Does the 10th bar range capacity change over time?

[thankyouOB]

I am experiencing dramatic range loss in the 10th bar, but not at all or not nearly as much on any other bars.

here is the curious charge and discharge behavior that I am trying to capture with that hedline:
--charge to 80% and get 10 bars. the first bar goes away at 4 miles.
--charge to 100% and get 12 bars. the first bar goes away at 6 miles.

what is going on?


this is a LEAF with 24k in a good climate.

 

[TonyWilliams]

here is the curious charge and discharge behavior that I am trying to capture with that hedline:
--charge to 80% and get 10 bars. the first bar goes away at 4 miles.
--charge to 100% and get 12 bars. the first bar goes away at 6 miles.

what is going on?


this is a LEAF with 24k in a good climate.

The 10th bar isn't full. It's been covered many, many times.

 

[thankyouOB]

i know it has been covered, if you view it one way.
let me be more specific:
here is previously what I used to get, let's say during the first 18k miles
--charge to 80% and get 10 bars. the first bar goes away at 6 miles.
--charge to 100% and get 12 bars. the first bar goes away at 6 miles.

Here is what i get NOW:
--charge to 80% and get 10 bars. the first bar goes away at 4 miles.
--charge to 100% and get 12 bars. the first bar goes away at 6 miles.

why the dramatic difference in the 10th bar?

 

[thankyouOB]

i am trying to hear theories or determine why the 10th bar capacity might change after 20k miles, but no other bars change.

 

[planet4ever]

I don't know whether we have a good theoretical basis for this, but quite a few people have reported that they no longer see the 10th bar light up at all on an 80% charge. And some have reported that it was that way for a while, and then the 10th bar came back. There have been many suspicions that this behavior might be a precursor to losing a capacity bar, but I don't know that that has been statistically proven, either. I think the best we can say is, "it varies".

Ray

 

[Caracalover]

I am experiencing dramatic range loss in the 10th bar, but not at all or not nearly as much on any other bars.

here is the curious charge and discharge behavior that I am trying to capture with that hedline:
--charge to 80% and get 10 bars. the first bar goes away at 4 miles.
--charge to 100% and get 12 bars. the first bar goes away at 6 miles.

what is going on?


this is a LEAF with 24k in a good climate.

Question: If you charge to 100% and then drive until the 12th and 11th bars are no longer lit, how far can you go on the tenth bar?

With 24K miles you are likely seeing some degradation of the battery, and you may also be coming close to losing a capacity bar. Do not be alarmed. I have found that after I lost a capacity bar I could again go further before the LBW, go figure.

The gauge is just that, a gauge and it is not an exact measure. It will not always be accurate. For example: I drove home today over the Angeles Forest Highway from the high desert (65 miles). At the crest of the mountain top I had two bars showing, and a new low # of 4 on the range indicator (My wife and I celebrate these things!). I started to regen energy and as the range indicator went to 5, the bars dropped to 1. I do this drive all the time, so I knew what to expect and was not at all concerned, even though I was 30 miles from home and it was lightly misting. Going slow on the mountain roads to recoup energy is always a favorite thing for me, and with a wet road it is advised. (I used a pull out to let a group of three cars go by me and the middle of the three spun out on the curve less than a mile ahead, lucky guy didn't hit anything, bu his underwear likley needed changing.) Today I got the LBW about a mile from my home, the range meter was I think at 15, and the single bar never changed. The last few miles to my house are all uphill. When I took the Forest highway to the Angeles Crest I would often regain a bar of energy as I reached the 210 interchange. I have reached the top of the mountain with as many as 4 bars remaining, although I admit I drove over 60 on the freeway (About 30 miles) today and started up the mountain doing 55, which I don't advise when range is desired.

 

[thankyouOB]

Question: If you charge to 100% and then drive until the 12th and 11th bars are no longer lit, how far can you go on the tenth bar?

tell you tomorrow, if i remember to do it in the AM.

 

[Deleted member 5796]

I charge my leaf to 80% every night. This am it showed 9 bars. I then drove 2.5 miles, stopped to drop of my son at school and it went up to ten bars. Then I drove 2.5 miles home and it went back to 9. Every once in a blue moon it shows 9 bars instead of 10 in the morning. I don't stress over how full the tenth bar is.

 

[ttweed]

I don't know whether we have a good theoretical basis for this, but quite a few people have reported that they no longer see the 10th bar light up at all on an 80% charge. And some have reported that it was that way for a while, and then the 10th bar came back. There have been many suspicions that this behavior might be a precursor to losing a capacity bar, but I don't know that that has been statistically proven, either. I think the best we can say is, "it varies".

One of the things "it varies" with is temperature. I started to get the 80%/9 bars charging syndrome last summer when my battery temp bars were at 6 for months (there is an entire thread on this at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=8765). When I did occasionally get 10 bars out of an 80% charge, the 10th bar range was very shallow like yours--it would drop to 9 after 2.x miles. Sometimes, if I turned the car on and drove 100 yards out of the garage and parked it on the street, when I turned the car on again it would be at 9 bars already! The gauge apparently recalculates on every power cycle, increasing it's "dubiousness" as far as accurately reflecting available range. I thought it might be a precursor to losing a capacity bar, but that hasn't happened yet in another 9 months of driving.

When winter came and the temp bars dropped to 5 again, I have consistently had 10 bars out of every 80% charge, but fully expect to see 9 bars again when it heats up this summer. Did you begin to notice this on the recent Santa Ana condition when ambient temps were warmer?

TT

 

[thankyouOB]

Did you begin to notice this on the recent Santa Ana condition when ambient temps were warmer?

TT

no, Tom, it preceded that. i have not seen 9 bars for 80%.
i do see some 6-mile bar number 10 after daytime charging in the garage at work. i charge there almost daily with L1 to 80%, sometimes but rarely 100%.
that 12th bar is always miles heavy.
the 10th bar out of L1 (after work) is one I dont follow that much, as there is much less attention to range on the way home. that is because i never know on the way in if the L1 spots will be ICED. 9 out 10 times they are open, but there are some rare days when i need to roundtrip 50 miles with the home charge.

recently, i have started extra charging at home on some days midweek -- when there are more parkers at school -- adding 30 minutes extra in the AM. (most of the charge is done overnight, so I can do a little add on as necessary from 8-9 am.)

 

[TomT]

On my car I started to see only 9 bars when charging to 80 percent a number of times before I lost the first capacity bar. After that, it gave me a consistent 10 bars. Once again, I started to see only 9 bars a number of times before I lost the second bar and then, once again after the second capacity bar loss, I get a consistent 10 bars at 80%... Based on my observations, it seems that seeing 9 bars fairly regularly on an 80% charge is the precursor of a capacity bar loss.

 

[mkjayakumar]

My 10th bar stays lit between 200 to 220 gids. My Leaf stops at 210 Gids at 80%, so I get only half the range on the 10th bar when charged to 80%. Whereas when I charge to 100% I get the full range.

My 100% charge is at 252 Gids, and 80% is between 208 to 210. I am guessing when I lose further capacity my 80% will be below 200 Gids and I will not see the 10th bar lit then.

 

[thankyouOB]

today the 10th bar went 4.3 miles
bar 9 went 6.3 miles
bar 8 went 6 miles
bar 7 went ... i missed it, but prolly 6