Capacity Loss on 2011-2012 LEAFs

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GerryAZ said:
Volusiano,

Since I lost my top capacity bar, the SOC and GOM (DTE, sorry Nissan) instrumentation has been very pessimistic. Also, I am now getting more miles between LBW and VLBW than before. The net effect is that between 1/4 and 1/3 of my useable battery capacity is still available when I get down to 2 bars on the SOC gauge. The estimated time to charge has been affected to the point that it now underestimates charging time. Therefore, I think the errors in the dash instrumentation are leading you to inaccurate capacity loss calculations.

Gerry

interesting. i wonder how many people have range anxiety needlessly?
 
GerryAZ said:
Volusiano,

Since I lost my top capacity bar, the SOC and GOM (DTE, sorry Nissan) instrumentation has been very pessimistic. Also, I am now getting more miles between LBW and VLBW than before. The net effect is that between 1/4 and 1/3 of my useable battery capacity is still available when I get down to 2 bars on the SOC gauge. The estimated time to charge has been affected to the point that it now underestimates charging time. Therefore, I think the errors in the dash instrumentation are leading you to inaccurate capacity loss calculations.

Gerry

Sounds like voltage suppression.
 
Nubo said:
GerryAZ said:
Volusiano,

Since I lost my top capacity bar, the SOC and GOM (DTE, sorry Nissan) instrumentation has been very pessimistic. Also, I am now getting more miles between LBW and VLBW than before. The net effect is that between 1/4 and 1/3 of my useable battery capacity is still available when I get down to 2 bars on the SOC gauge. The estimated time to charge has been affected to the point that it now underestimates charging time. Therefore, I think the errors in the dash instrumentation are leading you to inaccurate capacity loss calculations.

Gerry

Sounds like voltage suppression.

Do you mean voltage drop due to increased internal resistance? That would be a possibility, but if that were the issue, it would have come on gradually instead of suddenly when I lost the top capacity bar. I think it is software-related (car's computers manipulating the displays) to provide more cushion against running out of power and requiring a tow.

Gerry
 
Help on way?:

http://insideevs.com/nissan-reacts-to-leafs-dropping-battery-capacity-in-southern-us-resolution-drawing-near/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
dandrewk said:
Help on way?:

http://insideevs.com/nissan-reacts-to-leafs-dropping-battery-capacity-in-southern-us-resolution-drawing-near/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If you step back a little in this same thread: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=8802&p=214538#p214538" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
grommet said:
dandrewk said:
Help on way?:

http://insideevs.com/nissan-reacts-to-leafs-dropping-battery-capacity-in-southern-us-resolution-drawing-near/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If you step back a little in this same thread: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=8802&p=214538#p214538" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oops, sorry about that.
 
I wanted to go back to the original Leaf advertisement..I was looking for any where in the ad. where it stated or recommended 80% charges..I found (0)

I see that they added positive Leaf owners stories to it also..I found one story very interesting where a family took their car on a 800 mile trip in Cal. where they used lvl 3 charges on the trip...
That was something I wanted to do and I explained my story here but was told here that would harm the battery..Kind of funny I never even left town or used a fast charger and still lost 2 bars..

Heres the Ad. I had not read it in over a year...

http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/owners-stories?next=ev_micro.root_nav.driving_electric" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think Nissan may have to change thier advertisement on the Leaf soon..I find myself only wanting to drive the car at night in Phx. now doing the summer..
 
They used only few DC chargers, and mostly used to top-up @3.3kW, then charge overnight. They did 180mi on average per day which requires just 3-4 stops for activity, and I think is not bad for battery as well.
 
mark1313 said:
That was something I wanted to do and I explained my story here but was told here that would harm the battery..Kind of funny I never even left town or used a fast charger and still lost 2 bars..

You have to understand that folks share their opinions regarding the LEAF and how to use it, not all opinions are reliable. Just because another forum member carries a rabbits foot in the glove compartment doesn't mean that we all have to. Only time will tell what is good, bad and indifferent to the LEAF. During the current uncertainty over the durability of the LEAF's battery in hot climates we can expect a certain amount of hysteria until Nissan finally determine the cause and come out with what they are willing to do or not do about it.
 
