Battery heater in cold weather

[alwindsor]

Any 2012 or later model year has the 300W heaters inside in the battery pack. The 2019 and later models with the 62 kWh battery don't have heaters, but some other method of warming up that I've been trying to figure out myself for years now.
Otherwise, everyone in Canada driving the larger capacity Leaf would have dead/damaged batteries from the longer time of extreme cold they experience.

I am very interested to know how you know that cars after 2012 have the battery heater. This information would be quite useful to me.

I drive a 2016 SL, that dropped to 8 and then 7 bars SOH in 2023. I'm currently on the wait list for a new battery from Nissan (fingers crossed the'll actually get one for me). When I went to my dealer in Winnipeg, Canada, they got 2 different part numbers for the battery pack when they ran the VIN. One with a cold weather package (heaters), and one without. After some calls to Nissan Canada, and confirming the presence/absence of some other systems on the car, they determined that since my car was originally configured for the USA and initially delivered in Houston (I could have told them that), that it does not have the cold weather pack in it, and I would get a pack without heaters, albeit one with 40kWhr capacity.

I probed them a bit to see if I could get one with heaters (Winnipeg is cold, in case you were wondering), but they didn't seem interested or knowledgeable enough to see if it would even work, so I gave up. I tried taking it up with Nissan Canada, but they shut me down almost immediately saying that they would not install a pack that is not compatible with the original configuration of the vehicle. To be honest, I see their point, and can't blame them for avoiding that risk.

But if you have evidence that indicates that all of the North American cars, including those delivered to the southern USA have battery warmers, I'd be interested in seeing that to know if I could use it to try again with Nissan Canada to get a pack more suitable for my climate.

 

[knightmb]

I am very interested to know how you know that cars after 2012 have the battery heater. This information would be quite useful to me.

I drive a 2016 SL, that dropped to 8 and then 7 bars SOH in 2023. I'm currently on the wait list for a new battery from Nissan (fingers crossed the'll actually get one for me). When I went to my dealer in Winnipeg, Canada, they got 2 different part numbers for the battery pack when they ran the VIN. One with a cold weather package (heaters), and one without. After some calls to Nissan Canada, and confirming the presence/absence of some other systems on the car, they determined that since my car was originally configured for the USA and initially delivered in Houston (I could have told them that), that it does not have the cold weather pack in it, and I would get a pack without heaters, albeit one with 40kWhr capacity.

I probed them a bit to see if I could get one with heaters (Winnipeg is cold, in case you were wondering), but they didn't seem interested or knowledgeable enough to see if it would even work, so I gave up. I tried taking it up with Nissan Canada, but they shut me down almost immediately saying that they would not install a pack that is not compatible with the original configuration of the vehicle. To be honest, I see their point, and can't blame them for avoiding that risk.

But if you have evidence that indicates that all of the North American cars, including those delivered to the southern USA have battery warmers, I'd be interested in seeing that to know if I could use it to try again with Nissan Canada to get a pack more suitable for my climate.

It's part of the 2012 Owners Manual, Page 28
https://owners.nissanusa.com/conten...sanLEAF/2012/2012-NissanLEAF-owner-manual.pdf

The Li-ion battery heater helps to prevent the Li-
ion battery from freezing and helps to prevent
significant reductions in the Li-ion battery output
when the temperature is cold. The Li-ion battery
heater automatically turns on when the Li-ion
battery temperature is approximately -4F
(-20C) or colder. The Li-ion battery heater
automatically turns off when the Li-ion battery
temperture is approximately 14F (-10C) or
higher.

 

[knightmb]

So to cut to the chase, if I want to keep the battery from drawing itself to run the battery heater in extreme cold, than turning off the charge timer and leave it plugged in to the EVSE, is the best way to do that.
I just wasn't clear on the priority given to each variable.

Until the weather warms up enough to not worry about temperatures low enough to constantly trigger the battery heater, it would be a much easier, less worry route.

 

[cornbinder89]

we had close to a week where the heaters would be on,some only in the night and some days that didn't go above -15F.

 

[alwindsor]

It's part of the 2012 Owners Manual, Page 28
https://owners.nissanusa.com/conten...sanLEAF/2012/2012-NissanLEAF-owner-manual.pdf

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I don't think this concludes all Leafs after 2012 have warmers. The 2016 manuals (Canada and US versions at least) state "(If so equipped)" any time the battery warmer is mentioned.

 

[knightmb]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I don't think this concludes all Leafs after 2012 have warmers. The 2016 manuals (Canada and US versions at least) state "(If so equipped)" any time the battery warmer is mentioned.

It might be worded that way, but long ago the Leaf’s chief engineer, Hidetoshi Kadota, was the one to mention it was standard on all 2012 models and as far as I know, that never changed until the 2019 model with the 62 kWh battery where the battery heater was replaced with something else that I have yet to see myself in action.
This was done because of the issues the 2011 model (basically the first release of the Leaf) that people in freezing climates were experiencing.