About to be a 2011 Leaf Owner! Need Assistance

[Gadget619]

Thank you to everyone who has posted information on this forum! What a wealth of knowledge! I have been looking to buy a Leaf for several months and I now have a deposit on a 2011 Leaf SL. The vehicle is about to get a new 24KW battery under the Nissan Settlement agreement.

Questions:

1. What is the warranty on the 24KW replacement battery? Can the new 24KW battery be replaced if it drops to 8 bars within a five year, 60,000 mile time frame? The vehicle currently has less than 40,000 miles. What are the warranty terms once you get a replacement battery?

2. I am in San Diego, CA and the vehicle is a little south of Stockton, CA (about 460 miles away). Should I consider driving it from Stockton to San Diego as a new Leaf driver? The battery replacement should be completed in the end of June or beginning of July, so it will be hot out in the Central Valley of California.

I have read a lot of posts in the forums about the importance of the speed I drive, whether it is freeway or highway driving, flats or hills, and the importance of mapping out each leg of the trip with charging points.

Has anyone done this drive down Interstate 5 or Highway 99 from south of Stockton to San Diego? My alternative would be to pay around $380.00 to have it shipped to me.

If I decide to drive the route, here is some info for consideration.

The vehicle as has the ability to use CHAdeMO fast chargers. Is it OK to use CHAdeMO fast charging stations (if available) with a brand new battery for this many miles?

The vehicle comes with an upgraded 240V charger from EVSEupgrade with additional pigtail, plus a 25-foot extension cord. I would make sure I have a pigtail for RV park charging if needed along the way. I know the standard charger from 2011 is slower than what is in newer Leaf models. How much time should I factor in at each charging station if it is not a CHAdeMO fast charger?

What else should I consider if I decide to drive the route? Thanks in advance for any assistance!

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

I'd ship it. Make it easy on you and new battery.

 

[Jedlacks]

I'd ship it. Make it easy on you and new battery.

+1

That is a long haul for your first drive.

 

[GerryAZ]

I'd ship it. Make it easy on you and new battery.

+1

The 3.3 kW onboard charger would take 6 hours to charge a new battery from VLBW (very low battery warning) and you could go between 65 and 75 miles at reasonable freeway speed (65 to 70 mi/hr) from full charge to VLBW. If you do the math, you can see that the trip could take a long time without using DCQC (DC quick charge). The firmware in the 2011 will stop DCQC at about 80% SOC (state of charge) if you start charging from VLBW or less so you could need to run two DCQC sessions at each stop. I would not want to subject a new battery to that much heating under high ambient temperatures.

The capacity warranty will remain in effect until 60 months from the original in service date or 60,000 miles on the odometer (whichever comes first) so there is virtually no chance for you to get another replacement under the capacity warranty. The defect warranty is for 8 years (from original in service date) or 100,000 miles on odometer so that would cover a defect such as a bad module, but not just gradual capacity loss.

You should get a "lizard" battery under the terms of the settlement so it should last a long time in your climate. I have over 15 months and 22,000 miles on my 2015 with only 8% capacity loss so it is doing MUCH better than the original and replacement batteries in my 2011. Since the replacement battery in my 2011 was the original chemistry from Japan, it would have been close to qualifying for a second replacement by the time the car reached the 5-year, 60,000 mile mark (was already down to 11 capacity bars by the time of the crash).

Gerry

 

[davewill]

The warranty for the new battery is the balance left of the warranty for the original battery. That's SOP for warranty replacements of parts. If you were buying the battery you'd get a brand spanking new warranty.

Make the drive if you'll enjoy doing it as an adventure. Otherwise it is simply a waste of time.

 

[Gadget619]

I'd ship it. Make it easy on you and new battery.

+1

The 3.3 kW onboard charger would take 6 hours to charge a new battery from VLBW (very low battery warning) and you could go between 65 and 75 miles at reasonable freeway speed (65 to 70 mi/hr) from full charge to VLBW. If you do the math, you can see that the trip could take a long time without using DCQC (DC quick charge). The firmware in the 2011 will stop DCQC at about 80% SOC (state of charge) if you start charging from VLBW or less so you could need to run two DCQC sessions at each stop. I would not want to subject a new battery to that much heating under high ambient temperatures.

The capacity warranty will remain in effect until 60 months from the original in service date or 60,000 miles on the odometer (whichever comes first) so there is virtually no chance for you to get another replacement under the capacity warranty. The defect warranty is for 8 years (from original in service date) or 100,000 miles on odometer so that would cover a defect such as a bad module, but not just gradual capacity loss.

