Here is a summary of the capacity bars lost to date:
azdre - Phoenix, AZ - Purchased Mar 2011 - Frequent 100% charges - Lost bar April 2012
azdre said:
In the last few weeks, we've lost one of the 'available' bars (
see picture). We've put 17,000 miles on it in 14 months.
bturner - Phoenix, AZ - Purchased May 2011 - Frequent 100% charges - Lost bar May 2012
bturner said:
I just lost a bar this weekend. I have had my Leaf almost exactly one year. Mileage is 13,633.
turbo2ltr - Phoenix, AZ - Purchased Feb 2011 - Frequent 100% charges - Lost bar May 2012
turbo2ltr said:
It's official.. Lost the bar today.
TickTock - Queens Creek, AZ - Purchased May 2011 - Infrequent 100% charges - Lost bar May 2012
TickTock said:
I lost my first capacity bar this morning.
Volusiano - AZ - Purchased June 2011 - Seldom 100% charges - Lost bar May 2012
Volusiano said:
I guess I'm the 5th(?) guy in AZ now who officially lost a capacity bar (happened today).
Honorable Mention:
LEAFfan - Phoenix Area, AZ - Purchased June 2011 - Frequent 100% charges (?)- Has not lost bar yet
LEAFfan said:
My LEAF ScangaugeII only reads out SoC%, but they based it on the 281 raw number. When I first got the gauge a few months after I got my car (June), I would consistently see 80-82% when I charged to 80% and 94-95% when charging to 100%. Now, it is around 73% at 80% and only 83-85% when charging to 100%. These new figures are with using the DCQC. I haven't used L2 since May 2. I will probably lose a capacity bar in a month or two.
LEAFfan said:
I may lose a capacity bar soon because today, a 100% QC only registered 78% SoC/12 bars. I only had 72%/nine bars after the first charge. I drove 10 miles on the 12th bar @ 45-50mph.
So, what do they all have in common? Their LEAFs went through the record heat of Phoenix in August, 2011. Here are
some more temperature details from NOAA. There were 7 record high days and 7 record high lows. The month holds the high record for average high, average low and average temperature.
While Nissan expressly refuses to warrant the battery when exposed to above 120F ambient temperatures for over 24 hours, I will state that what these cars went through last August was probably worse than what Nissan has excluded. And note that July, 2009 recorded the same average temperature as August, 2011.
At the end of the day, I guess I agree with the sentiment of kmp647:
kmp647 said:
If I lived in Phoenix. I would buy a focus or a volt
OTOH, I'm not convinced that an active cooling system is a solution, either. Suppose the OP had parked an FFE for a month in August, 2011 instead of May? I guess if it were plugged in it may have survived, but not on it's own. In the end, I feel that only high-temperature Li-ion chemistries like the one I mentioned in other threads will resolve the EV battery life issue for places like Phoenix.
Finally, please note that while the first capacity bar represents a loss of 15% of the original capacity of the battery, every other bar represents only 6.25%. I wonder if anyone in Phoenix will lose a second bar this summer...