JPWhite said:
You have to understand that folks share their opinions regarding the LEAF and how to use it, not all opinions are reliable. Just because another forum member carries a rabbits foot in the glove compartment doesn't mean that we all have to.
But I read on another forum that if you place the rabbits foot on the battery pack it will soak up the excess heat and you can drive in temperatures up to 140 degrees! Is this true :?:
 
EdmondLeaf said:
Nissan Reacts To LEAF’s Dropping Battery Capacity In Southern US. Resolution Drawing Near?
http://insideevs.com/nissan-reacts-...acity-in-southern-us-resolution-drawing-near/

i think we all need to "consider" that Nissan has addressed the issue much quicker than we had realized. once again, the 2013 improvement announcements have been vague but...

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1077923_2013-nissan-leaf-what-would-you-change#comment-1000136852" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

At the moment however, we know very little about the 2013 Leaf, other than a few updates Nissan’s Mark Perry has already detailed.

Nissan is updating the Leaf’s heater with a more efficient one, which Nissan has said will improve the winter range of the Leaf by 20 to 25 miles.

there is simply no way that can happen unless the pack is bigger or its thermally controlled...
 
Herm said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
there is simply no way that can happen unless the pack is bigger or its thermally controlled...

... or Mr Perry is exaggerating again...

nah...the fact that he did not go into details on how it would benefit us or fail to mention the pack would have cooling was probably designed to not put any seed into any Phoenician's head...

personally, i think it was a great plan...timing is just a bit off is all
 
Herm said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
there is simply no way that can happen unless the pack is bigger or its thermally controlled...

... or Mr Perry is exaggerating again...

I'm sure it's a combination of exaggeration and a more efficient heater (heat pump instead of the current heater). From what I read there was no indication of a bigger battery pack.
 
Herm said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
there is simply no way that can happen unless the pack is bigger or its thermally controlled...

... or Mr Perry is exaggerating again...

I think I remember from somewhere there being a rumored chemistry tweak in the works for the Infiniti battery pack, which is supposedly the same size/form factor as the one from the LEAF, that would allow for improved range. If true, maybe this will also be applied to 2013 LEAFs?
 
I love to read all that is posted here, and elsewhere, but I still reserve right to form my opinion. So far I did not see any official announcement about MY2013 as well anything new that resolution is near.
 
gsleaf said:
Herm said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
there is simply no way that can happen unless the pack is bigger or its thermally controlled...

... or Mr Perry is exaggerating again...

I'm sure it's a combination of exaggeration and a more efficient heater (heat pump instead of the current heater). From what I read there was no indication of a bigger battery pack.

not sure a heat pump will give us that much. there is not enough to gain by making the heater work better. fact of the matter; without a thermal controls, the LEAF pack stores at least 2 KW LESS when it is cold.

i ran several tests of this last winter and each showed me to only have 18.5 to 19.2 KW at my disposal and this is on a pack with ZERO degradation, so all the loss was due to a cold pack.

take that equation out and i was really only losing maybe 10-12 miles of range due to running the heater. of course that depended on how fast i was driving, how far i was going and how cold it was.
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
i think we all need to "consider" that Nissan has addressed the issue much quicker than we had realized.
By my way of thinking, Nissan has addressed absolutely nothing. They have not even acknowledged that there is any problem with the Nissan LEAFs they sold to customers in Phoenix. They have not retracted or clarified public statements like the one in the manual that their customers can expect to have 80% capacity after five years. And I suspect they are still selling LEAFs in Phoenix to people when they know there is a decent probability that those LEAFs will be beyond the standard definition of battery end-of-life (<70% original capacity) before the length of a normal lease has passed.
 
I dont expect them to rush out an announcement about the testing and what they plan to do.
Nothing would be worse now from their point of view than saying something precipitous and wrong, and later retracting that.

this approach is prudent and what should be expected from a big car company such as Nissan.
I give them credit for working on it, just as I give credit to the AZs for bringing attention to it.

I would think that taking six cars for testing, providing loaners and walk-around money is an acknowledgement, albeit more tacit than you would like.
But AZs should keep up the pressure. Good cop, bad cop; squeaky wheel; whatever you want to call it.
 
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