You should get a "lizard" battery under the terms of the settlement so it should last a long time in your climate. I have over 15 months and 22,000 miles on my 2015 with only 8% capacity loss so it is doing MUCH better than the original and replacement batteries in my 2011. Since the replacement battery in my 2011 was the original chemistry from Japan, it would have been close to qualifying for a second replacement by the time the car reached the 5-year, 60,000 mile mark (was already down to 11 capacity bars by the time of the crash).

Gerry

Thank you everyone for your excellent advice. I will be shipping the car based on your feedback and especially Gerry's in depth explanation of the limitations of the 3.3 kW onboard charger.

 

[EVforRobert]

Just so you don't get any surprises I will say at fast freeway speeds with the AC on you are lucky to get 70 miles of all electric range in a 24 kW car and probably less with a 2011. When you get back to your home area, you will have to plan carefully if you have a one-way trip of more than 30 miles. After having driven a plug-in electric and now a battery vehicle for the past four years I have a pretty good mental map of my area and where all the places to charge are. Best wishes.

 

[speedski97]

I have done this trip a few times. It is about 20 hours of charging and driving. most of it is on fast chargers. with a chase car and over a weekend it would be fun .Side trip in the chase car to the Mt. while the leaf charges. I have info on the route and KWH s for each leg. If you want.
enjoy you new car.

 

[RonDawg]

I'd ship it. Make it easy on you and new battery.

If you have a pickup truck/van/SUV/older station wagon with sufficient tow capacity (or know someone who is willing to lend you theirs), you can also rent a dolly from U-Haul and tow the car back to San Diego yourself.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

I'd ship it. Make it easy on you and new battery.

If you have a pickup truck/van/SUV/older station wagon with sufficient tow capacity (or know someone who is willing to lend you theirs), you can also rent a dolly from U-Haul and tow the car back to San Diego yourself.

+1, might be cheaper to rent the whole set up from U-Haul.

Just out of curiosity, was a new battery part of your negotiations or were they doing it anyway?

 

[cwerdna]

1. What is the warranty on the 24KW replacement battery? Can the new 24KW battery

Just so you don't get any surprises I will say at fast freeway speeds with the AC on you are lucky to get 70 miles of all electric range in a 24 kW car and probably less with a 2011.

It is 24 kWh NOT 24 kW.

kW and kWh are very different metrics. It's the same as confusing gallons with horsepower. Think of kW = horsepower, kWh = gallons.

(BTW, 1 hp = ~0.746 kW. And, many .gov sites says 1 gallon of gasoline=33.7 kWh.)

The vehicle comes with an upgraded 240V charger from EVSEupgrade with additional pigtail, plus a 25-foot extension cord. I would make sure I have a pigtail for RV park charging if needed along the way.

That is not a charger. That's an EVSE. For level 1 and 2 AC charging, the charger is on-board the car. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14728&p=332668#p332668.

I know the standard charger from 2011 is slower than what is in newer Leaf models.

Yes, if comparing to the '13+ SV and SL trims or '13+ S with charge package. '13+ S trim w/o any packages only have a 3.x kW on-board charger and are of similar speed to the '11 and '12 on L2.

 

[EVforRobert]

1. What is the warranty on the 24KW replacement battery? Can the new 24KW battery

Just so you don't get any surprises I will say at fast freeway speeds with the AC on you are lucky to get 70 miles of all electric range in a 24 kW car and probably less with a 2011.

It is 24 kWh NOT 24 kW.

kW and kWh are very different metrics. It's the same as confusing gallons with horsepower. Think of kW = horsepower, kWh = gallons.

(BTW, 1 hp = ~0.746 kW. And, many .gov sites says 1 gallon of gasoline=33.7 kWh.)

The vehicle comes with an upgraded 240V charger from EVSEupgrade with additional pigtail, plus a 25-foot extension cord. I would make sure I have a pigtail for RV park charging if needed along the way.

That is not a charger. That's an EVSE. For level 1 and 2 AC charging, the charger is on-board the car. See http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14728&p=332668#p332668.

I know the standard charger from 2011 is slower than what is in newer Leaf models.

Yes, if comparing to the '13+ SV and SL trims or '13+ S with charge package. '13+ S trim w/o any packages only have a 3.x kW on-board charger and are of similar speed to the '11 and '12 on L2.

You spelled your name backwards.

 

[Gadget619]

I'd ship it. Make it easy on you and new battery.

If you have a pickup truck/van/SUV/older station wagon with sufficient tow capacity (or know someone who is willing to lend you theirs), you can also rent a dolly from U-Haul and tow the car back to San Diego yourself.

+1, might be cheaper to rent the whole set up from U-Haul.

Just out of curiosity, was a new battery part of your negotiations or were they doing it anyway?

They were doing it anyway.