My 2011 Leaf has officially lost one bar. I posted last week a fluctuation to 11 from 12, then returning to twelve. It happened again yesterday. Coincidentally, I was due for my 12 month evaluation at Nissan. When I brought it to them this morning, it had 12 bars, and told them about the fluctuation, and that I was prepared to call the Nissan hotline as soon as it goes to 11 bars for good. When I picked the car up this afternoon after being serviced, the service guy says, “the battery test results indicate your battery is in great condition, here you go”, wanting me to sign off and pay for the service. I had to pressure him to review the report with me, and he did so reluctantly. The report in fact stated it has 11 bars (when I brought it to them it had 12 bars), and further, a “five star” rating with the comment “your score is very high and good for your battery” for the categories on the report: charging, driving, storage. I asked the service guy why their forenamed “1 year battery capacity test” can show a 15% loss with 11 bars, and they claim a “five star” rating with the above mentioned comment. Especially when Nissan headquarters gave assurances of a 2 to 3% battery capacity loss a year, with a total of 20 to 30% loss in 10 years, whereas a 15% loss in one year is 5 times more then expected, and that in two years I will no longer be able to drive it where I need to go. He asked me, “do you drive it on the highway”? I asked him why he is asking this, and he stated, “highway driving can cause your loss of capacity”. Strange, but it seemed to me he was trying to blame me for the 15% loss. I believe those folks may be trained to use deception and misdirection when talking to customers, to make it seem that it is the driver’s fault. In any case, when I confronted him further, he did acknowledge the batteries lose capacity in the heat, and proposed I can call the Nissan hotline (as if it was his idea)!
I took possession of this 2011 Nissan 9/1/11, and it has 9089 miles. Not exactly a high mileage battery capacity loss. I park in at night in garage, outside during day, usually charge to 80%.