going to lose capacity faster. I would store the car around 50% myself.

For more information, please read any of the numerous threads on the topic:
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=12216&p=281309&hilit=+vacation#p281309

I spent from June 15th to August 24th in Hawaii. I left car at 50% with a float charger on 12volt battery. There were no problems on my return.

Do use some sort of float charger, battery minder on the 12 volt battery. Once a Pb battery goes dead, replacement is on the horizon.

can you disconnect the 12 volt battery when it is stored?

How about a 2013 SL with the solar panel on the spoiler? Does it need the tender?

joewaters said:

How about a 2013 SL with the solar panel on the spoiler? Does it need the tender?

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The solar panel is not widely liked, so I'd say "yes." The Battery Tender JR. (about $30 from an Ebay dealer) is adequate - no need for the higher output units, unless maybe you have no other battery charger and want something to do both.

johnrhansen said:

can you disconnect the 12 volt battery when it is stored?

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Yes. I installed a "quick-disconnect on mine for extended non-use periods.